Sir Ratan Tata Trust came into being in 1919 with a sum capital of Rs 8 million. Established in accordance with the will of Sir Ratan Tata

Ratan Tata

Ratan Naval Tata is the present chairman of Tata Sons and therefore, Tata Group. Also, he is one among the few in the world...

, the Trust is now one of the oldest grant

Grant (money)

Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...

 bestowing foundations in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

The Trust has, for more than a century, been instrumental in development processes, providing grants to institutions in the areas of Education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

, Enhancing Civil Society and Governance

Governance

Governance is the act of governing. It relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. It consists of either a separate process or part of management or leadership processes...

, Health and Arts, Rural Livelihoods and Communities and Culture.

The Trust provides grants and partner with organisations that engage in innovative and sustainable initiatives and with the potential to make a visible difference. It also provides grants for endowments, has a separate programme for small grants and gives grants to individuals for education and medical relief.

The grants offered by the Trust can be broadly classified as :

• Institutional grants
• Endowment grants
• Small grants
• Individual grants

Institutional grants

The bulk of these grants are in the areas of Rural Livelihoods and Communities and
Education. Within Rural Livelihoods and Communities the Trust focuses on key initiatives within
two broad areas:

• Land and Water Development
• Microfinance
  Microfinance
  Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....
  
  

Educational grants

• Reforming elementary education
• Nurturing education as a discipline
• Alternative Education
  Alternative education
  Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, includes a number of approaches to teaching and learning other than mainstream or traditional education. Educational alternatives are often rooted in various philosophies that are fundamentally different...
  
  
• Higher Education
  Higher education
  Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
  
  

Health grants

• Rural Health Programmes
• Specialised Healthcare Services
• Health Resource and Health Systems
• Clinical establishment

Grants for enhancing civil society and governance

• Citizenship and Participation
• Human Rights
  Human rights
  Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
  
   and Governance
• Governance in Civil Society
  Civil society
  Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...
  
  

Arts institutions and infrastructures

• Regenerating institutions
• Theatre
  Theatre
  Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
  
   Infrastructure
• Advanced Learning in the Arts

Arts and the culture industries

• New Media
  New media
  New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...
  
   Practices
• Researching Culture Industries
• Conservation & Archiving
• Independent Publishing in India: Bringing arts practice into the classroom

Endowment grants

The Trust has developed and used endowments to sustain mission-driven institutions that influence positive change in society. It has a formal endowment strategy with well-set norms and clearly defined criteria that enable it to identify and appraise deserving
institutions. The endowment portfolio includes: Professional Assistance for Development Action (New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

), National Council of Applied Economic Research (New Delhi). Child Relief and You (Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

), Centre for Science and Environment (New Delhi) and Children's Book Trust (New Delhi).

Small grants

The Sir Ratan Tata Small Grant Programme (SGP) was launched in 1998-99. These cater to the needs of small, welfare-oriented organisations, and those needing support to implement innovative ideas. It was later amended to accommodate the worthy larger organisations that needed funding for strategic planning, focused research activities, or strengthening internal systems.

Individual grants

The Individual Grants Programme of the Trust provides financial help for:

• Meeting medical contingencies
• Scholars pursuing higher education in India and assistance for education-related overseas travel.