Sustainability initiatives by Companies

Godrej Consumer Products Limited

In the fiscal year 2020-21, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. (GCPL) invested Rs. 34 crores on CSR projects. The company’s initiatives benefited 2.77 lakh people from vulnerable populations. GCPL spent 63% of its CSR budget last fiscal year on medium to long-term livelihood renewal initiatives to support over 9000 nano entrepreneurs. GCPL also achieved zero-waste-to-landfill and water positivity in the previous fiscal year. It has collected the equivalent amount of post-consumer plastic packaging waste as it is sending out. In the CDP leadership index, the company ranks among the top 15 in India.

Infosys Limited

In India, Infosys Limited was an early adopter of CSR. It has taken on initiatives by the Infosys Foundation, which was founded in 1996. The company spent Rs. 325.32 crores on CSR initiatives in fiscal 2020-21. Over the years, the company has focused on sustainable business practices that include economic, environmental, and social constraints that affect its operations and the communities in which it operates. The company’s CSR is not limited to charitable contributions; it also includes universal community development, institution-building, and sustainability-related initiatives. Last year, the company launched Infosys Headstart, intending to enable digital skills at scale and align with its ESG Vision 2030. Infosys Headstart is a package that integrates learning created content by Infosys and other leading companies. Infosys intends to invest in this initiative to provide 10 million people with digital and life skills by 2025.

Wipro Limited

Wipro’s CSR programs are carried out through a variety of channels, the most important of which is the Wipro Foundation. In the previous fiscal year, the company spent nearly Rs. 251 crores on CSR. Wipro funded over 1,500 projects last year that covered humanitarian aid, integrated healthcare support, and livelihoods regeneration, reaching over 10 million people through its COVID-19 response. They sent food, dry rations, and personal hygiene kits to over 10.2 million people, distributed over 330 million meals, assisted over 8.2 million people in livelihood regeneration and supported over 500 non-profits involved in delivering humanitarian and healthcare aid. The company’s education programs had an impact, reaching over 1.1 lakh students in 14 states through methods such as mohalla classes and the distribution of worksheets, books, and other supplies.

Grasim Industries Limited

Since the preceding fiscal year, Grasim Industries Limited has boosted its CSR expenditure by around 45 percent. It spent Rs. 84.66 crores in fiscal 2020-21, compared to Rs. 47.14 crores in fiscal 2020. The Economic Times and Futurescape Responsible Business Rankings 2020 named it ninth among India’s Top Companies for Sustainability and CSR. Grasim’s social outreach presence spans 15 places across seven Indian states. Through its CSR actions, the firm was able to affect the lives of nearly 31.6 lakh individuals in FY21. Among its CSR priorities are education, healthcare, sustainable livelihoods, women empowerment, and infrastructure development. The organization maintains six hospitals with a total capacity of 370 beds throughout its different sites. In FY21, 2,12,000 patients were treated at Grasim’s medical facilities. It has six company schools, with a total enrollment of 6,349 pupils.

Vedanta Limited

Vedanta Limited is involved in a variety of CSR efforts, including water, energy, and carbon management. Through its group firms, Hindustan Zinc (HZL), Cairn Oil & Gas, Electrosteels Steel, Sesa Iron Ore Business, and Vedanta Aluminium, the group has embraced sophisticated technology to optimize water use, increase energy production, mitigate climate change, and protect diversity. Vedanta invested more than Rs. 331 crores on social development efforts in FY2021, which were dispersed throughout their core impact domains of learning, healthcare, ecological sustainability, women empowerment, sports and culture, environment, and community development. With the development of 2,300+ Nand Ghars in 11 states, the company’s main CSR effort for women and children has reached a new milestone, significantly impacting the lives of 52,000 women and 65,000 children.

Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.

During the fiscal year 2020-21, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. invested Rs. 92.78 crores in different CSR initiatives across India. This figure excludes the company’s Rs. 20 crore commitment to the PM CARES Fund in FY 2020. M&M Ltd. partnered with Naandi Foundation to implement the ‘Agri Entrepreneurship Programme,’ which offers excellent agriculture training to 6,000 young people in Wardha (Maharashtra), Araku (Andhra Pradesh), Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru, enabling them to start earning a living from agricultural activities (as agriskilled farmers or agri-entrepreneurs). In Maharashtra’s Raigad District, the firm cooperated with Swades Foundation to give livelihood support (goat raising and fishing) to 679 COVID-19-affected homes, benefiting 3,054 people.

Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust (partnering with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation or BMC) received a CSR grant from the firm to acquire ICU beds for the BMC-managed COVID care unit at the NESCO convention venue in Goregaon, Mumbai. Following the epidemic, these beds will be provided to healthcare centers in Maharashtra’s rural districts that lack necessary medical facilities.

Tech Mahindra

During the three years before the current financial year, Tech Mahindra spent more than 2% of its average net income on CSR. The corporation made a major contribution to COVID-19 relief efforts this year. A total of Rs. 105 crores were spent on corporate social responsibility programs. Tech Mahindra Foundation and Mahindra Educational Institutions, Section 8 (formerly Section 25) Companies sponsored by the Company, are primarily responsible for CSR projects. The Tech Mahindra Foundation primarily assists children, teenagers, and teachers from underserved Indian urban neighborhoods, with a specific emphasis on women and people with disabilities. Tech Mahindra Foundation has successfully launched 150 high-impact initiatives with over 90 partners in FY2021, directly benefiting 31,767 people. In addition, the Foundation’s COVID Relief activities reached out to approximately 1.5 million people across the country.

Hindustan Unilever

Hindustan Unilever was one of the first companies to pledge Rs. 100 crores to societal activity in addition to the government’s efforts to combat Covid-19. In FY2021, the corporation spent Rs. 165.08 crores on corporate social responsibility. HUL donated 2 crores of soaps and sanitizers, bottles of toilet and surface cleaners, Horlicks packs, and other products to frontline medical professionals, police officers, sanitation workers, and sensitive people of the country in collaboration with the government and numerous NGOs during the pandemic. Various actions by the corporation helped India’s healthcare infrastructure. To assist scale up testing, they worked with medical institutions to deliver over 75,000 test kits. This was done in partnership with public health authorities in numerous states, including UP, MP, West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, near our factories and offices. Last year, the business provided medical equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE) for hospitals in Maharashtra, including 29 ventilators and 28 oxygen concentrators, after consulting with public health officials.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T)

Long before the Companies Act of 2013 compelled CSR, L&T was providing health and educational services to the needy in the communities surrounding its campuses. L&T’s CSR programs are well-established now, concentrating on sectors that correspond with global and national development goals, such as water and sanitation, health, education, and skill development. In FY 2020-21, total CSR spending was Rs. 150.06 crores, or 2.062 percent of earnings after tax, which is higher than the minimum 2%. Last year, the COVID-19 epidemic and national lockdown had a significant impact on both the social and economic sectors. The most severely hit sectors were health, education, and skilling. L&T moved quickly through its CSR initiatives to meet the urgent requirements of bolstering the health infrastructure, resolving lost livelihoods, and providing support to people affected by Covid-19. In 2020-21, the company spent over Rs. 36 crores on Covid Relief in India, reaching out to 12 states. L&T’s CSR is at the forefront in a variety of ways, including the establishment of ICUs for the treatment of Covid-19 patients, the provision of ventilators to Government hospitals, the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits, gloves, and masks to health workers, and the distribution of necessities such as food to people in need. The majority of the CSR program employees accepted responsibility for educating communities in the project areas about preventative and safety measures, and they were accessible for counseling and referrals.

NTPC Ltd.

NTPC Limited, India’s largest power company, is a statutory Indian business. It spent Rs. 418.87 crores on CSR projects in the financial year 2020-21, exceeding the mandated 2 percent amount of Rs. 278.57 crores and attaining a CSR expenditure of 3.04 percent. The corporation donated Rs. 250 crores to the PM CARES Fund to aid the government’s fight against COVID-19. NTPC earned the FICCI Jury Commendation Certificate under the Category ‘Women Empowerment’ for its flagship CSR project “Girl Empowerment Mission” at the CII-ITC Sustainability Award-2020 for “Corporate Social Responsibility” (GEM). Local regions around the company’s operations are given priority for CSR and sustainability efforts, ensuring that the bulk of CSR money is spent on local activities. CSR initiatives are being carried out across the rest of India to augment the government’s efforts in the areas of inclusive growth and environmental sustainability. In 2021, CSR projects in various regions benefited around 500 communities and over 450 schools. The NTPC Foundation is dedicated to supporting and developing people with disabilities and those who are economically disadvantaged.

Hindustan Zinc Ltd.

Hindustan Zinc is the world’s sixth largest silver producer and India’s sole integrated silver, lead, and zinc producer. HZL is a subsidiary of Vedanta Limited, which owns 64.9 percent of the firm while the Indian government holds 29.5 percent. In FY2021, HZL spent Rs. 214 crores on CSR. The ‘Integrated Health and Wellbeing Council’ awarded Hindustan Zinc the CSR Health Impact Award in 2021 as a symbol of gratitude for its extraordinary reaction and on-the-ground activities with a strong focus on life, livelihood, and mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic. The largest portfolio of Hindustan Zinc’s CSR activities is an investment in expanding the educational emphasis area. The second phase of the Khushi Program has begun and will last for the next five years (FY2021- FY2025). Khushi is currently functioning in 3,145 Anganwadis, serving approximately 1,60,000 children in 2,400 villages throughout five Rajasthan districts: Udaipur, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, and Ajmer. Approximately 1.32 million children were screened for health throughout the pandemic, with a major focus on minimizing malnutrition. A total of 423 CMAM camps were held, with 2,302 children categorized as very acutely malnourished (SAM). 963 youngsters were subsequently transferred out of the SAM group.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL)

Due to the disruption of activity caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, the attention has shifted to resolving the suffering that the people have experienced as a result of the pandemic. Many measures were made to provide immediate help to the impacted populations. BPCL provided Rs. 25 crores to the PM CARES Fund in 2020-21, in addition to the Rs. 100 crore donation made in 2019-20, to provide financial help for relief initiatives. A total of Rs. 144.90 crores was spent from the CSR budget of Rs. 161.91 crores for the fiscal year 2020-21. The deficit of Rs. 17.01 crore from the stipulated prescribed budget is mostly due to delays in completing projects on schedule because of COVID-19 pandemic-related constraints. The unspent sum of Rs. 17.01 crore was mapped against such initiatives where expenditure could not be made and transferred to the UCSRA (Unspent CSR Account), where it would be spent in line with the applicable CSR Rules.

Tata Consultancy Services

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a member of the Tata Group, is an IT services, consulting, and business solutions company that has been assisting many of the world’s leading companies in their transformation journeys for more than 50 years. In FY2021, the firm spent Rs. 674 crores on CSR, which was greater than the statutory amount of Rs. 663 crores. TCS focused on developing resilience as the pandemic’s extraordinary effect struck communities all around the world. While safeguarding the safety and well-being of its staff, as well as assisting its customers, it was also necessary to continue providing mission-critical services to enable people to move into this new beginning throughout the world. TCS paid a massive Rs. 250 crores to the PM Cares Fund, which helps India’s most needy and marginalized people. TCS contributed over 100,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) to police and front-line employees, as well as funding for the construction of isolation facilities in Noida. In conjunction with Tata Trusts and CMC Vellore Hospital and Care Institute of Health Sciences, the business also developed a capacity for 200 doctors across 22 institutions, helping these critical employees at a time when the epidemic was at its peak.