About UltraTech CSR Activities

“Our CSR vision is to actively contribute to the social and economic development of the communities in which we operate. In sync with the UN SDGs, our endeavour is to lift the burden of poverty weighing down the underserved and foster inclusive growth. In doing so, build a better, sustainable way of life for the weaker and marginalized sections of society.”

Mrs. Rajashree Birla

Chairperson, The Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development

Social Projects

At UltraTech, we undertake our social initiatives under the aegis of The Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development, under the able leadership of Mrs. Rajashree Birla. The key focus areas are education, healthcare, sustainable livelihood, infrastructure and social reform. Women empowerment, water and sanitation are cross-cutting issues.

The Centre provides the strategic direction and the thrust areas for our work, while also ensuring performance management. We work towards overall development of the way of life of the communities around our plants, most of which are in distant rural areas and tribal belts. Through the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development, we reach out to more than 1.6 million people across 507 villages spanning 16 states.

We follow bottom-up approach for all our social projects. All projects are planned in consultation with the community. The process involves interacting with them and understanding their challenges and issues. 'Participatory Rural Appraisal’ process is used to understand the specific needs of the community.

Subsequently, focused and in-depth discussions with the village panchayats help to prepare the priority list of initiatives to be taken on ground. Implementation and monitoring of a project are a mutual responsibility of the community and our team. Regular community stakeholder meetings are held to ensure appropriate implementation process is followed. Once the project achieves a status of self-sustenance, ownership is transferred to the villagers. This transfer of responsibility ensures a culture of independence and self-reliance.

Model villages

We are working on a major social upliftment project that turns villages reeling under issues related to poverty, unemployment, water scarcity etc., into model villages. A model village is one where people have access to all aspects including education, health care, family welfare, infrastructure, agriculture, watershed management and sustainable livelihood options, thus ensuring a wholesome quality of life.

All the major UltraTech units are working towards the total transformation of several villages in proximity of their operations. The end objective of each unit's team is to ensure that the village committees become self-sustaining.

Of the over 500 villages that we are associated with, 44 villages have been transformed to model village status. In a few years, we expect to see a major transformation of these villages. The Bibi Village in Chandrapur district is one such example. The village has been selected as one of the Smart Villages in Maharashtra from 3000 villages, post a 30 major criteria evaluation.

The social situation in many villages has gone from dependence to self-reliant and from backwardness to progress.

Achievements:

Reached out to a population of 1.6 million people in over 507 villages in 16 states of India through our CSR initiatives.
Sanitation: In collaboration with the Government of India's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission), we aim to make 300 villages ODF free by 2025.
Livelihoods:
- The 840 Self-Help Groups (SHG) setup by us empowers 8,000 women economically and socially.
- Reached out to around 5523 farmers to help them in agricultural and horticultural activities to reap a rich harvest and 33,857 farmers for water conservation and harvesting.
Education: Over 36941 students are empowered through various school education programmes..
Health: More than five lakh villagers have availed our healthcare services across units.

CSR Impact Assessement Report

Focus Area:

Our focus areas for community development are as follows:

Healthcare

Health is a major concern for the poor. People are deprived of basic healthcare services and proper nutrition due to accessibility issue. Our activities that are carried out in the community, are aligned with SDG - 3 and SDG - 6 of 'Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages' and 'Availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all' respectively.

Mother and Child Healthcare

Our social initiatives in the area of mother and child healthcare encompass immunization of children against polio and tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus and measles as well antenatal and postnatal services for expectant mothers. These activities are a part of our Reproductive and Child Healthcare programs.

Education

Education not only equips with knowledge, but it also empowers everyone to lead a decent life as it leads to a holistic development of an individual. Aligned with SDG 4 - 'Providing inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities to all’, our initiatives support pre-school education through Anganwadis and elementary schools, school education, and also support the community through vocational trainings.

Community Infrastructure

Link between infrastructure and social progress is well known. Our social impact initiatives also include projects aimed to provide better infrastructure for the local communities. This includes connecting and repairing of roads, community hall, installation of solar lights, construction of water tanks and installation of piped water supply. We also focus on providing clean drinking water facilities as well as sanitation facilities.

UltraTech Cement CSR - Infrastructure Development for Local Communities

Sustainable Livelihood

Lack of gainful employment and access to sustainable livelihood opportunities is a key barrier for rural development. Lack of education and skills have proved to be an impediment in seeking these opportunities. Our social impact projects focus on supporting farmers increasing crop productivity and animal husbandry as well as preparing local youth for newer economy jobs through vocational skills training.