Two-thirds of the state’s area is covered by the Thar Desert – home to extreme conditions which give rise to frequent droughts and famines and make local livelihoods highly vulnerable. Rajasthan has the maximum probability of occurrence of drought in India. Additionally, ground water is depleting at unprecedented rates and only 25% of agricultural land is under irrigated rabi crops.
Ambuja Foundation focuses on water harvesting, ground water recharge and optimum use of water in irrigation to address the chronic water issues in Rajasthan. By strengthening traditional wisdom, reviving existing traditional water harvesting structures such as construction of khadins, revival of ponds & check dam, the water capacity of communities has increased. Promotion of safe drinking water and addressing people’s attitude towards water usage is also a focus. Community level water awareness campaigns are conducted for water harvesting techniques and judicious water usage
Structures developed
People benefitted
Covered under micro irrigation
Ponds revived
RRWHS constructed
Check Dams constructed
Farm ponds constructed
Ambuja Foundation supports farmers through awareness initiatives, technological interventions, and the promotion of crop diversification — all aimed at doubling farmers’ incomes. Implemented across 11 districts, the programme works to improve living standards while reducing risks and vulnerabilities. Ambuja Foundation has also completed 10 successful years of the Better Cotton project in the Marwar Mundwa region, reaching over 17,000 farmers.
Saving in cost of inputs
Additional revenue due to Horticulture
Micro-Irrigation
Additional Income through Cattle Farming
Enhanced milk & meat production
Additional income via FPO
Doubling Income
under Better Cotton
WADI families
under Vegetable Cultivation
Total Farmers
Ambuja Foundation in Rajasthan works to ensure that women have equal opportunities to participate across all sectors by promoting income-generating activities and financial inclusion. The Foundation provides platforms, training, and capacity-building support to strengthen women’s engagement in livelihoods. Five Women’s Federations have been established, where Self-Help Group (SHG) members collectively undertake income-generating activities such as pickle, ghee, and papad making.
SHGs
Corpus generated
Engaged in income generating activities
Additional Income
Women's Federation
Village Organisations
members in Federation
Facilitation of Social Security Schemes
Mobile dispensaries travel across villages to provide healthcare services and medicines to the community. Further support is extended by Sakhis, who work closely with women and families to promote better health practices. Ambuja Foundation addresses malnutrition by improving health indicators and the overall nutritional status of children. The programme also focuses on integrating 396 AAA workers — ASHA, Anganwadi, and ANM — to strengthen access to antenatal and postnatal care, immunisation services, and early identification of high-risk babies, while promoting awareness on breastfeeding and complementary feeding.
Immunization coverage
Increase in Institutional Delivery
Reduced Infant Mortality Rate
Reduced Neonatal Mortality Rate
Reduced Mother Mortality Rate
AWC coverage
Upgradation of 2 CHC, 14 PHC & 43 Sub-Centres
With over 17 SEDI institutes across Rajasthan — including Pali, Nagaur, Jhunjhunu, Bhilwara, Rajsamand, Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur, Mathura, and Kota — Ambuja Foundation promotes productive employment and micro-enterprise development among rural youth who are school dropouts, economically disadvantaged, or otherwise excluded from the mainstream. Having received numerous state-level accolades, SEDI Rajasthan has established itself as a reputed skill development institution, offering short-term intensive courses across 30 trades.
Youth trained
Placed
Entrepreneurs
Placed
Job retention
Female Participation
Our focus is on promoting physical literacy and sports, digital learning, WASH, and the development of school infrastructure — including the installation of tin sheds, roof repairs, and classroom upgrades. We also enhance school environments by improving lighting and seating arrangements to create better spaces for reading and learning. In addition, Ambuja Foundation supports the establishment of science labs in government schools. Through WASH initiatives, we raise awareness among students about sanitation and hygiene, while also constructing toilets to ensure cleaner, healthier campuses.
Schools
Students Impacted
Computer labs
Toilet Blocks Constructed
Ambuja Foundation promoted Women Federation in Marwar Mundwa Maru Shree Mahila Vikas Samiti, has launched their own brand of spices called ‘Marwari Hatadi’. Formed in 2021, the group have united and started marketing their own brand of spices in less than a year. Currently retailing cumin, fennel, coriander seeds and fenugreek, the FPO will procure raw materials for members, process and market spices with profits distributed among shareholders. Additionally, plans are underway to market products in online platforms.
When the Ambuja Foundation team visited the remote and isolated tribal villages of Bali and witnessed first-hand the abject poverty there, they knew they had to be a part of the solution. This was a place where no one had dared to work, no NGOs, no corporates, no Government. It was so remote. Ambuja Foundation mobilised women into SHGs and as they gained confidence and better financial management skills, the focus shifted to generate income – in particular goat rearing. In just a few years, women’s income has doubled and Bali has transformed.
‘Grameen Vikas Project’ reaches out to farmers to develop multiple avenues for increasing income levels. Ambuja Foundation partnered with Godrej Agrovet Ltd to create income opportunities across 6 villages of Bundi, Rajasthan. The project provides necessary skills, expertise, infrastructure and training for the community to strengthen agro-based livelihoods, whilst leveraging government schemes, empowering women, and training youth in vocational skills. Community members are also motivated to use water consciously to reduce uncontrolled extraction of groundwater.
Communities, like Rabriyawas in Rajasthan, once almost uninhabitable due to a lack of water, are today thriving agricultural hubs, thanks to the restoration and rejuvenation of ancient ‘nadis’ (village streams) which have helped sustain life in the desert region for millennia. With over 467 ponds rejuvenated in the Rajasthan, a variety of Village Development Committees (VDC) are taking care of the operation and maintenance of these water bodies. Today, the duration of water availability from each pond can sustain a community for almost an entire year after the rains.
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In order to overcome water and livelihood issues faced by people across 30 villages in Jaitaran Block of Pali District, western Rajasthan, Ambuja Foundation joined hands with IndusInd Bank under its Jal Jeevan initiative in 2018-19 to 'Strengthen & Augment Rural Awareness & Livelihood' - with a key focus on harnessing the power of water harvesting to revitalise the area. Today, these communities are water self-reliant, which has better equipped them to prevent the onset of COVID-19.
Ambuja Foundation joined hands with a leading financial institution to ensure drinking water for 200 poor and marginalised families of Marwar Mundwa Block in Nagaur District and Jaitaran Block in Pali District. Each of these families were equipped with a Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting Structure (RRWHS) to capture precious rainwater and store it for household use throughout the year. Ambuja Foundation has conducted extensive work in water harvesting in Rajasthan - transforming the water woes of 5 lakh people across rural India by installing 9922 RRWHS and providing 120 million litre storage capacity.
Halfway between Jodhpur and Bikaner, on the edge of the Thar Desert, lies the city of Nagaur. Its main industries include spices and tourism, and youth in the area primarily turn to agriculture for jobs and a future. It is here that Ambuja Foundation set up a Skill & Entrepreneurship Development Institute back in 2009 and somehow, over the past 12 years, this institute has churned out award winning trainees, year on year. For the last 6 years, SEDI Nagaur has produced 6 Skill Icons and has taken away the coveted Skill Ambassador award every year for the last 3 years.