Who we are

Indian Grameen Services was founded in 1987 by Mr. Vijay Mahajan, Mr. Deep Joshi and Dr. Sankar Datta. By that time, the importance of professional engagement in development action was well recognized. Based on their initial work done with ASSEFA, a Gandhian NGO, these three development sector stalwarts had already established Pradan (www.pradan.net) in 1983. IGS was initially set up under the aegis of Pradan, to undertake research and development in livelihood promotion.

By 1996, as the case for adopting market-based approaches to complement traditional grant based voluntary work for the poor became clear, IGS was transferred to the newly formed BASIX Group, initially as an incubator for the newly formed Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC)- Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Ltd. (BSFL). Over the years, IGS evolved into a crucible for incubating innovative solutions to contemporary livelihood challenges, through action research, for the entire Basix Social Enterprise Group (SEG).

About Us

We are a Section 8, not-for-profit company that develops and implements innovative solutions to exigent challenges faced by communities in rural and forested areas of India. We do so in a demand-driven, impact-conscious, and cost-efficient manner. Most of our work is done in partnership with other development agencies, to leverage synergies, enable convergence, and ensure scale.

We are a part of the reputed BASIX Social Enterprise Group (SEG) of companies. BASIX is a livelihood promotion institution established in 1996, working with over a 3.5 million customers in more than 223 districts and over 39,251 villages in India. Its mission is to promote a large number of sustainable livelihoods, including for the rural poor and women, through the provision of financial services and technical assistance in an integrated manner.