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HUL partners with Internet.org to understand increasing Internet adoption in rural India
MUMBAI: Today, Unilever announced a partnership with Internet.org, a Facebook-led alliance of partners, to understand better how internet access can be increased to reach millions more people across rural India.
Just 13 per cent of the Indian population has internet access and as an initial step, Internet.org and Unilever will carry out a comprehensive study to examine the opportunities to increase internet adoption in rural communities. Apart from infrastructure and cost which are known barriers to connectivity, the partnership will carefully evaluate other educational and cultural factors that also limit internet use.
The mission of Internet.org is to bring the benefits of internet access to all and by leveraging Unilever’s vast expertise on the ground via a comprehensive research and activation programme, the partnership aims to better understand the barriers to connectivity in rural communities. Unilever and Internet.org will leverage this research to inform the development of a series of on-the-ground projects with the aim of improving lives in rural India through better connectivity.
Unilever has extensive experience developing and deploying programmes for rural consumers. For example, Lifebuoy, the world’s leading health soap, has been promoting handwashing awareness in rural India for several years and has successfully enabled women in remote communities to enhance their incomes through the Shakti project.
Lowering the barriers to internet access requires a collaborative effort. Through this partnership, Unilever and Internet.org are pursuing the mission of bringing the benefits of internet access to the two-thirds of the world who are not yet connected.
Keith Weed, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Unilever:
“Access to the internet is improving in countries like India but there is still a very high proportion of people that would love the opportunity to connect and engage but who cannot enjoy what many of us take for granted. Having no internet access naturally removes all associated opportunities that it brings which, in turn, can be a barrier to learning and ultimately hinder economic development. Through our long history of serving the Indian market we bring an in-depth understanding of rural Indian communities. We hope, together with Internet.org, we can use this know-how to understand better how a vital modern resource can benefit many more millions.”
Chris Weasler, Director of Global Connectivity, Facebook:
“The internet not only connects us to our friends, families and communities, but it’s also the foundation of the global knowledge economy and a way to deliver basic financial services, health and educational tools. In partnership with Unilever, we hope to break down the barriers to access and, in turn, provide millions of people with the information that can help them, and their communities, thrive.”
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Samsung certifies 1,000 Maharashtra students in AI and coding
The South Korean electronics giant marks its first large-scale skilling push in the state, with women making up nearly half the national programme’s enrolment
PUNE: Samsung has put 1,000 students in Maharashtra through a certified training programme in artificial intelligence and coding, the largest such drive the South Korean electronics company has run in the state and a signal that corporate India’s skilling ambitions are moving well beyond the boardroom brochure.
The certifications were awarded under Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC), the company’s flagship corporate social responsibility programme, which launched in India in 2022 with the stated aim of democratising access to future-technology education. The 1,000 graduates were drawn from four institutions: 127 from Savitribai Phule Pune University, 373 from Pimpri Chinchwad University, 250 from D.Y. Patil University’s Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology and 250 from Anjuman-I-Islam’s Kalsekar Technical Campus. All completed training in either AI or coding and programming, the two disciplines Samsung has identified as the critical pillars of the digital economy.
The programme does not stop at technical training. Soft-skills development and career-readiness modules are baked into the curriculum, a deliberate attempt to close the gap between what universities teach and what employers actually want.
“India’s digital growth story will ultimately be shaped by the quality of its talent pipeline,” said Shubham Mukherjee, head of CSR and corporate communications at Samsung Southwest Asia. “As technologies like AI move from the periphery to the core of industries, skilling must evolve from basic training to building real-world capability. This milestone in Maharashtra reflects how industry and academia can come together to create a future-ready workforce that is both globally competitive and locally relevant.”
The Maharashtra drive sits within a rapidly scaling national effort. Samsung Innovation Campus trained 20,000 young people across India in 2025, hitting its stated target for the year. Women account for 48 per cent of national enrolments, a figure the company cites as evidence of its push for an inclusive technology ecosystem. The programme is implemented in partnership with the Electronics Sector Skills Council of India and the Telecom Sector Skill Council.
Samsung, which is marking 30 years in India this year, runs SIC alongside two other initiatives, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow and Samsung DOST, as part of a broader effort to build what it calls a generation of innovators with both the technical depth and the problem-solving mindset to thrive in a fast-moving digital world.
A thousand certified students is a tidy headline. Whether they find jobs that match their new skills is the harder question, and the one that will ultimately determine whether corporate skilling programmes like this one are genuine pipelines or well-photographed gestures.
