Why Government Partnership Is Philanthropy's Big Bet

Key takeaways:  

• A major expansion announced — the Piramal School of Leadership is scaling up 8x from its pilot, with a goal of training at least 50,000 government officials a year.
• The untapped potential of "middle managers" — while India's top bureaucrats are highly capable, the Piramals argue the real leverage point for reform lies in the government's middle tier.
• Busting a persistent myth — Mr. Ajay Piramal pushes back on the notion that working with government means navigating political influence or inefficiency, calling it a "superficial notion."

India's public systems touch every citizen, yet challenges across health, education, and governance persist despite heavy government spending on the social sector. Mr. Ajay Piramal, industrialist and philanthropist, believes addressing these challenges is exactly where philanthropy has its biggest opportunity — not by working around government, but by working with it.

"If you have to make change in the country, you have to work with the government. What we realized is that many people are hesitant to work with the government because I think, with all due respect, there is a superficial notion that working with the government means you need to have political influence, or it is corruption. Or people in the government don't want to work. That's actually not true.

In our experience, if we can show innovation at scale – which is what we do, and then you work with government to see that we implement that, then the government is more than happy to actually work with you," Mr. Ajay Piramal said to EdelGive Foundation CEO Ms. Naghma Mulla, while speaking on the podcast Give It A Go.

He added that the government of India spends nearly $500 billion a year on the social sector across diverse sectors. He pointed out that philanthropic spend on the sector is a very small fraction of that. "Then how do you make the 500 billion of the government more efficient, is the challenge," he added.

He explained that despite the government's spending, there are steep challenges across the country. The solution lies in two approaches. The first is systems strengthening – something the Piramal Foundation is deeply committed to.

The other is nurturing leadership. To facilitate this, the Piramal School of Leadership (PSL) was established to build leadership capacity among government officials and strengthen institutional governance in India. Guided by "Sewa Bhaav" (spirit of service) and the Upanishadic principle "Tat Tvam Asi," PSL trains public-sector "middle managers" across education, health, climate, and inclusion. It operates through four schools—Education & Systems Change, Health, Climate & Sustainability, and Inclusion—running capacity-building programs nationwide. Mr. Piramal is regarded as a torchbearer for responsible entrepreneurship, with a strong focus on creating long-term value for both stakeholders and the community as a whole.

"There are many people working in the government. But the top leadership of the government, the secretaries, the IAS officers – they are all highly qualified and very smart people. But the middle level is where we can do a lot more in terms of leadership. And that's why our school of leadership is actually focused on seeing how we can get the best out of these people. Their intentions are good, they want to deliver.

"In fact we are expanding this school now and making a much larger initiative. We had started with a smaller school as a test, but this will be 8 times bigger than that – and that should start next year (2026)," Mr. Piramal added.

He hopes to be able to train at least 50,000 government officials every year, starting this year and is deeply invested in unblocking India’s socio-economic potential through the Piramal Foundation.

This perspective is particularly relevant in the context of India's evolving philanthropic landscape.

Their work in systems strengthening extends to various other facets of development. For example, the Aspirational Bharat Collaborative (ABC) - a NITI Aayog–Piramal Foundation partnership, that spans 150+ districts and 200+ aspirational blocks, strengthening last-mile delivery through community-government collaboration. ABC improves health, nutrition, education, water security, governance, and women's empowerment, driving better outcomes for vulnerable populations and India's 2047 development vision.

As philanthropy evolves in India, one question becomes increasingly important: how can wealth, expertise, and partnerships help public systems deliver better outcomes?

The answer may lie in moving beyond parallel solutions and investing in the systems that shape everyday lives.