Vedanta Group bags 3 awards at the FICCI CSR Awards

by Shrutee K

Recognized for extensive work done towards Covid-19 relief, women empowerment and food security & agriculture

Nov 2021, New Delhi: Vedanta Group received three awards at the 19^th Edition of annual FICCI CSR Awards, held on 24th November 2021. These awards celebrate and honour the best CSR practices across the country. The awards recognized Vedanta Ltd for its Fight Against Covid-19, Project Subhalaxmi of Vedanta Limited Jharsuguda under women empowerment category and Project Samadhan of Hindustan Zinc Limited under food security & agriculture category. Ms. Rajashree Birla, Chairperson, FICCI CSR & Community Development Committee, conferred the awards at a virtual award presentation ceremony. 

Vedanta is one of the world’s largest natural resources companies which has positively impacted the lives of 4.23 crore people. The company has spent more than Rs. 1000 crores over the last 3 years towards various social development initiatives. 

On the occasion Group CEO Shri Sunil Duggal said, “In Vedanta, community welfare remains at the core of each of our business decisions. I am thankful to Ms. Birla and the jury for recognizing our social development initiatives. We at Vedanta are very proud of the role we played during the pandemic in supporting community members. Vedanta contributed around Rs. 250 crores in the fight against covid 19. We have now committed Rs. 5000 crores for community welfare over the next 5 years and will continue doing everything possible to uplift the lives of children and women across the country.” 

Over the years, Vedanta has built many impactful CSR programs and is considered one of the most socially responsible corporates in the country. Earlier this year, Vedanta announced Rs 5,000 crore social development roadmap of Anil Agarwal Foundation (AAF) as part of their giving back mission. AAF’s ‘Swasth Gaon Abhiyaan’ project will provide end-to-end healthcare services across 1,000 villages in 12 states, impacting the lives of more than 2 million people. 

Dr Bhaskar Chatterjee, CEO of Anil Agarwal Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Vedanta also thanked FICCI and the jury for the awards. He said “It is an honor for us to have received these awards. We at Vedanta have always been at the forefront of aligning ourselves towards the welfare of our communities and fostering sustainable progress and development. With the jury having conferred on us these distinguished awards, we are encouraged more to serve society as our integral goal. With the vast roadmap towards social development in the form of various group projects, Vedanta will continue to transform communities for good.” 

As part of its many interventions, Vedanta played an important role in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic by supporting communities, daily wage workers, contract and business partners. As many as 15 lakhs have benefitted from Vedanta’s Covid Care initiatives. 

Under Vedanta Cares, field hospitals were set up with 100 critical care beds with oxygen and ventilator support across 10 locations and more than 20 lakh litres of oxygen to Covid-affected patients was supplied. 

About Vedanta Limited: Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading Oil & Gas and Metals company with significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, and Aluminium & Power across India, South Africa and Namibia. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing significantly to nation building. Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety, and environment. Vedanta has put in place a comprehensive framework to be the ESG leader in the natural resources sector. Vedanta is committed to reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050 or sooner and has pledged $5 billion over the next 10 years to accelerate the transition to net zero operations. Giving back is in the DNA of Vedanta, which is focused on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company’s flagship social impact program, Nand Ghars, have been set up as model anganwadis focused on eradicating child malnutrition, providing education, healthcare, and empowering women with skill development. Under the aegis of the Anil Agarwal Foundation, the umbrella entity for Vedanta’s social initiatives, the Vedanta group has pledged Rs 5000 crore over the next five years on social impact programmes with a thrust on nutrition, women & child development, healthcare, animal welfare, and grass-root level sports. Vedanta and the group companies company have been featured in Dow Jones Sustainability Index 2020, and was conferred Frost & Sullivan Sustainability Awards 2020, CII Environmental Best Practices Award 2020, CSR Health Impact Award 2020, CII National Award 2020 for Excellence in Water Management, CII Digital Transformation Award 2020, People First HR Excellence Award 2020, ‘Company with Great Managers 2020’ by People Business and certified as a Great Place to Work 2021. Vedanta’s flagship Nand Ghar Project was identified as best CSR project by Government of Rajasthan. Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange in India. For more information, please visit www.vedantalimited.com.