The Azim Premji Foundation has launched the Azim Premji Scholarship for Delhi (NCT), with plans to support up to 20,000 girls pursuing undergraduate degrees or diploma programmes this year. Each selected student will receive ₹30,000 per year, beginning from the first year of college and continuing until completion of the course. Depending on the duration of the programme, students can receive up to ₹1.5 lakh in total financial support.
The scholarship programme, launched nationally in 2024, is designed to address financial barriers that can prevent girls from continuing their education after school. The scholarship can be used towards college fees as well as other education-related expenses, giving students greater flexibility in meeting the costs associated with higher education.
The Foundation has now opened the programme to girls who completed their schooling in 21 States and Union Territories, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Telangana, Uttarakhand and others. To qualify, applicants must have completed Classes 10 and 12 in a government school in one of the eligible States or UTs and secured admission to the first year of a recognised undergraduate degree or diploma programme anywhere in India.
The initiative has a much larger national ambition. The Azim Premji Foundation aims to provide scholarships to up to 5 lakh girls across India every year. Since most undergraduate programmes last around three years, the Foundation estimates that as many as 15 lakh girls could have active scholarships at any given time once the programme reaches full scale.
Since its launch in 2024, more than 1.9 lakh girls have already received support through the Azim Premji Scholarship, highlighting the growing reach of the initiative.
The application process is completely online and free of charge, with applications accepted only through the official Azim Premji Foundation website. The programme is intended to make financial support more accessible while encouraging girls from government-school backgrounds to pursue higher education and build long-term economic independence.
Anurag Behar, CEO of the Azim Premji Foundation, emphasised the wider social importance of investing in girls’ education, describing higher education as an important enabler of lifelong empowerment. He said the scholarship seeks to address some of the barriers that girls continue to face when accessing higher education.
The expansion to Delhi comes as part of the Foundation’s broader work towards building a more just, equitable, humane and sustainable society, with its programmes spanning education, health and other areas of social development in partnership with governments, institutions, civil society organisations and communities.
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