Beyond Philanthropy: Corporate Foundations' Knowledge Production and State Entanglements in India

Abstract

This thesis examines how corporate foundations in India establish themselves as authoritative knowledge producers and development experts through strategic partnerships with state institutions and analyses the implications for democratic governance and development practice. Drawing on nine months of fieldwork in Jharkhand and Odisha during 2023, the research focuses on two case studies: the Piramal Foundation's Aspirational Districts Collaborative and the Tata Steel Foundation's Jamshedpur-Kalinganagar Development Corridor Project. The analysis reveals three interconnected mechanisms through which corporate foundations shape India's development landscape. First, foundations construct technical authority through data practices and partnerships that position them as essential knowledge producers based on analytical frameworks they have designed and validated. Second, foundations embed personnel within state systems through fellowship programmes that place foundation-trained professionals in district and block offices, making corporate actors routine participants in public governance. Third, foundations create systematic dependencies through initiatives framed as capacity building that ultimately serve foundation interests while making government institutions reliant on corporate-generated knowledge and expertise. These mechanisms create an 'infrastructure of influence', consisting of arrangements of knowledge production, personnel deployment and institutional embedding that become essential to government operations while maintaining an appearance of politically neutral technical assistance. This infrastructure alters the relationship between public and private authority by making corporate foundations integral to how development priorities are identified, measured and addressed within state institutions. The thesis contributes to scholarship on philanthropy and development by showing how knowledge production serves as a primary mechanism through which corporate foundations maintain influence within governance systems. This study offers a grounded account of how corporate-state boundaries shift through everyday engagements, data infrastructures, and the circulation of foundation-trained personnel. Show more