New Delhi, July 10: The Singapore-India partnership foundation, a private sector initiative aimed at strengthening relations between the two countries, was kick-started today with an initial corpus of Rs 1 crore.

While Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong pledged to contribute Rs 25 lakh (a sum that he got as Jawaharlal Nehru Award for international understanding), three Indian corporate houses joined the foundation by chipping in Rs 75 lakh in less than 30 minutes.

CII president Sunil Kant Munjal, Bharti chairman Sunil Mittal, and Godrej and Boyce managing director Jamshyd N. Godrej forked a sum of Rs 25 lakh each for the foundation.

Speaking at the launch, Goh said, “The foundation will not have a good impact with few people and less amount. In the longer term, we should aim to have a larger fund.”

“However, we will make sure that it grows at a pace that everybody is comfortable with,” he added. About the investment climate in India, Goh said his country hopes to be a catalyst for foreign investment in India.” The foundation will aim to strengthen economic linkages, government relations, academic interaction and cultural understanding between the two countries.