K. K. Birla Foundation

The K.K. Birla Foundation was established in 1991 by Krishna Kumar Birla. Its mission is to promote literature (especially Hindi literature) and the arts, as well as education and social work. It regularly gets mentioned in the media for the awards it confers, includding:

1. the Saraswati Samman 7.5 lakh (US$13,700) for prose/poetry work in any Indian language,
2. the Vyas Samman 2.5 lakh (US$4,600) for prose/poetry work in Hindi,
3. the Bihari Puraskar 1 lakh (US$1,800) for prose/poetry work in Hindi/Rajasthani, only authors from Rajasthan are eligible,
4. the Shankar Puraskar 1.5 lakh (US$2,700) for a work in Hindi concerning Indian philosophy, culture and/or art,
5. the Vachaspati Puraskar 1 lakh (US$1,800) for any work in Sanskrit,
6. the G.D. Birla Award for scientific research 1.5 lakh (US$2,700).