Back in December, we wrote about the new Piramal Prize for healthcare innovations.? Now, the deadline is just twelve days away...but there is still time to submit a winning entry.? See below for the details.

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Anand Shah, CEO of the Piramal Foundation and a NextBillion reader, alerted me to the recently-announced $25,000//10 lakh rupees Piramal Prize for Innovations that Democratize Healthcare. In his e-mail, he notes that prize was created

...to encourage and support bold entrepreneurial ideas which have a profound impact on access to higher standards of health for India?s rural and marginalized urban communities. The award recognizes high-impact, scalable business models that propose innovative solutions which directly or indirectly address India?s healthcare crisis. Entries may include, but are not limited to, innovations in service delivery, technology applications, health-related products, or mechanisms to address public health necessities such as potable water.

Initial entries for the prize are due no later than April 1, 2008; the winner will be announced at the end of May.The Piramal Prize is a joint project of the Ajay G. Piramal Foundation and the Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship at the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad. It is interesting to note that the Piramal Foundation gets most of its support from Piramal Enterprises, a major player in the Indian pharmaceutical industry. This prize is an excellent example of how corporate social investment aligns with financial returns. But that's the subject of another post.

Thanks, Anand, for the alert. I encourage NextBillion readers to learn more about the Piramal Prize and submit their applications soon. Even if you are not a BoP health enterprise, consider bookmarking the Piramal Prize web site, as the entries will be available for public viewing as they are submitted.

(Via story suggestion - yes, we really do read them!)