Online and mobile commerce major the Alibaba Group, along with Crossword and Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust, has launched ‘Mission Million Books’, a pan-India initiative inviting Indian citizens to donate textbooks and educational material for the underprivileged. The collected material will be distributed to more than 2,500 educational institutions across India.

In addition to mobilising and coordinating with partners to prepare for the project, the Alibaba Group said it would donate over 50,000 books to the campaign, and Alibaba.com and UC Web would provide online marketing support to maximise the impact, the company said in a statement.

• The campaign’s other partners are The World Bank Family Network Book Project, Delhivery, Kotak Mahindra Bank, mGage India, Shoppers Stop, HyperCity and Rotary Club of Bombay Worli.

• Guru Gowrappan, Global Managing Director, Alibaba Group, said: “We believe that every child in India must have the opportunity to learn and cultivate a reading habit which is an important ingredient for learning and building curiosity.”

• Book collection points by partners will be set up in 65 locations across India between August 18 and September 16.

• In addition, Delhivery will arrange book pick-ups through its over 6,000 locations, mGage India will provide mobile marketing and engagement for the campaign, Kotak Mahindra Bank’s over 1,300 branches will provide support for collecting books, while Rotary Club of Bombay Worli will help with collection, sorting, distribution and donation.

Alibaba Group:

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a Chinese e-commerce company that provides consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and business-to-business sales services via web portals.
CEO: Daniel Zhang
Founders: Peng Lei, Jack Ma
Subsidiaries: Alibaba.com, UCWeb, Alibaba Pictures