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CSR at BILT

STATEMENT OF MR. GAUTAM THAPAR, Chairman, BILT


"As we look at a world larger than our present sphere, we see our role stretchin
g beyond mere business considerations into demonstrating serious corporate socia
l commitment."
"BILT is an organisation with a broad social vision. Being a good corporate citi
zen encompasses two elements: Transparency and Balancing the needs of stakeholde
rs. Today, society expects corporate to go beyond the statutory compliances and
putting something back into society. I believe that as a company, we have social
obligations and these obligations are shared by each person in the company. The
re is a growing realisation that long-term business success can only be achieved
by companies that recognise CSR as part of the process of wealth creation and a
s providing a competitive advantage. CSR is a two-way relationship, in which the
re are benefits to the society as well as to the companies involved".
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
BILT is committed to developing its business towards ecological, social and econ
omic sustainability. All of these are recognized as shared responsibilities with
in the Group, enabling the continuous improvement of its operations. . The compa
ny has initiated a multi-pronged approach to CSR within the organization. Throug
h this, all activities and initiatives are planned specific to the needs of the
target stakeholders. The ultimate objective is to see that each business decisio
n takes into account its social impact and accordingly plans an intervention to
mitigate the impacts arising out of that decision. It is equally important to as
certain that every activity done under CSR makes a socially responsible business
sense. Also inherent to this model is active partnership with NGO’s in helping us
fulfill our social responsibility. BILT also has a policy on CSR, which enumera
tes its commitments to its key stakeholders
As of now the CSR programs of Bilt are carried out at the following levels
• Communities: Integrated Rural & Urban Community Development programmes w
ith communities living in the periphery of our Mills.• Employee Volunteer
Programme: employees are encouraged to volunteer time to work on social issues. •
Workplace: HIV/AIDS prevention with employees, truckers and transporters•
Support to National Issues: Support to NGO’s for Universalizing Primary E
ducation and arresting school dropouts
Community Development
Out of all the stakeholders of BILT, the communities living around the manufactu
ring locations are the most marginalized and thus community development and upli
ftment of the marginalized have been identified as focus areas for CSR intervent
ion. Today BILT’s development programmes reach more than 2, 00,000 people living i
n more than 100 villages around the Mills. Over the last six years we have conce
ntrated on improving their life through the process of empowerment. We have crea
ted many community based organizations like Self Help Group’s (SHG’s), Youth Groups
etc. service providers for Health, Education, and Livestock issues and developed
& improved agriculture practices and trained the local youth through vocational
courses. Micro entrepreneurship at the village level has been the focus of our
intervention. We have active partnerships with 12 NGO’s who implement the projects
at the field level. Local governments, banks and funding agencies like UNFPA al
so participate in the programmes periodically
Employee Volunteer Programme (EVP)
This programme covers employees at all levels and is an extension of the Company’s
sustained involvement with the communities at its various locations. This prog
ramme concentrates its efforts on volunteerism, allowing employees to participat
e in the process of social change. We have more than 300 employee volunteers who
regularly volunteer their time for activities.
Prevention of HIV/AIDS
The prevention of HIV/AIDS programme was launched in the year 2005. The focus of
the programme has been to create awareness about the disease. We have involved
our own employee volunteers to deliver this prevention message. About 200 employ
ees are active in this campaign as volunteers and make time to spread the messag
e amongst their peers and in the community through one on one and one to group s
essions and also use innovative methods like street plays. These volunteers are
trained by us and their knowledge is periodically refreshed through refresher co
urses. So far we have reached out to more than 12000 people within the company a
nd about 2000 truck drivers. We have also conducted awareness programmes with mo
re than a 1000 school going adolescent children in the local area. Mass awarenes
s programmes are conducted in the community fairs and any public gatherings. Hea
lth clinics have been started for truck drivers who visit Bilt. All these effor
ts are to ensure that not only does HIV not spread but also that the stigma asso
ciated with the disease is also lessened, so that people feel comfortable to get
themselves tested and disclose their HIV positive status. This can ensure bette
r medical treatment for them when required. Our efforts on awareness have been
successful to the extent that more than 300 people have come forward to get the
mselves tested for HIV. This program has also focused on the overall health of t
he individual and some support programmes like de-addiction, stress management,
family counseling have been introduced and have been successful. In Aug 2007 BI
LT started the first Anti Retroviral Therapy Center at Unit Ballarpur. This cent
er will cater to the needs of the HIV+ persons in the community who need treatme
nt and drugs to be able to prolong their life. The center is the second one in t
he country to be started in Public Private Partnership. It will service the popu
lation livingnot only in Chandrapur but also in 4 districts around Chandrapur.
Support Universalization of Primary Education
BILT believes that good quality primary education can be a firm foundation for t
he bright future of children of our country. We have thus taken up this issue a
t the corporate level. We have joined hands with Pratham an NGO which operates a
t a National level to make good quality primary education accessible to the most
marginalized children and have so far reached out to more than 300,000 childre
n all around the country . We also implement these initiatives at each of our ma
nufacturing locations in partnership with Pratham .At our units a total of 7500
0 children have benefitted through the education programmes in the form of bridg
e courses for school dropouts, community libraries, and classes for children lag
ging behind in schools.
We have initiated innovative programmes like the Mobile Computer Literacy progra
mmes in Parnership with Vidya Pratishthan and NGO promoting the use of ICT in ru
ral areas. This programme has taken computer literacy to the child in the remot
est villages in the districts of Chandrapur and Baramati and to the most margina
lized children living in the slums of Yamunanagar. The programme will reach out
to about 6000 children on an annual basis.

corporate Social Responsibility / Human Resource


Last Updated: June 2010

Indian companies are now expected to discharge their stakeholder responsibilitie


s and societal obligations, along with their shareholder-wealth maximisation goa
l.
Nearly all leading corporates in India are involved in corporate social responsi
bility (CSR) programmes in areas like education, health, livelihood creation, sk
ill development, and empowerment of weaker sections of the society. Notable effo
rts have come from the Tata Group, Infosys, Bharti Enterprises, ITC Welcome grou
p, Indian Oil Corporation among others.
The 2010 list of Forbes Asia’s ‘48 Heroes of Philanthropy’ contains four Indians. The
2009 list also featured four Indians. India has been named among the top ten Asi
an countries paying increasing importance towards corporate social responsibilit
y (CSR) disclosure norms. India was ranked fourth in the list, according to soci
al enterprise CSR Asia s Asian Sustainability Ranking (ASR), released in October
2009.
According to a study undertaken by an industry body in June 2009, which studied
the CSR activities of 300 corporate houses, corporate India has spread its CSR a
ctivities across 20 states and Union territories, with Maharashtra gaining the m
ost from them. About 36 per cent of the CSR activities are concentrated in the s
tate, followed by about 12 per cent in Gujarat, 10 per cent in Delhi and 9 per c
ent in Tamil Nadu.
The companies have on an aggregate, identified 26 different themes for their CSR
initiatives. Of these 26 schemes, community welfare tops the list, followed by
education, the environment, health, as well as rural development.
Further, according to a study by financial paper, The Economic Times, donations
by listed companies grew 8 per cent during the fiscal ended March 2009. The stud
y of disclosures made by companies showed that 760 companies donated US$ 170 mil
lion in FY09, up from US$ 156 million in the year-ago period. As many as 108 com
panies donated over US$ 216,199, up 20 per cent over the previous year.
Although corporate India is involved in CSR activities, the central government i
s working on a framework for quantifying the CSR initiatives of companies to pro
mote them further. According to Minister for Corporate Affairs, Mr Salman Khursh
id, one of the ways to attract companies towards CSR work is to develop a system
of CSR credits, similar to the system of carbon credits which are given to comp
anies for green initiatives.
Moreover, in 2009, the government made it mandatory for all public sector oil co
mpanies to spend 2 per cent of their net profits on corporate social responsibil
ity.
Besides the private sector, the government is also ensuring that the public sect
or companies participate actively in CSR initiatives. The Department of Public E
nterprises (DPE) has prepared guidelines for central public sector enterprises t
o take up important corporate social responsibility projects to be funded by 2-5
per cent of the company s net profits.
As per the guidelines, companies with net profit of less than US$ 22.5 million w
ill earmark 3-5 per cent of profit for CSR, companies with net profit of between
US$ 22.5 million - US$ 112.5 million, will utilise 2-3 per cent for CSR activit
ies and companies with net profit of over US$ 112.5 million will spend 0.5-2 per
cent of net profits for CSR.
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CSR Initiatives and Green Measures


India Inc has joined hands to fine-tune all its activities falling under CSR. Fo
r this, it has set up a global platform to showcase all the work done by Indian
firms. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the TVS Group collaborated to
form the CII-TVS Centre of Excellence for Responsive Corporate Citizenship in 20
07. It provides consultancy services and technical assistance on social developm
ent and CSR.
According to a National Geographic survey which studied 17,000 consumers in 17 c
ountries, Indians are the most eco-friendly consumers in the world. India topped
the Consumer Greendex, where consumers were asked about energy use and conserva
tion, transportation choices, food sources, the relative use of green products v
ersus traditional products, attitudes towards the environment and sustainability
and knowledge of environmental issues.
Reliance Industries and two Tata Group firms—Tata Motors and Tata Steel—are the coun
try s most admired companies for their corporate social responsibility initiativ
es, according to a Nielsen survey released in May 2009.
As part of its Corporate Service Corps (CSC) programme, IBM has joined hands wit
h the Tribal Development Department of Gujarat for a development project aimed a
t upliftment of tribals in the Sasan area of Gir forest.
The financial services sector is going green in a steady manner. With an eye on
preserving energy, companies have started easing the carbon footprint in their o
ffices. The year 2009 witnessed initiatives including application of renewable e
nergy technologies, moving to paperless operations and recognition of environmen
tal standards. Efforts by companies such as HSBC India, Max New York Life and St
andard Chartered Bank have ensured that the green movement has kept its momentum
by asking their customers to shift to e-statements and e-receipts.
State-owned Navratna company, Coal India Ltd (CIL) will invest US$ 67.5 million
in 2010-11 on social and environmental causes.
Public sector aluminium company NALCO has contributed US$ 3.23 million for devel
opment work in Orissa s Koraput district as part of its Corporate Social Respons
ibility (CSR).
India s Human Resource (HR)
Over the last decade, India s vast manpower has played an instrumental role in i
ts economic success story. Several corporate bigwigs are now thinking of ways of
building the skill sets of their employees.
Moreover, as the global economy recovers from recession and Indian companies exp
and in the US and European markets, India Inc is grooming global managers who ca
n effortlessly connect with diverse geographies and fuel opportunities for growt
h. Indian companies are shifting their young managers abroad to handle diversity
at an early stage and help create a reserve of globally competent people. The T
atas, Aditya Birla Group, Essar Group, Infosys and mid-cap firms like Glenmark P
harmaceuticals and S Kumars Nationwide (SKNL) are among companies that nurture g
lobal talent.
Not only is India Inc grooming global managers, but companies from across the gl
obe are scouting the country for quality talent to fill positions across geograp
hies. India is fast gaining the distinction of becoming one of the world s large
st talent incubators.
Recruitment companies, such a s Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and th
e rest of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region ar
e expected to import talent from India across profiles and domains, in significa
nt numbers. According to industry estimates, close to 100 top level executive (C
XO) positions and 30,000 middle- to junior-level hirings, across profiles and do
mains are expected during 2010, and these numbers are expected to go up in the c
oming years.
A survey by global HR services firm, Hewitt Associates, released in March 2010,
said that a majority of Indian companies, particularly those in infrastructure a
nd energy sectors, were planning to hire in a big way this year. About 93.4 per
cent of the firms surveyed were expected to hire this year. Firms in sectors lik
e telecom, oil and gas and infrastructure were likely to recruit the most, acros
s lateral and entry levels.
As per a new survey by Manpower Inc, released in June 2010, India s job market i
s likely to return to pre-slowdown days in the third quarter of this fiscal. Ind
ia’s hiring outlook is most optimistic among 36 nations, with a net employment out
look of 42 per cent. The hiring is expected to be strongest in the mining and co
nstruction industries, with 46 per cent of the respondents planning to recruit i
n the next quarter.
Manufacturing too is set to recruit in a big way with about 44 per cent of emplo
yers indicating their plans to do so.
Exchange rate used: 1 USD = 44.53 INR (as on April 2010)

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