New Delhi, 9 September 2020: Leading steel-company, Tata Steel has exceeded Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expectations by spending Rs 19.46 crore over and above the prescribed CSR budget in the financial year 2019-20.
The company spent Rs 192.99 crore under its CSR activities in the financial year ending March. Its average net profit for the past three financial years stood at Rs 8,676.66 crore. Accordingly, the prescribed CSR budget, calculated as 2% of company’s average net profit over the past three years was Rs 173.53 Crore. As per the company claims, number of the beneficiaries under its CSR activities has been increasing every year. In financial year 2018, it had reached to around 11 lakh which increased to 14 lakh this year. (See the graph for year-wise increase in its reach).
The company’s CSR arm works majorly on projects relating to health, access to drinking water, education, livelihood, sports and infrastructure development, among others.
"We plan to make a meaningful difference to the lives of more than 2 million people by 2025", the company said in its annual report.
Tata steel claims that its CSR programmes are designed to create replicable large-scale models to address the most pressing community challenges on education, health, tribal identity and livelihoods. Focused programmes on disability, agriculture, water conservation, rural sport, nutrition and urban slum development emphasise on continuous reduction of inequities in society and empower the local community.
The company says that it has designed its CSR strategy around three objectives: actualise change models to address core development gaps in Jharkhand and Odisha, while being replicable at a national scale (through four signature national scale). And also, enable significant and lasting improvement of communities staying close to operating locations (through nine Proximate Community Development programmes). Third objective is to embed a societal perspective in key business decisions as an enabler to ensure community interests. The CSR arm of the company works majorly in the states like, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Maharashtra.
Impact of its Proximate Community Development programmes
- 17,032 farmers benefited through agriculture productivity techniques
- 177 water harvesting structures constructed largely for agricultural use and partly for domestic use
- 700+ children covered from more than 3,000, with 189 mainstreamed. Other than this, 10 residential and non-residential facilities in Jamshedpur (capacity of 1,000) under Masti Ki Pathshala. And also 5,504 youth enrolled, 2,733 youth trained and 2,197 youth were placed.
- 5,504 youth enrolled, 2,733 youth trained and 2,197 youth placed/ self-employed by various skill enhancement programmes.
- 311 persons reached through Sabal Centre and various disability linked programmes.
- 14,822 women reached under empowerment programmes through SHGs and ~5,000 women engaged in enterprise development and social activities.
- 53,844 youth engaged through different sports activities
- 454 youth experienced outdoor leadership camps
- In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company reached out to communities towards the end of March 2020, impacting over 23,000 lives as a precursor to a coordinated response that eventually reached out to around 8,02,095 lives in subsequent months.
Tata Steel’s CSR and Sustainability Committee includes Deepak Kapoor (Chairperson), OP Bhatt, T V Narendran and Koushik Chatterjee. During the financial year 2019-20, the company’s CSR committee met thrice, says the annual report.
CSR projects taken up by the company and the amount spent
| Sector | CSR project or activities identified | Amount
(in Rs cr) |
| Health | Promoting health care including preventive Healthcare and Sanitation | 44.37 |
| Drinking Water | Making Available Safe Drinking Water | 6.00 |
| Education | Promotion of Education including Special Education | 73.92 |
| Livelihood | Employment enhancing Vocational skills especially to Women, Children and Differently- abled | 24.48 |
| Environment | Environmental sustainability, agroforestry, animal welfare, resource conservation, maintaining quality of soil, air, water | 2.76 |
| Ethnicity | Protection and restoration of national heritage, Promotion of art, culture, handicrafts, setting up public libraries etc | 9.57 |
| Sports | Promotion of Rural, Nationally recognised, Paralympic and Olympic sports especially training | 8.16 |
| Rural & Urban Infrastructure | Rural development projects (infrastructure and other developments) | 8.66 |
| Disaster Management | Disaster management, including relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction activities | 5.88 |
Tata Steel’s operations require significant resettlement and rehabilitation of indigenous communities residing in the proximity of its operating sites. The company gives credit to its CSR team for ensuring highest standards of human rights as part of rehabilitation and resettlement, both before and after project completion.
The company won the Environmental Stewardship award and World CSR Congress, for its sustainable usage of steelmaking slag in road applications.
