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NGO stands for Non Governmental Organizations. Basically, a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) is a not-for-profit organization incorporated with some social or humanitarian mission around the globe or in a country. NGOs in India are registered as Section 8 Companies under the Companies Act 2013, Trusts under Indian Trusts Act 1882 and Societies under Societies Registration Act 1860.
If you want to know about the best NGOs in India, check out this blog wherein we provide you with the list of top 10 NGOs in India.
In our list of top 10 NGOs in India, we have listed some of the most popular NGOs in the country. All these NGOs in India have made major contributions to our society at large.
Founding Year: 2002
The Smile Foundation was established as an NGO in 2002. It is one of the top NGOs in India that currently provides direct assistance to over 300,000 poor children and youth through 158 welfare projects in 25 states of India. These projects focus on women's empowerment, education, healthcare, and livelihood.
The Smile Foundation has partnered with corporations, civic organizations, educational and developmental institutions, government agencies, and community organizations to advance its mission and improve the lives of impoverished children and youth in India. The foundation firmly believes in the power of cooperation.
The Smile Foundation's whole administration and operations adhere to the concept of "Good Governance". It distinguishes itself with standards of sustainability, scalability, accountability, transparency, credibility, and capable leadership.
Founding Year: 1978
HelpAge India is a non-governmental organization in India focused on the concerns of elders. It was established in 1978 with the aim of serving disadvantaged elders in a holistic manner to enable them to live dignified, active and healthier lives.
HelpAge advocates for the elderly needs such as universal pension, quality healthcare, action against elder abuse and more at societal, state and national level, with the state and central governments.
The programs and initiatives of HelpAge lay emphasis on direct interventions in domains like healthcare, agecare, disaster response, livelihoods and advocating for rights of the elderly. The aim of this NGO is to serve the disadvantaged elders via holistic approach and allow them to live a healthy, active and dignified life.
Some of the programmes and services of HelpAge include Mobile Healthcare Unit, Restoration of Vision and Digital Literacy for Elders.
Founding Year: 2015
Pehchaan The Street School is a registered trust that has been actively working since its establishment in 2015. It serves several slum communities in the Delhi NCR region. The organization is dedicated to offering free education to children from underprivileged backgrounds.
The word “Pehchaan” translates to ‘Identity’. True to its name, the organization strives to give underprivileged children a sense of identity and purpose through education. It not only aims to educate but also to equip these children with the tools and opportunities needed to achieve financial independence.
Since its inception, Pehchaan The Street School has championed education as a basic right that every child deserves, regardless of their socio-economic status. However, the organization’s work extends beyond academics. In a system where education has become commercialised and out of reach for many, Pehchaan is committed to dismantling the barriers that prevent marginalised children from accessing meaningful academic and vocational learning.
At its core, the mission of the organisation is to provide street and slum-dwelling children with free, quality education. Alongside this, it works to help them pursue higher studies or enrol in skill-based courses at minimal cost, with the ultimate goal of helping them become self-sufficient.
Founding Year: 1979
Child Rights and You (CRY) is an Indian NGO that works towards ensuring the rights of children across India. An Air India purser, Mr. Rippan Kapur, started the organization in 1979. Today, in 2025, CRY is one of the best NGOs in India. Child Rights and You works with more than 100 local NGOs across 19 states in India. It has impacted the lives of millions of children in the country. As one of the top 10 NGOs in India, CRY addresses the critical needs of children.
For this, they work with parents, teachers, Anganwadi (Indian rural child care center) workers, communities, district/state-level governments as well as the children themselves. It focuses on changing practices/behaviors at the grassroots levels and influencing public policy at a systematic level to form an environment where the priority is given to children.
The organization works on 4 key areas, namely: Education (Right to Development), Health and Nutrition (Right to Survival), Safety and Protection (Right to Protection), and Child Participation (Right to Participation). CRY participates in a number of international child rights forums, such as the National Action and Coordination Group For Ending Violence Against Children (NACG-EVAC) and Girls Not Brides. NACG-EVAC is a national platform under the aegis of the South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC), an intergovernmental platform operating in eight nations.
Founding Year: 1920
Founded in 1920, the Indian Red Cross Society is one of the leading NGOs in the list of NGOs in India. It is a voluntary humanitarian organization that protects human life and health. The Indian Red Cross Society is a part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Hence, it shares the fundamental values of the Indian Red Cross as well as the Red Crescent Movement.
The core mission of Red Cross India is to offer relief during disasters and emergencies, while also promoting health and care for vulnerable individuals and communities. With a vast network of over 700 branches across India, the Indian Red Cross Society operates under the common emblem of the Red Cross, shared by Red Cross societies worldwide. Since its establishment in 1920, volunteering has been central to the Indian Red Cross Society’s work. It has dedicated programmes for Youth and Junior volunteers. Also, the organization also maintains a strong association with St John Ambulance India.
During the First World War, a branch of the Joint War Committee, formed by the St John Ambulance Association and the British Red Cross, provided relief services to soldiers in India. Recognising the need for an independent entity, Sir Claude Hill, a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council and Chairman of the Joint War Committee in India, introduced a bill on 3 March 1920 to establish the Indian Red Cross Society. The bill was passed as the Indian Red Cross Society Act, 1920, on 17 March, and received the Governor General’s assent on 20 March, becoming Parliament Act XV of 1920.
On 7 June 1920, fifty individuals from the Indian branch of the Joint War Committee were nominated to form the Indian Red Cross Society. From this group, the first managing body was elected, with Sir William Malcolm Hailey serving as its first chairman.
Founding Year: 2000
PETA is one of the top 10 NGOs in India for animal welfare and rights. PETA stands for “People for Ethical Treatment of Animals”. This animal welfare NGO is originally an American animal rights non-profit organization based in Virginia and led by Ingrid Newkirk - its International President.
PETA entered India in January 2000. The headquarters of PETA India is Mumbai, Maharashtra. The basic principle of PETA India is that we should not experiment on animals, consume animals, wear animals, use animals for amusement or otherwise mistreat animals. The organization also works to educate the public and policymakers about animal abuse and the right of all animals to be treated with dignity.
PETA India mainly targets the industries that cause the most suffering to animals: the food industry, the entertainment sector, the leather trade, and laboratories. Numerous animal lives have been spared and innumerable animal lives have been improved as a consequence of PETA India's investigations, public education campaigns, research, animal rescues, legislative activity, special events, celebrity involvement, and national media coverage.
Founding Year: 1969
WWF stands for World Wide Fund for Nature. It is a charitable trust and was established on 27 November 1969. WWF India started with the objective of reducing Earth’s natural environment’s degradation and building a future in which individuals live in harmony with nature.
In 1987, WWF changed its name from World Wildlife Fund to World Wide Fund for Nature. The NGO made this change to reflect the broader scope of their conservation efforts, which consisted not only of wildlife conservation but also habitats and environmental conservation.
WWF India has 5 decades of extensive work and is one of the leading conservation organizations in India. It is a science-based NGO that addresses challenges like conservation of species and habitats, climate change, water and environmental education, etc.
WWF has broadened its perspective over the years to reflect a more holistic understanding of different types of conservation issues that the country faces. It seeks to proactively encourage environmental conservation by partnering with various stakeholders including government, NGOs, schools, universities, students and other individuals.
Founding Year: 2000
Akshaya Patra Foundation is one of the top 10 non profit organizations in India. Its headquarters is in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It was founded in 2000 as an independent charitable trust under Indian Trusts Act 1882. The aim of the Akshaya Patra Foundation is to eliminate classroom hunger via implementation of the PM Poshan (Mid-Day Meal) Programme.
The Foundation provides nutrients-rich meals to students studying in government schools and government-aided schools. Additionally, it aims to counter malnutrition and support the Right to Education of children who come from socio-economically challenging backgrounds.
Akshaya Patra is the largest NGO partner of the Indian Government for the implementation of PM Poshan Abhiyaan in government-run schools in the country. This partnership is based on the Public-Private Partnership model. It is one of the biggest NGO-run school feeding initiatives across the globe.
Since its commencement, the Akshaya Patra Foundation has served more than 4 billion meals. At an event held in UN Headquarters in New York, USA, the milestone of the 4 billionth meal was commemorated. At present, the Foundation feeds millions of beneficiaries in 78 locations across 16 states and 3 union territories of India.
Founding Year: 2001
Greenpeace India was established in 2001. It is an Indian branch of Greenpeace, an NGO having presence across 55 countries in Europe, Asia and America. Greenpeace India’s headquarters is in Bengaluru. It has branches in Chennai, Patna and Delhi.
Around the globe, the NGO is standing up for communities, and is holding governments and corporations accountable. Greenpeace India exists because of activists, supporters, donors and volunteers who believe in taking collective action for the environment. It does not receive donations from governments or corporations, and relies on the donations of approx. 56,000 Indian citizens to fund its campaign work.
For several years now, Greenpeace has been supported by an able and committed team involved with raising public awareness on environmental issues and raising funds for the organization. Over the years, this team has helped them inspire more than 3,00,000 individual supporters to join Greenpeace’s mission and help it stay financially stable and independent.
Under its new restructured model, these critical functions have now been outsourced. The NGO has contracted Direct Dialogue Initiatives India Pvt. Ltd (DDII) with a mission to raise funds ethically for environmental and social causes.
Founding Year: 1950
Care India was founded in 1950 as part of Care USA. The not-for-profit organization started as a small initiative with focus on offering relief at the times of natural disasters. Later, it evolved into a multi-sector organization working in various domains like healthcare, education and disaster management. Care India pledges to help needy underprivileged children, orphans, women and children from vulnerable families. It is their vision that all such needy children must be provided a chance to access education, medical and emotional care.
It has various programmes to support its main programs like child protection, child education, child cancer patient, child labour cases, child health and nutrition and emergencies. Care India has various operations including technological innovations, quality standards, management of operations, back office-related operations and volunteers.
In this blog post, we provided you with the list of NGOs in India. All of them work for the betterment of the society. If you want to run an NGO, one of the most popular business models is a Section 8 Company. If you need assistance in setting up a Section 8 Company, connect with Registrationwala!
Disclaimer: This article is based on the author’s personal opinion and may or may not represent views of the general public, institutions or organizations.
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