July 17: Mr. Christian Jack, Deputy Consul-General and Ms. Garima Shewkani, Economic Diplomacy and Visits Manager from the Australian Consulate-General, Mumbai, visited BAIF, Pune to explore the scope for strengthening Indo-Australian collaboration in the development sector. The visit also rekindled the relationship which was established 45 years ago.
Dr. Bharat Kakade, President, BAIF, highlighted the opportunity for BAIF to host satellite centres of Australian technical skilling institutions in India and the potential for joint initiatives in knowledge transfer, curriculum co-creation and capacity building for rural youth.
Mr. Christian Jack, expressed hope in strengthening social, economic, financial and networking ties with BAIF by exploring partnerships between BAIF and academic institutions, startups, scientific and research organizations and venture capital firms based in Australia and with the Australian Chamber of Commerce for potential partnerships with corporates. He presented the Certificate of Achievement to BAIF under the Australian Consulate-General, Mumbai’s Direct Aid Program 2024–25 for the initiative “Empowering Rural Communities for Agricultural Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods” in 10 villages of Wardha district, Maharashtra. BAIF had received the Consul-General, Australian Consulate-General, Mumbai, to the project area in October 2024.
Mr. Shrinivas Kulkarni, Group Vice President – Finance, shared BAIF’s plan to incubate 30 rural-focussed startups in FY 2025–26 through the BAIF Incubation Centre, set up in collaboration with the Maharashtra State Innovation Society (MSInS). He also emphasized on the scope for strategic collaboration with Australian incubators and accelerators in the agri-tech space. Dr. Rajashree Joshi, Programme Director, presented BAIF’s integrated development model. Ms. Pritam Chandak, Mr. Sanwarmal Chejara, Mr. Dharmesh Bhavsar, Mr. Yogesh Sawant and Ms. Sucharita Dhar also interacted with the delegation.
