About
To support the preservation and promotion of Indian classical music and performing arts through grants and institutional partnerships.
Mumbai-based private family foundation supporting Indian classical music and performing arts. Consistent, low-profile institutional funder in the classical arts ecosystem.
The Harish and Bina Shah Foundation was established by Harish Shah and his wife Bina Shah as an expression of their personal commitment to Indian classical music. The Foundation operates with a deliberately low public profile, preferring to support institutions and practitioners directly without seeking credit. Its support has been directed toward classical music festivals, established performing arts institutions and individual classical musicians. The Foundation is known within the classical music community as a reliable, long-term funder whose support reflects genuine artistic appreciation rather than brand-building objectives. Specific grant recipients, quantum of support and financial details are not publicly disclosed.
Founding & Leadership
Harish and Bina Shah founded HBSF in 2002. Harish Shah is a first-generation entrepreneur from Ahmedabad who built Signet Excipients Pvt. Ltd., a pharmaceutical raw materials business that became a global leader in excipients. He holds a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from MIT Manipal (batch of 1980). In 2020, Signet was acquired by IMCD N.V. of the Netherlands, generating the capital that significantly expanded HBSF's philanthropic capacity. Harish chairs HBSF and leads Signet Capital, focusing on strategy, governance, and institution-building. Bina Shah serves as Executive Director, bringing over 30 years of human resource and administration experience from Signet Excipients. Their daughter Amira Shah Chhabra is CEO and Executive Director of HBSF. Anushka (another family member/advisor) is founder and CEO of Civic Studios, advising HBSF on behavioural change and media-driven community engagement.
18-member Board of Directors including family members and volunteers; Harish Shah, Bina Harish Shah, Amira Shah Chhabra, and Robin Chhabra as directors (MCA records, FY2025)
Initiatives & Portfolio
Grant support for established Hindustani classical music festivals in Mumbai and across India. Specific festivals not publicly disclosed.
Multi-year support for classical music institutions and performing arts organisations. Specific partnerships not publicly disclosed.
Direct support for individual classical musicians. Details not publicly disclosed.
Cultural Funding
Cultural verticals
Impact & Metrics
Partnerships & Network
Partner institutions
Sattva multi-year grant programme covering education, health, livelihoods, legal aid, waste management, air quality; ILSS Harish and Bina Shah Centre for Talent and Leadership; Economic Growth Collaborative (founding partner)
Credentials & Compliance
CSR-eligible · Not applicable — voluntary philanthropic foundation, not a statutory CSR entity
Not applicable; HBSF is an independent private charitable foundation, not a corporate CSR vehicle
The Harish and Bina Shah Foundation represents a model of quiet, sustained personal patronage of the classical arts that has historically been as important to the health of India's classical music ecosystem as institutional grant-making. Its deliberately low profile is itself a feature: the Foundation funds what its founders believe in without publicity requirements, creating a more artistically honest support relationship than many corporate CSR programmes.
The Harish and Bina Shah Foundation is documented in the Culture Atlas Funding Atlas with the honest acknowledgement that its public documentation is limited by design. [Atlas Assessment] The Foundation's existence and general cultural focus are documented; specific programmes, recipients and financial details are not publicly available. Score reflects the Foundation's genuine cultural mission and known activity alongside the limited public documentation. Cultural organisations seeking support should approach the Foundation through established connections within the classical music community.