New Delhi, June 26, 2021: Tata Coffee, a subsidiary of the Tata group, has spent 70 % more than its prescribed CSR budget for the year 2020-21. The Karnataka based company focussed on health care, education, and rural sports projects as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in the financial year 2020-21.
According to the company’s annual report, its total CSR obligation for the year 2020-21 was only Rs 75 lakh. However, it spent a total of Rs. 1.30 crore, which is more than the statutory limit of 2 percent of the average net profit of the company. Thus, the company spent an excessive amount of Rs. 55 lakh on its CSR activities.
Tata Coffee’s average net profit as per Section 135(5) of the Act stood at Rs. 37.69 crore. The prescribed CSR budget of a company is calculated as two per cent of the average net profit of the past three years. The company, however, spent 3.44 per cent of its average net profits of three preceding financial years.
Sunalini Menon is the Chairperson of Tata Coffee’s CSR Committee that also includes four other key members—Mr. V. Leeladhar, Mr. Siraj Azmat Chaudhry, Dr. P. G. Chengappa, and Mr. Chacko Purackal Thomas.
Tata Coffee- Key CSR activities 2020-21
| S.No. |
Key Spending Area |
Project Name |
Location |
Money Spent (in INR lakh) |
| 1. |
Health |
Promoting Preventive
Health Care
|
Coorg, Karnataka |
85.58 |
| 2. |
Health |
Promoting Preventive
Health Care
|
Coorg, Karnataka |
30.00 |
| 3. |
Education |
Promoting education by
providing contributions
|
Theni, Tamil Nadu and Anamallais, Tamil Nadu |
6.58 |
| 4. |
Sports |
Promoting Rural Sports by
providing contributions
|
Theni, Tamil Nadu |
7.49 |
| 5. |
Infrastructure/Others |
Others |
Bengaluru, Karnataka |
0.10 |
| Total |
|
|
|
129.75 |
The company’s focus areas for its CSR implementation include Ensuring protection and restoration of wildlife, reduction of carbon and water footprint through inclusive and sustainable business practices, programs focused on education and skill development, healthcare, gender equality, Renewable energy, water conservation, and waste management.
"We primarily focus on education, healthcare, ecosystem, restoration, and employability and have identified health, differently-abled personnel, restoration of hydrological balance, and skill development as key focus areas for the company-wide CSR programme," Tata Coffee says in its annual report.
Tata Coffee - Major CSR initiatives
Tata Coffee’s CSR programmes are largely aligned with the critical needs of the communities. The key initiatives implemented though through NGO partnerships are listed below:
Restoration of hydrological balance: Supported by its NGO partner, Water Literacy Foundation, Tata Coffee works to restore lakes using an innovative lake-in-lake method. The objective of the programme is to eradicate the water shortage faced by the communities in specific geographies and ensure water security.
Site-specific programmes: The Company implemented several community initiatives at different geographies - Coorg, Valparai, and Hassan - where its plantations and factories are located.
Group-level community welfare initiatives: To encourage its employees to get involved with the community, Tata Coffee employees contributed 25,300 volunteering hours across 115 activities, which are significantly higher than last year’s count. As many as 5,709 Tata Coffee volunteers touched 54,638 lives during the volunteering activities.
