Friends Union for Energising Lives (FUEL), a not-for-profit focused on education and employability, has been listed on the National Stock Exchange of India’s Social Stock Exchange, marking a significant step in bringing structured funding, transparency, and accountability to the social impact ecosystem.
The listing was commemorated with a bell-ringing ceremony attended by key policymakers, including Chandrakant Patil and Mangal Prabhat Lodha, alongside industry stakeholders and partners.
The move is aimed at expanding access to education, digital skills, and career pathways for underserved youth, particularly students from government schools and rural communities, with a strong focus on young women who often face systemic barriers to participation.
Alongside the listing, FUEL announced its Social Stock Exchange issue, which will support scholarships for first-generation learners and underserved girls while enabling more transparent deployment of social capital.
According to Ketan Deshpande, Founder and Chairman of FUEL, the Social Stock Exchange provides a structured mechanism to align funding with measurable outcomes, helping scale initiatives that address financial barriers to education.
Leaders at the event highlighted a broader shift in how social initiatives are being funded and evaluated. The listing reflects a growing emphasis on measurable impact, governance, and accountability, with increased participation from corporate CSR programmes and institutional stakeholders.
FUEL also announced its recognition as the FUEL Skilltech and Entrepreneurship University by the Maharashtra government, signalling its ambition to build a future-ready, industry-integrated education model that combines innovation with employability.
With initiatives spanning STEM education, scholarships, and career guidance, the organisation has already mentored over a million youth and mobilised significant funding for social impact programmes. The NSE Social Stock Exchange listing is expected to further strengthen its ability to scale these efforts across India, particularly in rural and aspirational regions.
The development underscores a larger trend where social enterprises are increasingly adopting market-linked mechanisms to drive sustainable, outcome-driven impact at scale.