case study on csr in india

Resolving ‘Grand Challenges’: India's Mandatory CSR in Practice

The Equal Pillars of Sustainability

ISBN : 978-1-80382-066-8 , eISBN : 978-1-80382-065-1

ISSN : 2043-0523

Publication date: 18 April 2022

In recent times the government has emerged as an enabling and empowering facilitator promoting the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by businesses to leverage economic competitiveness and growth. India provides a unique context to explore the mandated role of government in relation to CSR specifically within the context of understanding its effective use to resolve grand challenges which the country is facing at present. Grand challenges are complex social, economic and environmental problems which require innovative and collaborative solutions. In this chapter we explore extant secondary data, related to CSR and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to examine whether mandatory CSR implementation which has been unfolding in India over the last few years has been effective in addressing India's grand challenges. Specifically, it focuses on the role of the Indian government, at the national and state levels, in directing CSR activities towards the SDGs.

• Sustainable development goals
• Governments
• Governmentality
• Grand challenges

Ray, S. and Beddewela, E. (2022), "Resolving ‘Grand Challenges’: India's Mandatory CSR in Practice", Crowther, D. and Seifi, S. (Ed.) The Equal Pillars of Sustainability ( Developments in Corporate Governance and Responsibility, Vol. 17 ), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 225-240. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2043-052320220000017011

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022 by Emerald Publishing Limited

Introduction

Grand challenges have been defined as ‘large unresolved problems, which affect large populations, thus extending their impacts beyond the boundaries of a single community’ ( Ferraro, Etzion, & Gehman, 2015 , p. 365). Amongst the most prominent grand challenges are: climate change, water scarcity, poverty alleviation and the safeguarding of human rights. The business contributions towards resolving these ‘grand challenges’ was reiterated by Ban Ki-Moon, in his foreword to the 2015 Millennium Development Goals Report, emphasizing the need to ‘deliver on our shared responsibility to put an end to poverty’ ( UN, 2015 ).

Businesses can play a crucial role in resolving grand challenges, primarily by engaging in value creation through their traditional business activities ( Frynas, 2008 ). They could likewise go beyond their traditional role of economic value creation in finding sustainable solutions for grand challenges, such as alleviating poverty ( Frynas, 2008 ). This latter role of business in development as a non-market player, where it engages pro-actively in addressing and potentially re-dressing grand challenges (for example, conducting projects aimed at providing water, health and education or basic infrastructure), can also be argued to be a crucial element of their corporate social responsibilities (CSR). Although the adoption of CSR by business has been steadily progressive, there are fewer insights into the developmental impacts of CSR ( Newell & Frynas, 2007 ).

In recent times, governments too have emerged as an enabling and empowering actor, promoting the adoption and implementation of CSR at the domestic ( Snider, Halpern, Rendon, & Kidalov, 2013 ) and global governance levels ( Giessen, Burns, Sahide, & Wibowo, 2016 ). Governments participate in voluntary CSR programs, providing technical expertise, administrative and financial support to such programs ( Gulbrandsen, 2014 ). This stream of literature informs us that through their participation governments shape the emergence, diffusion and implementation of corporate CSR practices. Findings also highlight the importance of state and non-state actors' contributions to how corporations' CSR activities are articulated. Although influences exerted by governments remain as yet one of the most significant ( Schrempf-Stirling, Palazzo, & Phillips, 2016 ), empirical scholarly work on governments' role in CSR remains relatively underexplored ( Dentchev, van Balen, & Haezendonck, 2015 ), specifically in relation to developing countries.

This chapter aims to understand the role of the government in resolving ‘grand challenges’ at a country-level through the use of policies promoting greater corporate involvement in socio-economic development. It poses the research question ‘Can government policy interventions in CSR enable the resolution of grand challenges in a developing country?’ examining it from the context of India.

The chapter contributes to the literature in a two-fold manner: first, we contribute to the ongoing literature on government involvement in CSR ( Knudsen & Brown, 2015 ; Midttun, 2005 ) providing empirical insights on the extent of governmental influence in corporations' CSR adoption and implementation of CSR from a developing country standpoint. Second, building upon existing CSR governmentality literature (e.g. Vallentin & Murillo, 2012 ; Vallentin, 2015 ), we highlight the workings of governmental policies in a selected institutional field considered by some to be an important precursor towards clarifying organizational level strategy in general ( Peng, 2002 ) and corporate political activities ( Frynas & Stephens, 2014 ) in particular.

Review of Literature

Corporate social responsibility and corporate community involvement.

Carroll (1979 , p. 500) considers CSR to encompass ‘the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary (philanthropic) expectations that society has of organisations at a given point in time’. CSR in developing countries is primarily about firm-level engagement in Corporate Community Involvement (CCI). Corporate Community Involvement (CCI) can be described as corporations' involvement in societal concerns with the aim to improve the socio-economic issues faced by societies in which they are operating ( Muthuri, Moon, & Idemudia, 2012 ). Although there is no single definition of the community development, the United Nations (UN) defines it as ‘a process where community/society member come together to take collective actions and generate solutions to common problem’ (Cited in McEwan, Mawdsley, Banks, & Scheyvens, 2017 ). It can also be described as firm activities directed towards supporting community development ( Banks, Scheyvens, McLennan, & Bebbington, 2016 ).

In engaging in CCI, organizations use their resources (people, expertise, surplus products, premises, equipment and financial resources) to address problems in the communities in which they operate ( Grayson, 1993 ). Literature has also identified various modes for the implementation of CCI, such as: corporate donations ( Saiia, Carroll, & Buchholtz, 2003 ; Waddock, 2008 ), cause-related marketing ( Demetriou, Papasolomou, & Vrontis, 2010 ; Baghi, Rubaltelli, & Tedeschi, 2009 ; Varadarajan & Menon, 1988 ), corporate partnerships ( Seitanidi & Crane, 2009 ), and corporate social investments or capacity building ( Nwankwo, Phillips, & Tracey, 2007 ; Warhurst, 2001 ). These different modes of CCI are not mutually exclusive and companies tend to use more than one mode to implement their CCR practices ( Muthuri et al., 2012 ). However, CCI practices within companies have more recently been transformed from a voluntary activity to a key strategic management tool ( Brammer & Millington, 2004 ). Research has confirmed that if managed effectively, CCI practices would assist organizations to retain and gain customers ( Simmons & Becker-Olsen, 2006 ), foster a sense of commitment from employees ( De Gilder, Schuyt, & Breedijk, 2005 ; Zappalà, 2004 ) and increase corporate reputation or image as a caring business ( Arendt & Brettel, 2010 ; Brammer & Pavelin, 2005 ; Gardberg, 2017 ; Hillenbrand & Money, 2007 ) and develop political ties ( Beddewela & Fairbrass, 2016 ; Wang & Qian, 2011 ).

Governmental Involvement in CSR

The question of whether corporations’ CSR practices should be self-regulated through voluntary and discretionary CSR ( Carroll, 1979 ; Wartick & Mahon, 1994 ) or whether it should be mandatory, i.e. regulated by governmental institutions ( Bendell, Miller, & Wortmann, 2011 ; Deegan & Shelly, 2014 ) has been ever present in the wider CSR literature. There is a tendency however in the CSR literature to denigrate the influence of government on businesses' CSR practices or even exclude such influences due to the need for CSR to be deemed as voluntary ( McWilliams & Siegel, 2001 ) and thus self-regulated. However, what is evident from literature so far has been that businesses' CSR practices are being influenced by multiple stakeholders ( Park & Ghauri, 2015 ), most importantly by governments ( Zhao, 2012 ). Governmental interest in CSR stems primarily from the fact that the socio-developmental values of CSR typically align with their overall public policy agenda of states, even as CSR helps to alleviate societal problems ( Tencati, Perrini, & Pogutz, 2004 ).

The global governance literature ascribes that due to the externalities of globalization, the role and effectiveness of governments in governance is in decline. The rise of globalization however does not necessarily imply a decline in governments' ability to shape the conduct of corporations; rather, it reflects a shift in the governance logic by states from the conventional hierarchical governance model via regulations to a more subtle form of governance ( Wood & Wright, 2015 ). As such, governments are still in the business of providing institutional contexts for corporations to function ( Kobrin, 2009 ; Ramamurti, 2003 ; Schrempf-Stirling et al., 2016 ), informing their corporate activities and societal responsibilities, through legislations and public policies.

Customarily, government contributions to CSR manifests directly through regulatory institutions for CSR and indirectly through the mobilization of market mechanisms. With the latter, government contribution is perceived to be collaborative, facilitating corporations' CSR actions through soft instruments ( Albareda, Lozano, & Ysa, 2007 ). More specifically, governmental public policies act as instruments for governmental influence within this voluntary CSR space. Fox, Ward and Howard (2002) present a framework which examines the ‘role’ of the public sector or the government in facilitating CSR.

As shown in Table 1 , four principle public sector roles in supporting a CSR agenda within a specific country consist of: mandating, facilitating, partnering and endorsing. In their mandating role, governments not only define the minimum standards of behaviour in relation to all aspects of CSR, but in relation to CCI, would determine ‘mandatory’ corporate contributions towards CCI projects in the country, usually through legislative changes. In enabling their facilitator role, the primary objective of the government would be acting as a catalyst for social and environment improvements, thus stimulating corporate engagement in CCI, but without imperative regulation. For example, a government can demonstrate its support for specific CSR policies by incorporating it into its public procurement or public sector management practices (e.g. Snider et al., 2013 ; Steurer, Martinuzzi, & Margula, 2012 ). As a partner, the government simultaneously could act as either convenors, participants or facilitators of specific partnerships. The government's endorsement role involves it leading by example and providing substantive political support for CSR ( Knudsen & Brown, 2015 ). Using political rhetoric and informational campaigns, it would engage in raising CSR awareness and promoting constructive corporate ethical practices. We adopt the above classification of Fox et al.’s (2002) , as it is clearly indicative of the manifestations of governmental influence within the CSR sphere, specifically focussing on the four roles as manifested through the secondary data in relation to the CCI in India.

Public Sector Engagement in CSR.

Source: Adapted from Fox et al. (2002) .

Furthermore, while mandating, facilitation and partnering role of governments can be argued to be forms of hard power in that they induce corporations' CSR compliance through either threats and/or inducements, endorsement reflects governmental soft power – the ability to co-opt corporations to adopt specific CSR actions without legislative inducement or financial support. Soft power refers to ‘the ability to exercise influence [power] on others through means of attraction rather than coercion’ ( Nye Jr, 2004 , p. 10). It is a relational form of power in that the ability to influence stem from attraction, admiration and respect of particular actors ( Gallarotti, 2011 ; Nye Jr, 2004 ). Soft power is based on the notion that actors are autonomous and yet interdependent of one another ( Kearn, 2011 ). By aligning our analytical classification of public instruments in CSR in relation to power, we anticipate that the institutional environment will inform the type and effectiveness of CSR public instruments employed by governments. The use of public policies to stimulate businesses to engage in CSR has so far been investigated mainly in relation to context-specific studies limited to developed countries (See Albareda, Lozano, Tencati, Midttun, & Perrini, 2008 ; Albareda et al., 2006 , 2007 ), or from a wider national governance perspective (See Gjolberg, 2009 ; Midttun, 2005 ).

However, existing research provides minimal insights in relation to the interactions which occur between businesses and governments in jurisdictions where institutional voids are prevalent. Thus, we focus on India, thereby focussing on a developing country which provides fresh insights into governmental involvement in CSR in a different political economy and a unique social configuration in which institutional frameworks that determine the rules of the game are ‘fragmented’, ‘unorganised’ and ‘uncoordinated’ ( Gond, Kang, & Moon, 2011 ).

Research Context: India

The Indian economy is poised to grow in the coming decades, relying on a resilient economy, investor-friendly government and a strong demographic dividend. However, India is one of the rare economies in world history which has managed to grow economically with limited benefit to its poorest ( Dreze & Sen, 2014 ). It faces multiple challenges in terms of health, education and other basic amenities. The country has the world's largest number of rural people without access to water ( WaterAid, 2018 ). Performance in other areas of human well-being like infant mortality, nutrition and hunger have put India in the 131st place in the 2016 UNDP human development report. Twenty-three percent of India's 1.2 billion strong population earns less than $1.25 daily and the country is ranked 130th among 188 countries in 2015 ( UNDP, 2015 ). In education, the country sees more than 50% of school students dropping out and even those who manage to continue struggle with basic skills ( Bansal & Bhattacharya, 2017 ).

CSR efforts in India can be traced back to the early parts of the twentieth century through the initiatives of private sector industrial groups like the Tata-s and several public sector companies ( Shah & Ray, 2014 ). Governmental push for CSR at a national level can be traced back to 2009 with the introduction of a Voluntary Guideline for CSR. This finally culminated at the provision of mandatory CSR in the Companies Act 2013 being effective from April 2014. CSR in the new discourse of the government sees corporations as delivery agents of public goods ( Besley & Ghatak, 2007 ). Mandatory CSR has brought in actions like increased budgetary allocation for CSR, partnerships with NGOs and several projects under CSR. While, on one hand, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs claims that ‘CSR should not be interpreted as a source for financing the resource gaps in government schemes’, the use of “corporate innovations and management skills in the delivery of ‘public goods’ is at the core of CSR implementation by companies” ( CSRBOX, 2018 ).

As such, the Indian context with its endemic presence of grand challenges, and the complexities surrounding the different roles that the national and state-level governments play in engendering CSR, provides rich secondary data for our study.

Addressing ‘Grand Challenges’ through CSR in India: National Level Performance

In 2017, India ranked 116th among 157 countries reported by the Global SDG Index that was prepared to measure the performance of countries on their way to achieve the SDGs by 2030. India also had a mixed performance in terms of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were framed in 2000 by UN member states to improve several development parameters including health, education, poverty and sanitation. For example, India could not achieve the MDG targets with respect to primary school enrolment, gender inequality, child mortality and sanitation ( UNDP, 2015 ). In 2017, India conducted a voluntary national review on the implementation of SDGs by the National Institution for Transforming India ( NITI Aayog, 2017 ) which identified that the SDGs of focus for India are – SDG 1: End Poverty in All its Forms Everywhere; SDG2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture; SDG3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages; SDG5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls; SDG9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation; SDG 14: Conserve and sustainable use the oceans, seas and marine resources and SDG17: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

While the national government claims improvement over time across several of these goals, in absolute terms several challenges show up: more than 20% of the Indian population being below poverty line; 36.3% of households without access to sanitation facilities; 61.6% of children under five having stunted growth; 64.3% of children under five years being underweight; 38% of children between 12–23 months not getting immunization; 30.2% women being illiterate; 56.2% households not having access to clean fuel ( NITI Ayog, 2017 ). Clearly these remain India's grand challenges as seen through the lens of the SDGs. However, the entire report does not make any mention of the move by government to make corporations contribute to government plans and programmes through their CSR. This raises an issue as to whether India's approach to SDGs remain disconnected from its national government's role in strengthening CSR.

The SDG1 aims to Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions ( UN, 2018 ). Poverty has been one of the grand challenges for India. Poverty has an all-encompassing effect on a country's performance in education, health, infrastructure, quality of life and environment. India has made significant progress as an emerging and growing economy. Yet it has not been able to eliminate poverty and ensure equitable growth for its population in spite of several national level projects to do so. India's official data on poverty dates back to 2011–2012 and is based on two reports: The Tendulkar Committee report and the Rangarajan Committee report. Estimates based on daily income of Rs. 32.4 for rural India and Rs. 46.9 for urban India show that close to 363 million people remained below poverty line in 2011–2012. It is around the same time, the Indian national government commenced their implementation of ‘guidelines on CSR’, initially adopting a facilitating role through the provision of voluntary guidelines.

The Indian government has launched several national level projects, for example, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) that guarantees 100 days of work (unskilled labour) to rural poor; National Social Assistance Programme providing old age pension for poor senior citizens and also providing assistance to disabled persons; National Rural Livelihoods Mission, providing livelihood to rural people. However, the results of these national projects have not been able to provide a permanent solution, due to poor implementation and lack of adequate resources. For example, the MGNREGA scheme could not provide jobs to many people and even those who get such work found the money just enough to subsist. The old-age pension programme provides Rs. 200 ($2.5) per month from the Central government and the State government's addition to that is often paltry (e.g. a total of $4 in Madhya Pradesh) making it difficult for senior citizens to live a decent life.

Education is directly connected to SDG4 but also has impact on many of the other SDGs including providing health and work for all. The Indian education systems have been historically in a ‘state of mess’ with the privileged taking recourse to private arrangements while the poor were left at the mercy of the system ( Dreze & Sen, 2014 ). While overall figures for literacy and education have improved, across the country, some key challenges remain with the poor and vulnerable states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh: shortage of schools, mainstreaming ‘out-of-school’ and dropout children, seasonal migration, weak monitoring and supervision ( Planning Commission, 2010 ). Thus the improvement of performance in education may not have been uniform and equal across the country.

Since education is the foundation for livelihood and economic security, poverty alleviation is also likely to suffer among the poor and marginalized. Over the last 70 years, independent India has spent around 4% of its GDP on education. Expert committees have pointed out that it is necessary to spend at least 6% of GDP on education to achieve the goal of universal education for all (See Table 2 ). Thus under-investment in education has been one of the recurring debates in the context of Indian development. Overall increase in literacy figures or gross enrolment ratios may not help India achieve its goal to provide education for all its children or establish itself as a hub of technology and innovation. Factors like corruption and low quality may impede the implementation of programmes and delivery of content. Corruption and political nexus in recruitment of teachers at the primary level, appointment of Vice Chancellors of universities at the higher education level, closure of business schools and engineering colleges, brain drain to developed countries, reducing budget for scientific research point at a deeper rot in the system that will require systemic changes. This is also reflected in the absence of Indian Universities in global rankings and its 99th position in education out of 149 countries ( Legatum Institute, 2017 ) much below its peers among the BRICS countries.

SDG4 and CSR in India (National Level).

Source: Adapted from media reports, government websites.

Companies across India are expected to spend an average of $1.4 billion annually on their CSR projects combined ( CSRBOX, 2018 ) over five years (2014–2019), while India's combined annual budget (national) for education stands at $11.49 billion. Spread over 5096 companies and at least as many CSR projects, it is unlikely that there will be significant ground-level impact in any of the areas related to education through the CSR initiatives of corporates. Early evidence on CSR implementation shows that most choices of projects and beneficiaries were ad-hoc ( Ray, 2013 ) though recent research shows that there is some natural and expected alignment between CSR and SDGs with approximately 80% of the top 50 Indian companies spending on health, education, work and economic growth ( Mulky, 2017 ) as part of their CSR. We posit that such alignment is post facto – i.e. more by chance than by choice.

Addressing ‘Grand Challenges’ through CSR in India: State-Level Performance

We further examine state-level engagement in the SDGs, by focussing on the state of Odisha in India (see Table 3 ). Odisha is located on the east coast of India and ranked 22 out of 23 Indian states in 2007–2008 ( UNDP, 2011 ). For several years, Odisha has been in the bottom quartile of development among Indian states though the local government has made significant progress in recent years. The state has also taken an active role in mobilizing and monitoring the CSR efforts of companies operating in Odisha through the formation of a state-level agency.

SDG4 and CSR in India (State Level – Odisha).

Source: Adapted from https://csr.odisha.gov.in/ accessed on and before 1 September 2018.

Government of Odisha has set up GO-CARE ( Government of Odisha, 2018 : http://csr.odisha.gov.in/ ) to co-ordinate the CSR activities in the state. The state has identified areas that require corporate intervention through CSR. However, we see a trend also evidenced at the national level, of districts having higher levels of industrial activity receiving a larger portion of the CSR fund while other districts being left out of such initiatives. Thirty-three per cent of districts received 90% of CSR funds in 2014–2015 across Odisha ( Government of Odisha, 2018a ). There is also no evidence of collaboration across government and various industry sectors to tackle a social or environmental issue that could possibly be a grand challenge for the region. Grand challenges often require such multi-stakeholder partnerships to solve complex issues.

In the area of education, Malkangiri district scored lowest and did not receive any CSR fund in 2014–2015 ( Government of Odisha, 2018a ). The top three projects in the district were construction of a medical college by a local mining company (at the behest of the local government) and construction of model schools by a steel and mining company. However, the state government's CSR discourse is completely silent on the SDGs or possible linkages between CSR and SDG. Further, there is no evidence that CSR projects are linked to state-level developmental issues. Rather they have been chosen independently by companies based on their competence areas ( Government of Odisha, 2018a ). Districts with tribal and marginalized people like Kandhamal, Nuapada and Deogarh received no CSR funding in health in 2014–2015 (See Table 4 , which shows the districtwise mapping of CSR spend in 2014–2015).

District Wise Education and Health Parameters and Corresponding CSR Expenditure in Odisha (State Level).

CSR project figures, including ongoing projects, are consolidated from 2014–2018.

Districts with below state level average in education or health are marked in italics.

Infant Mortality Rate (number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 birth) taken as health indicator.

Done by Mahanadi Coalfields Limited-public sector mining company.

Source: https://csr.odisha.gov.in/ accessed on and before 1 September 2018.

Our aim was to explore the role of the government in resolving ‘grand challenges’ at a country-level through the use of policies promoting greater corporate involvement in socio-economic development. Our findings reveal that while pro-active actions are being undertaken at the national and state levels, in addressing grand challenges such as poverty alleviation and education, mobilizing private and public sector resources under CSR is ineffective at present, even with the national government's adoption of a mandating role for itself in this regard ( Fox et al., 2002 ).

An example is the India Prime Minister requesting companies to consider using their CSR fund to open Ayurvedic 1 hospitals in each of India's 719 districts ( Indian Express, 2017 ), which is neither convergent nor coherent with India's major health issues like increasing inequality in healthcare access. On the ground, the mandating role of the government in relation to CSR also requires that it has the capability to manage the 10,000+ companies' (operating across multiple geographies within the country) contributions to CSR, in an effective manner towards addressing the SDGs. Thus, mandating corporate CSR efforts to governmental projects unrelated to their core competence may create a compliance mode of CSR similar to corporate responses to many other governmental regulations. Such government oversight may in reality limit the potential for corporate CSR to voluntarily and pro-actively resolve grand challenges that India is facing at present.

CSR in India is not only unique in the mandated role of its national government towards its provision, but is also remarkable in the size, spread and scope that CSR provides for the private sector in India to resolve its grand challenges. 10,000+ companies create a unique pool of economic, social, natural and human capital that has the potential to address the wicked problems of the day. In practice we see many axes of heterogeneity ( Jamali & Karam, 2018 ) that makes the idea and practice of CSR unique in India, not excluding corruption, weak institutions and multiplicity of actors. Our findings however show that there is a lack of congruence between the national and state-level governments and the ground-level CSR project implementation by corporates ( Table 4 ). In this regard, the role and relationship between state and corporations need to be one of collaborative co-creation and re-imagination of the business value chain instead of a top-down mandate as seen in India. Shared value creation can help both governments and companies to solve grand challenges and flourish in their own domain. Mandating CSR and coaxing companies to put their money in specified projects will lead to compliance-based CSR that may remain as ineffective as the voluntary one.

Grand challenges of the day have been scoped in the envisioning of the SDGs ( Ferraro et al., 2015 ). Sustainable development has been accepted as a key priority for 195 countries that signed the Paris accord. Climate change and greenhouse gas emission is strongly and positively linked to economic activities. While economic growth is fundamental to increase social well-being, such growth is likely to come at a cost of the environment. A complete reconceptualization of CSR is required if the mandated CSR is to succeed. It will involve companies redesigning their value chain in line with SDGs and collaborating across various stakeholder groups to find environmental and socially responsible solutions to their business problems.

Implications for Stakeholders and Other Developing Countries

India's experience in mandating CSR for its listed companies holds valuable lessons for various stakeholders. Logics of CSR in developing countries are often different from their counterparts in developed countries ( Jamali, Karam, Yin, & Soundararajan, 2017 ). Corporate participation in national SDG-related activities can be invaluable to combat climate change and poverty. Corporations bring in a nuanced understanding of communities, their demands and ways of meeting them profitably. Bringing such knowledge could help governments and civic society rethink or reinforce their current strategy for sustainable development. CSR could be an important tool to forge business society partnerships. However, CSR thinking among business professionals need to go beyond considering CSR as a portfolio of small and big development projects. We suggest that CSR be seen more as a part of a larger whole with the latter being defined by the grand challenges faced by a country. Governments would do well to think of an open but connected platform where multiple corporate players can come and co-create solutions for particular social or environmental problems. Taking cue from our study, in the Indian context, the top five spenders in CSR can engage with the government and leading NGOs to design a national programme for education. Such designs will be guided by corporate mission, government vision for development, NGO action and community needs. A national standardization of priorities and program specifications can in turn lead or motivate medium or smaller companies either to join these initiatives or create something on similar lines. Grand challenges can be the factor unifying various stakeholders for national and international development.

Ayurveda is a traditional Indian medicine system.

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The ultimate report on CSR of ITC Limited

As part of our #letstalkcsr series doing a deep dive into social initiatives by top corporates, let’s explore the csr of itc. the group headquartered in kolkata sits proudly on our list of top companies for csr in 2020 .  another report by goodera ranked itc limited as the 7 th largest spender on corporate social responsibility in india for 2019., while the company’s csr spend was a steep rs. 307 crores that year, in 2020 it rose to rs. 326 crores. csr of itc group has long-running, multi-year projects in six of the 11 activities of schedule vii, including the often-neglected culture and national heritage..

Ashesh Ambasta, executive vice-president and head (social investments) said in an interview, “The CSR activities of ITC are focused on two stakeholder communities: rural communities with whom ITC’s agri-businesses have forged enduring partnerships, and with communities residing in close proximity to our production units.” Indian Tobacco Company (formerly Imperial Tobacco Company of India Ltd.) is one of India’s foremost private sector companies and a diversified conglomerate with businesses spanning FMCG, tobacco, hotels, packaging, agri businesses and IT. 

Itc is acknowledged as one of india’s most valuable business corporations with a market capitalisation of nearly us$ 50 billion. it was ranked india’s most admired company, in a fortune india survey., interventions related to covid-19, in line with its commitment to put nation first and responding to the needs arising out of the unprecedented lockdown implemented to contain the covid-19 pandemic, itc has spearheaded a csr initiative to enable the creation of an eco-system that would lead to significant livelihood generation for farmers and daily wage earners under the ambit of the government’s mgnreg scheme., said sanjiv puri, chairman, itc limited:, “as the pandemic unfolded, itc responded with agility, resilience and compassion to adapt to the new normal. a covid contingency fund of rs. 215 crore was set up to address the needs of the distressed. together with local authorities, a combination of cooked meals, food and hygiene products were also distributed across 25 states and union territories. we also extended financial support to our supply chain partners for obtaining a covid-19 insurance cover for their associates, covering hospitalisation and diagnostic expenses.”, s sivakumar, group head of itc’s agri business said, “inspired by its credo of nation first: sab saath badhein, itc, in collaboration with district administrations and ngo partners, is enabling the rural workforce in the catchment of its operations to access income-generating opportunities under the mgnreg scheme. the objective is to scale up this programme by extending it to more regions in these unprecedented and challenging times.”, csr initiatives in the second wave of covid-19, from oxygen cryogenic containers to oxygen concentrators and generators, itc is working towards mitigating the current crisis in oxygen supply in the second wave of covid-19., to serve the national priority of easing the bottleneck of transporting medical oxygen, itc tied up with linde india to airfreight 24 cryogenic iso containers of 20 tonnes each from asian countries in order to transport medical oxygen across india. the csr initiative comes in the wake of an acute shortage of medical oxygen, constraining the healthcare system’s ability to treat coronavirus patients., in addition, itc is airlifting a large number of oxygen concentrators for distribution. the group’s paperboards unit in bhadrachalam has commenced supply of oxygen to neighbouring areas., makeshift hospital, itc corporate social responsibility is extending support, including the arrangement of beds, monitors, oxygen, furniture, and initial medical supplies towards setting up a makeshift 200-300 bed medical facility in kolkata managed entirely by medica superspecialty hospital that will treat covid-19 patients. the medical facility is meant for the treatment of covid-19 positive patients and for administering vaccines. the government of west bengal has permitted the use of kishore bharati stadium to set up this medical facility., as part of this assistance, itc will extend financial support to medica for setting up this facility which will encompass the cost of creating it, arrangement for beds, monitors, oxygen, furniture, air-conditioners and initial medical supply., 1. sustainability and csr of itc, itc’s journey in sustainability is inspired by its large vision to put the ‘nation first’. towards this end, it has adopted a comprehensive csr policy outlining measures to undertake projects and activities for making a significant impact on the marginalised., the footprint of the company’s social investments programme (sip) projects covers vast ground ― over 27 states / union territories covering 235 districts (some, under the government’s high priority aspirational district programme). itc group’s csr expenditure incurred under section 135 of the companies act, 2013 amounted to inr 307 crores in 2019 (it was inr 291 crores in 2018)., 2. key goals aligning with sdgs, due to the triple bottom line approach that itc limited follows and its commitment to ‘nation first’, the enterprise contributes to india’s targets towards the sustainable development goals (sdgs) set by the united nations:, – creating sustainable livelihoods for 10 million indians by 2030., – expand social investment programmes to empower rural communities., – sustain and strengthen the human capital capability to achieve business goals and enhance itc’s standing as a top employer through purpose-driven investments in people development and talent management practices., – 50% of total energy would come from renewable sources., – make itc a carbon, water and solid waste recycling positive organisation., – target of 50% reduction in specific emissions and 35% reduction in specific energy consumption by the year 2030, – benchmark operations for specific water consumption to global standards., – rainwater harvesting equivalent to over 3 times the net water consumption from operations by 2030., – target making 100% of packaging reusable, recyclable / compostable..

3. CSR Policy

Recognising that business enterprises are economic organs of society and draw on societal resources, it is the group’s belief that a firm’s performance must be measured by its triple bottom line contribution. itc believes that the private sector possesses ― beyond mere financial resourcesy ― the transformational capacity to create game-changing development models. , in line with this belief, it has been crafting unique models to generate livelihoods and environmental capital. such csr projects are much more replicable, scalable and sustainable, with a significant multiplier impact on livelihood creation and environmental restoration., it is itc’s policy:, – to formulate csr programmes towards achieving one or more of the following: ‒ enhancement of environmental and natural capital; rural development support; promotion of education; preventive healthcare, sanitation and drinking water; creating livelihoods, especially for those from disadvantaged sections of society; sports promotion;, – to develop self-reliance among people at the grassroots, especially women, since these are prerequisites for social and economic development;, – to pursue affirmative action interventions like skill building and vocational training, thus enhancing employability and generating livelihoods the disadvantaged;, – to carry out csr programmes primarily in areas that fall within the economic vicinity of the company’s operations so as to supervise them closely and ensure maximum impact;, – to promote sustainability in partnership (sdg 17) with industry associations, like the confederation of indian industry (cii) through the cii-itc centre of excellence for sustainable development, the goal being a multiplier impact., 3.1. governance, – every year, the csr and sustainability committee will present a strategic csr plan delineating the projects to be taken up during the year and the specified budgets thereof, for the board’s approval. the board will mull over and then approve the csr plan with the necessary modifications., – the corporate management committee (cmc) will assign certain persons/ bodies with the task of implementation of the csr plan, within specified budgets and deadlines., – the implementation persons/bodies will carry out the csr programmes as directed by the cmc and frequently report back on the progress., – the cmc shall review the implementation of the csr programmes once every three months and issue necessary directions from time-to-time to make sure things are in accordance with the csr policy., – every six months, the cmc will give a detailed status update to the csr and sustainability committee on the progress of approved itc csr projects. the csr committee of itc will keep the board apprised of the same., – the csr and sustainability committee will submit its report to the board at the end of every financial year., 3.2 csr expenditure, csr expenditure includes all direct and indirect expenses incurred towards itc corporate social responsibility programmes. moreover, any surplus arising from any csr programme shall again be redirected towards csr. accordingly, any income from itc csr projects will be netted off from the csr expenditure and that amount will be reported as corporate social responsibility expenditure., 4. strategic csr of itc  , social investment is as crucial for this company as its growth investments, hence its large-scale social investments programmes (sips in short). sips are the backbone of msk (mission sunehra kal). msk aims at building rural capacity in partnership with local communities to develop water and forest resources, open up new non-farm livelihoods, empower women, expand primary education, and drive future skilling in india..

4.1 Key elements of ITC CSR initiatives

– strengthen capabilities of nonprofits, ngos, cbos (community based organisations) for planning, ownership and sustainability of interventions in all the project catchments., – drive india’s development agenda in a way that benefits the poor and marginalised communities in itc group’s factory and agri-catchment areas, in ways that improve hdi (human development indices)., – enabling participation, contribution and asset creation for the whole community where the project is being implemented., – striving for scale by leveraging government partnerships and accessing up-to-date knowledge and technical information., 5. social forestry, this itc csr programme focuses on creating commercially viable land-use options for smallholder farmers through tree-based farming. in addition, it contributes towards 3f security, such as food, fodder and fuelwood. , the conglomerate’s pioneering afforestation initiative through the social forestry programme is spread across 16 districts in six states covering 3.29 lakh acres in 5,087 villages, impacting over 1,21,557 poor households., together with the farm forestry programme, this csr initiative by itc has greened nearly 7.33 lakh acres till date, and generated about 135 million person days of employment for rural households. the agro-forestry initiative is integral to the social forestry programme. it extends to over 1.12 lakh acres and ensures food, fodder and wood security..

Besides enhancing farm level employment and increasing green cover, this large-scale CSR project of ITC Group also contributes meaningfully to the Indian government’s endeavour to make additional carbon sinks. Through a multiplier effect, the Social and Farm Forestry initiative has led to improvement in pulpwood and fuelwood availability in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. In Tripura state, this initiative is also creating bamboo wood source, which is most suitable for making incense sticks.

6. soil and moisture conservation, the soil and moisture conservation initiative strives for water security for all the stakeholders inside the factory catchments. another goal is to drought-proof the agri-catchments. the initiative develops and manages local water resources in moisture-stressed areas by facilitating community participation for measures like building, reviving and maintaining water-harvesting structures. the coverage of this programme currently extends to 43 districts of 15 states., 7. biodiversity, nature provides agriculture with ecosystem services such as natural regulation of pests, pollination, nutrient cycling, soil health retention and genetic diversity. however, they’ve been considerably eroded over the past few decades. itc’s biodiversity initiative aims to revive them..

This CSR intervention significantly upgrades agricultural activity near village plots through soil moisture retention, carbon sequestration and by playing host to insects and birds.

7.1 revival of ecosystems, itc has collaborated with the iucn (international union for conservation of nature) in bihar’s munger region to develop ‘sustainable agriscape for future’. iucn carried out a number of studies and surveys to identify key issues., pressures on the forest for fodder and wood for fuel from villagers had led to top soil erosion, invasion of exotic species in community water bodies, excess usage of external input in farms along the ganga river, fewer native trees and shrubs that sustain birds and insects. these were critical factors that would impact the agriscape ecosystem service potential. based on these findings, iucn has suggested three landscape profiles: forest and lakes, lacustrine, and riverine (ganga riverbed) landscapes., team csr of itc ltd. developed plans for all three types of landscapes, based on the recommendations by iucn. work is in progress on a pilot scale. actions include creating a source for fuelwood and fodder within the villages by planting suitable native tree species, hyacinth-based composting to reduce its growth in lakes, planting native trees along the ahar and pyne banks, and planting multi-tiered native trees on fields near the ganga to minimise damage by floods., 8. sustainable agriculture, the programme focuses on strengthening resilience of small and marginal farmers to climate risks by reducing cost of cultivation, improving productivity, and restoration and replenishment of depleted natural resources. the sustainable agriculture initiative makes farmers climate-smart. , the group’s agri business has pioneered the ‘village adoption programme’. it covers 250 model villages in andhra pradesh, karnataka, telangana and rajasthan. this initiative is aligned with prime minister narendra modi’s sagy (sansad adarsh gram yojana) for holistic rural development. the company extensively trained 402 block level agri-officers who became master trainers, and in turn trained 2,259 village level personnel to become village resource persons (vrps), who go on to teach farmers. vrps have trained 2.05 lakh farmers in sustainable practices for their region., 8.1 partnership with niti aayog for aspirational districts, the indian government’s aspirational district programme (adp) seeks to transform the most backward districts in the country. itc has a partnership with niti aayog to enhance the agriculture and allied sector in 27 aspirational districts of 8 states. the modus operandi is capacity-building of officers of the department of agriculture, which will trickle down to the farmers. scientists from agriculture universities and krishi vigyan kendras (kvks) developed the training kits. they’ve been localised into hindi, marathi, assamese and odiya., since the project’s launch in september 2018, there is remarkable progress:, – ngo partner viksat trained 402 block level agri-officers as master trainers;, – they coached 2,259 village level staff as vrps to train farmers., – the vrps have worked with 2.05 lakh farmers., – 675 farmer field schools were promoted, creating a pool of 16,900 “champion farmers”., 8.2 what is itc e-choupal, itc e-choupals leverage the power of information technology. internet-kiosks called “sanchalaks” in the village are managed by appointed farmers. these sanchalaks provide information to other farmers in their native tongue on weather forecasts, market prices, scientific farm practices and risk management. as a result, farmers can make informed decisions, and experience higher productivity. they get inputs from established manufacturers at fair prices..

Since its launch in the year 2000, e-Choupal by ITC has gone on to become the largest internet-based intervention in rural India. With 6,100 kiosks spread across 12 states, it reaches out to 4 million farmers pan-India.

Higher price transparency and lower handling and commission fees increase the farmers’ margins by over 25% on average and, in the 15 years since its implementation, csr of itc has directly reached 4 million farmers across 40,000 villages and has grown its export sales by more than 600% to $600 million annually., in 2002, the company launched its packaged foods business, which grew to $1 billion in revenues by 2015. despite being a late entrant in the market, its flagship brand of wheat flour, aashirvaad, became a market leader within 18 months of its launch. e-choupal was instrumental in this regard because it allows the company to aggregate produce by crop variety and quality to create customised flour mixtures. farmer incomes increased significantly as a result – both because those who grew superior-quality wheat for the first time were receiving a price premium, and because itc e-choupal communicated to farmers about the varieties that would yield a better harvest price. the e-choupal ecosystem installed large watershed projects, hence raising farmer incomes. , itc also viewed the business opportunities that emerged out of these initial efforts to re-engineer its value chain as “e-choupal version 1.0”. subsequently, the company launched versions 2.0 and 3.0, each time adding new revenue streams. version 2.0 reconceptualised e-choupal as a platform that channels sales of agricultural inputs and other services to farmers, while version 3.0 offers the e-choupal platform to external partners for a fee. , the continuous evolution of the e-choupal platform is supported by a project management methodology internally branded as “roll out, fix it, scale up”. once the company has 60-70% clarity on a new business model, it is rolled out live, refined with input from multiple stakeholders and scaled up., 8.3 presence in west bengal, itc has been expanding its footprint in the agricultural sector in the state of west bengal. leveraging the knowledge and experience of itc’s globally acknowledged e-choupal programme, the company has been working with farmers in west bengal to promote contemporary and relevant agriculture practices in over 500 villages, leading to a reduction in input costs, improved yields and enhanced incomes. over 70,000 farmers have benefitted from itc interventions in the state, so far., in addition, the company has spearheaded a wheat development programme that covers around 8,500 acres, focusing on providing region-specific improved varieties and agronomical practices to increase yield. itc has implemented targeted interventions in rice, fresh fruits and vegetables. the company also engages with aqua farmers, supporting a prawn value chain that is anchored by our brand itc masterchef super safe prawns, which is exported to the us, japan and vietnam. itc’s subsidiary, technico’s early generation high-quality seed is used by over 1,35,000 farmers in 12 districts, increasing yield, quality and reducing costs., 9. women’s economic empowerment, this csr initiative of itc provides women with financial assistance via loans and grants. it is closely aligned to the government’s step (support to training and employment programme). initiated in 2014, this holistic intervention currently supports 8,900 ultra-poor women to promote their socioeconomic mainstreaming. the programme is operational in 8 districts of bihar, west bengal, madhya pradesh, telangana, rajasthan and assam and has cumulatively impacted 22,700 women. 13,795 graduated women have shown significant progress on outcome indicators such as financial inclusion, literacy, health, water, sanitation and nutrition, besides income..

Out of a total of 3,586 operational SHGs, 400 SHGs were newly formed in 2018-19. The SHGs together leveraged INR 218 lakh from banks and other formal financial sources. Post the signing of the MoU with Madhya Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission (MPSRLM) for financial literacy and inclusion of SHG women members, the programme was rolled-out to 11 districts. 

The “ab samjhauta nahin”, know your rights initiative created awareness on legal rights that safeguard and protect women in 115 colleges in delhi and gujarat, directly reaching out to over 14,000 students via interactive workshops. the financial literacy and inclusion project, in partnership with madhya pradesh state rural livelihood mission (mpsrlm) and crisil foundation, was rolled out in 765 villages across 11 districts. , 9.1 women agri-entrepreneurs , as in other parts of india, it was observed that while women play a critical role in the agricultural sector, they are not recognised as farmers and do not count as decision makers in munger district of bihar also. therefore, itc’s mission sunehra kal designs and implements a special intervention to empower rural women through knowledge and technology: women-run agri-business centres (abcs) were established to promote sustainable agriculture practices. in munger, the abc engages in a variety of activities like, – hiring out of agri equipment, – nursery raising , – seed production, – capacity building of other farmers and, – linkages to government schemes collectively., initially, the women faced hurdles like family restriction, lack of acceptance by other farmers, and difficulty in operating the agri equipment and finances. however, regular and continuous training equipped the women with adequate technical and financial knowledge to operate and manage the abc independently., previously women were recognised as mere helpers in field operations. post the intervention, however, they were recognised as ‘farmers’ and their collective bargaining power increased as they were given high regard as a group undertaking practices to improve agricultural productivity, whilst reducing cost of cultivation. due to the success of the intervention, government officials offer the women abcs the first right to draw the benefit of government schemes and agricultural inputs at subsidised rates. , economic prosperity of the group and individual women was observed, which triggered improvement in their human development indices (hdi) like access to quality healthcare, children education, nutritious meals, savings account and linkage to social security schemes., sunita, one of the hundreds of such beneficiaries summarises: “these days, women have more money in their accounts than the husbands. whatever they grow and sell, they save it to secure the education of their children, healthcare, housing and dreams.”, 10. education, the primary education programme is directed at kids from weaker sections of society in itc group’s factory catchments. the programme covered 1.15 lakh children in 24 districts of 14 states last year. in all, around 6.91 lakh children have been impacted., the education programme improved the infrastructure in 199 government primary schools. boundary walls, additional classrooms, toilets and furniture were installed. , 11. skilling & vocational training, the skilling & vocational training initiative makes youth job-ready. it operates in 32 districts of 17 states. the most sought-after skills where the initiative runs courses are hospitality, electrical, computer skills and bedside assistance. , itc group csr works with the welcomgroup graduate school of hotel administration (wgsha) together with dr tma pai foundation for skill training. the itc culinary skills training centre was launched in chhindwara in 2014. it trains economically backward youth in becoming chefs; 103 trainee chefs have completed the comprehensive programme., 12. health & sanitation, one of the objectives of itc’s public health and sanitation initiative is prevention of odc (open defecation). the group constructed 4,443 individual household toilets (ihht) in 26 districts last year. till date, a total of 35,916 such toilets have been constructed., csr of itc set up ro (reverse osmosis) plants in villages with poor quality water, in three districts of andhra pradesh. to provide safe drinking water, 26 new ro plants were installed last year, taking the total up to 127. over 150,000 rural people have access to potable drinking water through this health and sanitation initiative., corporate social responsibility of itc raised awareness on various health-related issues through a network of 415 women village health champions (vhcs) last year. they reached out to nearly 3.22 lakh women, adolescent girls and school kids. the programme is operational in seven districts of up and 4 districts of mp. the vhcs hold village meetings, group events and go door-to-door to talk about sanitation, menstrual hygiene, family planning and how to prevent diarrhoea., audio-visual aids, games and practical training were leveraged to encourage healthy hygiene habits as part of itc group’s ‘swasth india mission’. nearly 19.2 lakh children from 5,247 schools in 12 states were covered in 2019. additionally, access to handwashing was enabled through the unique ‘id guard’ initiative to all the students covered in these 5,247 schools., over 77,000 beneficiaries were covered under the mother and child health initiative aimed at improving the health-nutrition status of women, adolescents and children in the catchments of a few of the company’s factories with high maternal and infant mortality indices. this was achieved by strengthening institutional capacity, promoting greater convergence with existing government schemes and increasing access to basic services on maternal, child, and adolescent health, nutrition and child protection., 13. solid waste management, itc’s solid waste management programmes in saharanpur and munger focus on “decentralised solid waste management” i.e. waste management close to the generator through source segregation, and community and home composting to achieve the end objective of “minimal waste to landfill” with community ownership..

The Company’s waste recycling programme, ‘WOW – Well-Being Out of Waste’, enables the creation of a clean and green environment and promotes sustainable livelihoods for waste collectors. The programme continued to be executed in Coimbatore, Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Muzaffarpur (Bihar), several districts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and now expanded to Mysuru and Chikmagalur districts during the year. The recycling programme has reached out to 89 lakh Indians, 48 lakh school kids and 2,000 corporates since its inception.  

13.1 transforming muzaffarpur into a zero landfill city , itc’s swachhta swasthya samridhi programme in muzaffarpur in partnership with muzaffarpur municipal council and centre for science and environment (cse) expanded its coverage to all the 49 wards in the city in 2018-19. muzaffarpur also became the first city in bihar to have its own solid waste management by-laws and these were based on cse and itc’s efforts in the city. on account of the programme, muzzaffarpur has been included in the list of smart cities., 13.2 multi-layered plastic collection project in pune, itc launched a multi-layered plastic (mlp) waste collection programme in pune in collaboration with swach, a cooperative of waste pickers with decade long experience in implementing source segregation and door-to-door collection in pune., the programme started with a baseline study carried out between september-december 2018 which involved mapping out the flow of mlp waste in pune and engaging with key stakeholders like waste collectors and scrap dealers. post the baseline study, the collection programme was operationalised in january 2019 and targets to collect around 200 tonnes of mlp waste per month. as part of the programme, a multirecovery facility was also set up for aggregating, bailing and transporting mlp waste to a recycler., 13.3 itc green temples, at the first green temple project in kapaleeswarar temple, the biodegradable waste generated was converted to biogas for  use in temple kitchen or composted for use in the temple gardens as manure, thereby demonstrating a complete circular economy model. between jan 2017-march 2018 when the project was made sustainable and handed over, 93% of its waste was managed by the temple and savings on account of reduction in the use of lpg cylinders in the temple kitchen averaged inr 8,327 a month., two new green temple projects were initiated in anantha padmanabhaswamy temple, chennai and srirangam temple, tiruchirapalli during 2017-18., 14. itc sangeet research academy, the itc sangeet research academy (itc sra), which was established in 1977, is an embodiment of itc group’s passion for priceless national heritage – indian classical music. itc sra has the objective of preserving and propagating hindustani classical music in the age-old ‘guru-shishya parampara’., the eminent gurus of the academy, most of whom reside in the academy’s campus, impart intensive training and quality education in hindustani classical music to the scholars. the present gurus of the academy are padma shri pt. ajoy chakrabarty, padma shri pt. ulhas kashalkar, pt. partha chatterjee, pt. uday bhawalkar, vidushi subhra guha and shri omkar dadarkar. the academy’s focus continues to be on nurturing exceptionally gifted students selected from across india through a system of multi-level auditions. , full scholarship is provided to them to reside and pursue music education in the academy’s campus and in other designated locations under the tutelage of the country’s most distinguished musicians. the creation of the next generation of masters of hindustani classical music for the propagation of a precious legacy continues to be the academy’s objective., 15. partnerships (sdg 17), many itc social development initiatives are revitalising the global partnership for sustainable development (goal 17). , 15.1. forging partnerships with ngos, the meaningful contribution made by the company’s social investments programme to address some of the country’s key development challenges, has been possible in significant measure, due to its partnerships with renowned ngos such as baif, pratham, sewa bharat and water for people., while the agreements are renewed annually, the partnerships tend to be long term, enabling a deep understanding of the contextual realities and itc’s systems & processes by the partners, thus leading to effective delivery of desired outcomes. a process of structured “dialogue” with ngo partners is in place for pulse check and also for feedback and forward planning. in most thematic interventions, there is more than one partner in place to ensure that there is no risk to the project in case of any untimely closure of the partnership., 15.2. knowledge partnerships, 15.2.1. cgiar, ‘climate smart villages’ : the partnership aims to improve the resilience of msk (mission sunehra kal) operational villages in madhya pradesh, maharashtra and rajasthan to prepare farmers to confront climate change related challenges. during fy 2018-19, farmers from 594 villages of the 3 states were trained. climate smart agriculture practices, which were finalised through participatory processes, were rolled out for seven major crops – soya, paddy, wheat, sugarcane, onion, mango and gram., 15.2.2. international union for conservation of nature (iucn), this partnership in munger (bihar) aims to identify and revive key eco-system services (‘agricsapes’) provided by nature through biodiversity conservation measures. three different landscapes have been identified. work is being implemented based on the action plan developed by iucn. interventions include the creation of fuelwood and fodder sources within forest fringe area villages to bring down dependence on forests, native species plantation along ahar & pyne banks to ensure a long life of the system, and multitier native species plantation on fields adjacent to the ganga river to minimise damage by floods., world wide fund for nature india : msk has two partnerships with wwf india:, 1) water budgeting and water risks analysis for the bhavani river basin in kovai/ coimbatore (tamil nadu). the wwf study concluded that the basin is under water stress with demand on water increasing day-by-day due to the changing cropping pattern and coimbatore town’s drinking water requirement. it recommended managed aquifer recharge, demand side management in banana and coconut crops and improvement of forest cover as major interventions., 2) the ‘better cotton initiative’ (bci) in telangana: over 10,000 cotton growing farmers were trained in sustainable cotton cultivation as per bci principles and practiced the same in about 28,000 acres of cotton and agroforestry plantations. these practices are aimed at decreasing cultivation costs and improving productivity along with improvement in tree productivity in agroforestry plantations. all the farmers are registered for bci certification., 16. responsible advocacy, the policy on responsible advocacy provides the framework for necessary interface with government/ regulatory authorities on matters concerning various sectors in which the company operates. the company works with apex industry institutions that are engaged in policy advocacy, like the confederation of indian industries (cii), federation of indian chambers of commerce and industry (ficci), associated chambers of commerce and industry of india and various other forums including regional chambers of commerce. , 17. covid-19 response of itc group  , the itc group stepped up during the unprecedented crisis posed by the covid-19 pandemic. itc has set up a contingency fund of rs. 215 crores for efforts for those most harshly impacted. in support of the government’s efforts, itc donated rs. 100 crores to the pm cares fund., itc factory canteens and hotel kitchens across the country are cooking nutritious meals for the indians who’ve been hit the hardest, and for frontline health workers. watch the video to know more..

In Bhadrachalam, ITC’s Paper and Paperboards Division distributed masks and hand gloves to truck drivers as well as sanitisers to public health workers in Secunderabad. The Business also disinfected around 18 villages around the Bhadrachalam factory. Awareness programmes were also conducted by the Well Being out of Waste Teams in 16 districts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

17.2. for employees of itc hotels, itc hotels said they have undertaken a series of proactive steps to ensure the safety and health of their employees who are one of the key pillars that support the group’s ethos of responsible luxury. the organisation rolled out a number of e-learning courses targeted at specific roles and levels through multiple platforms of e-learning. itc hotels is also anchoring several virtual classroom sessions to not only anchor the induction of new employees but also to train its employees in functional and general management skills., the organisation has also leveraged its digital infrastructure to continue the training sessions for its 53 management trainees, according to a media release. the release also said that adopting a holistic approach towards learning and team building, itc hospitality management institute, the learning institute of itc hotels & the l&d team collaborated to organise an exciting online quiz competition for employees in the f&b department. as a build up to the quiz, steep – powered by typsy, an e-learning platform was launched for the f&b professionals across the division. , conclusion: the csr journal’s verdict…, itc’s effort to align national priorities, needs of local communities and high-impact csr initiatives have resulted in more sustainable, scalable and replicable solutions. these together make a meaningful contribution to improving the quality of life of people in rural india whilst also enriching the natural resource base., related articles more from author.

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How India is emerging as an advanced energy superpower 

As the world watches, India is progressing advanced energy solutions rapidly. Image:  Unsplash/Milin John

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Debmalya sen, jeremy williams.

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• India is setting ambitious targets for deploying advanced energy solutions such as clean hydrogen, energy storage and carbon capture. By 2030, it plans to invest over $35 billion annually in these areas.
• India has surpassed its 2030 renewable energy goals; the government supports the energy transition through targeted policies, subsidies and incentives, such as production-linked incentives and tax credits.
• Scaling up advanced energy solutions requires overcoming challenges related to business confidence, demand certainty and technology reliability.

India is emerging as a global powerhouse in advanced energy solutions. It is the largest country in the world by population and fifth by size of national economy. It is also the third largest in terms of carbon emissions. According to Jennifer Granholm, US Secretary of Energy, “In so many ways, the world’s energy future will depend on India’s energy future.”

In line with this, the country is adopting ambitious goals for deploying solutions such as clean hydrogen, energy storage, carbon capture and sustainable aviation fuels.

Based on announced pledges, India is expected to invest more than $35 billion annually across advanced energy solutions by 2030 (excluding any solar or wind investment). Investment in battery storage alone must reach $9-10 billion annually.

Fast renewable growth drives exponential demand growth for energy storage in India. The country intends to build 47 gigawatts (GW)/236 GW hours (GWh) of battery storage capacity by 2031-32. This ambitious scale-up is equivalent to installing nearly 80 of the largest battery storage facilities globally and 110 times larger than the capacity of India’s battery energy storage systems.

In clean hydrogen, India has set a target to achieve a production capacity of 5 million metric tonnes (MMT) by 2030 . The country aims to build an electrolyzer manufacturing capacity equal to 40GW by 2030 to achieve this goal. This will more than double the total global existing manufacturing capacity at the end of 2023.

More attention has been paid to energy storage and green hydrogen due to the country’s techno-commercial maturity and demand requirements. However, India’s ambitions and needs go further. By 2030, India aims to achieve 30 MMT capacity of carbon capture and storage and 2 MMT of sustainable aviation fuels from currently negligible levels.

Have you read?

Advanced energy solutions: the innovators scaling up clean power, why accelerating the deployment of advanced energy solutions is not a technology readiness challenge, how advanced energy technologies can hasten the energy transition in the developing world, advancing goals.

India has set bold ambitions and demonstrated remarkable progress on energy transition investment. For example, it surpassed its 2030 goal of achieving 40% of installed capacity from renewable energy sources nine years in advance.

To replicate this success and complement it with “made in India” goals, the central and state governments in India have implemented numerous policies and regulations. These include mandates via renewable purchase obligations, energy storage obligations and various subsidies and incentives.

The government offers production-linked incentive schemes that have proved effective in attracting strong industry interest. Other incentives include viability gap funding schemes and tax credits. Additionally, to lower the cost premium of advanced solutions, the government has initiated waivers on transmission, wheeling and banking charges.

In 2023, various tendering authorities in India released 25 tenders linked to energy storage and a viability gap funding scheme for batteries to facilitate better price discoveries. In green hydrogen, two tenders were issued aimed at facilitating 0.45 MT of green hydrogen production and 1,500 MW of electrolyzer manufacturing.

These tenders are supported by production incentives under the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition programme, for which $2 billion has been allocated.

Made in India

Building strong industries and supply chains at home constitutes a central point of India’s strategy in advanced solutions.

Various central-level policies and regulations have been implemented over the last few years to promote domestic manufacturing of advanced energy technologies and components. The production-linked incentive scheme mentioned above is an example of such an intervention, which is a performance-linked incentive on incremental sales from products manufactured domestically.

Moreover, India is promoting domestic mining by identifying 30 critical minerals and auctioning 20 blocks in 2023, with plans for 20 more in 2024. The government also emphasizes innovative procurement, offtake agreements and research and development investment to bolster these sectors.

Overcoming barriers

Despite significant progress, scaling up advanced energy solutions at the intended level requires additional efforts.

In India, as globally, the primary challenge in deploying advanced solutions over the next decade does not lie so much in their fundamental technological feasibility. It is rather related to confidence in these solutions. The challenge can be broken down into low confidence related to the business case and demand certainty, public trust and confidence in technology.

Unclear business cases and uncertain demand hinder scaling up investments. These need to be increased rapidly to keep up with the need to achieve targets. This acceleration requires building viable business cases to bolster investor confidence, including addressing the cost premium of advanced energy solutions and developing innovative financing models for solutions.

Strategic partnering

Exponentially scaling the advanced energy solutions industries will require unprecedented levels of collaboration to build confidence in the business case and demand while taking a people-positive approach. Collaboration will be essential to driving scale, creating demand signals, unlocking investment, spreading risk and informing policymaking.

Given the constraints of limited resources and tightening timelines, India’s “growing with less” strategy emphasizes the importance of maximizing resource use through collaborations and partnerships. The government works very closely with the industry already and the country is forming strategic alliances with mineral-rich countries for long-term supply of key materials.

Advanced energy solutions community

While every region, country, industry and company will decide on its own approach, all stakeholders must cooperate with each other and the existing system. The World Economic Forum’s Advanced Energy Solutions community looks forward to supporting stakeholders in India and globally.

The Advanced Energy Solutions community aspires to accelerate, from decades to years, the deployment at industrial scale of advanced energy solutions such as clean fuels and hydrogen, advanced nuclear, storage and carbon removal.

The community engages industry leaders who drive frontier segments of the energy system to shape the advanced energy solutions industry vision and narrative, support partnerships among innovators, large energy companies, energy users and investors, and inform policymaking. The community helps increase public confidence in advanced energy solutions, technology readiness, demand, and business cases while enabling collaborations and informing policy.

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World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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Translating Critical Raw Material Trade into Development Benefits

IIM Ranchi To Introduce New Academic Area For ‘Legal Studies And Responsible Business’, Specialised Multi-Disciplinary Courses

Ranchi: Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ranchi is all set to revamp its academic areas and curriculum structure to align with the changing contours of the business requirements. IIM Ranchi will create a new academic area called Legal Studies and Responsible Business (LSRB), which will create a focused and comprehensive approach to integrate legal aspects and responsible business practices with the MBA course curriculum.

India has been witnessing a massive overhaul of the legal system, and many of the laws enacted or being considered currently have business implications. Some examples are labour law, business law, competition law, privacy law and other statutes and guidelines about CSR (corporate social responsibility), ESG (environmental, social, and governance), and start-up ecosystem, to name a few. In addition, the guidelines and reporting standards related to ESG are progressively becoming global and Indian companies are now looking to comply with and match international standards. The LSRB academic area will offer courses in emerging topics related to legal aspects and responsible business practices. Also, this initiative provides an opportunity to start new courses in emerging issues like Ethics in Artificial Intelligence and Legal compliance for start-ups. 

The new LSRB area at IIM Ranchi will also do research to capture the changes and emerging global trends in legal aspects and responsible business practices and integrate them into the regular MBA curriculum.  Through this initiative, IIM Ranchi aims to promote the study of legal compliance as an essential part of modern business and foster a deeper understanding of responsible business practices in a competitive environment.

Multi-disciplinary specialised courses

Along with the new area, IIM Ranchi also plans to dedicate one full term (3 months) to introduce multi-disciplinary specialised courses to equip students with the knowledge and skills required to manage complex industry practices. These courses will be taught by at least one faculty member, each from two different academic areas, ensuring that the complex business practices are approached from various perspectives and solved comprehensively. Through this new initiative, IIM Ranchi wants to ensure that topics that are complex, emerging, and not traditionally included in standard business school curricula will have an assured place in the MBA curriculum.

Through the specialised multi-disciplinary courses, IIM Ranchi aiming to have MBA courses on complex business practices or topics like mergers and acquisitions, CSR implementation and impact assessment, workplace investigation and privacy, managing contract manufacturing in the context of global outsourcing, taxation and personal finance, and financial inclusion in Indian society, to name a few. 

Multi-disciplinary specialised courses will be available to the students in term 6, which is the last term in the second year of the MBA. This positioning will also help the students develop a multi-disciplinary approach to solve business problems and transition smoothly into corporate roles. Recognising the advanced nature of these topics, IIM Ranchi would allocate some of its best faculty to lead these courses, dedicating substantial time and effort to deliver a top-tier educational experience. IIM Ranchi has been making a series of efforts, in the past few months, to adapt its curriculum to keep pace with the rapidly changing industry landscape and ensure that its students are well-prepared to meet the demands of a dynamic global market. 

Human Values in Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case Study of India

• First Online: 04 December 2021

Cite this chapter

• Aruna Das Gupta 4  

Part of the book series: CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance ((CSEG))

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Values provide an in-built standard of reference and judgement for our actions. Values are by no means static, permanent and unchangeable. We may have good reasons for abandoning a value or incorporating a new one in our system, but that process involves its own justification and careful reckoning. The corporate sector in India is dominated by family firms, not only in terms of overall numbers, but also with respect to representation among the largest companies. Some of the more prominent of the family controlled business houses have a history of corporate philanthropy and involvement in community development dating back to the last century and the early part of this century. These commitments, in most instances instilled by the founder of the firm, have expressed themselves in a wide variety of areas.

Author Note: This chapter draws from the author’s previous publication published in International Journal of Business Ethics in Developing Economies; Vol 1; Issue 1;July, 2012. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

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Das Gupta, A. (2022). Human Values in Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case Study of India. In: Das Gupta, A. (eds) A Casebook of Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility. CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5719-1_1

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