Apart from its efforts to ensure basic financial inclusion for all, ICICI Group has taken several steps to secure the future of the poor and link them to markets.

It has built a partnership with Private Equity funds such as the Network Enterprise Fund (www.thenetworkenterprisesfund.in/) to create a series of specialised Network Enterprises (NEs) which will not only provide specialised capabilities to the poor but also link them to greater market opportunities in their respective fields.

Interventions are proposed in craft, food, consumer products, water, energy, education, health, skills development, rural tourism, financial services and waste recycling.

Considerable work has already been done by organisations like Sandhi (www.sandhi.in) an NE, focused on crafts and Earthy goods (www.earthygoods.co.in), an NE focused on processed foods. Similarly, STRIVE, the Skills Network Enterprise, aims to make at least one member of every household employable by matching the available human resources to the appropriate skills sets required by prospective employers. Spark Accreditation is India's first universally available school accreditation service which seeks to add value to good schools, enables parents to make informed choices and allows governments to gauge the effectiveness of their education programmes.