Social Entrepreneurship and Environmental Sustainability in India: An Overview

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-872-1_41How to use a DOI?

Keywords

India; Social Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Renewable Energy; Waste Management; Inclusive Growth

Abstract

Social entrepreneurship has gained significant momentum in recent years in India, as it provides enormous opportunities and makes a positive impact on society and environment. It addresses pressing social and Environmental issues, fostering innovation and contributing to sustainable development resulting in overall well-being of communities. Social entrepreneurship in India has emerged as a transformative force in addressing environmental and social challenges and social entrepreneurs are leading the way with creative solutions that encourage environmental sustainability. These initiatives combine social impact with business approaches to advance renewable energy, waste management, and sustainable agriculture. Social enterprises are creating environment friendly technologies and also incorporating them into local communities, ensuring equitable distribution of economic benefits. India’s commitment to achieving its sustainable development goals has spurred the growth of enterprises that focus on eco-friendly solutions and inclusive progress, including solar energy, water conservation, and waste-to-energy technologies.

Supporting the Sustainable Development theory and Social Innovation Model, this paper examines the connection between social entrepreneurship and environmental sustainability. It provides a critical examination of essential sectors-renewable energy, waste management, and sustainable agriculture-showcasing successful ventures like SELCO India and Goonj. By referencing recent peer-reviewed research and international policy frameworks, this paper highlights the opportunities and challenges that social enterprises encounter in scaling their impact, securing funding, and engaging marginalized communities. Additionally, it connects India’s domestic initiatives to its evolving foreign policy, illustrating how social entrepreneurship plays a role in global sustainable development diplomacy, apart from exploring the role of social entrepreneurship in environmental sustainability in India.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Kamala Kumari
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/11/04
TI  - Social Entrepreneurship and Environmental Sustainability in India: An Overview
BT  - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Business Practices and Innovative Models (ICSBPIM-2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 644
EP  - 667
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-872-1_41
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-872-1_41
ID  - Kumari2025
ER  -