IGCC SustainMarkets launches its new publication “Corporate social Responsibility: 25 leading German companies in India”.
The German chancellor, Dr. Angela Merkel, together with Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General of IGCC, and Dr. Julie Reviere, Country Director of GIZ in India, have launched the booklet at IGCC’s 63rd Annual General Meetingon 2nd November in Delhi.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is known as a management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders to balance economic, environmental and social imperatives contributing to sustainable development and responsible business conduct.
From the companies’ overall strategies to their spending and flagship initiatives, the booklet presents the CSR portfolio of 25 leading German companies in India, showcasing their approach to social and environmental accountability along selected key indicators.
The facts and figures show a steady increase of the aggregated CSR spending in the last years. This development is clearly associated with the Company Act of 2013, establishing the obligation to invest in CSR activities for large companies in India. But it is also an outcome of the announcement of the United Nations Agenda 2030 in 2015, the Indian adaptation of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the same year and the release of similar frameworks like the National Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC) in 2018.
Even though all of the 17 SDGs are recognised within the companies’ activities, evidentially three goals stand out: Good Health and Well-Being (3), Quality Education (Goal 4), and Clean Water and Sanitation (6). The average yearly spending of all 25 companies together amounted to more than INR 15 crore on Goals 3 and 6 and INR 25 crore on Goal 4 alone. In the upcoming years, the activities and projects of the companies will have a positive impact on the lives of more than 500,000 children, women, farmer, elderly and differently abled.
The soft copy of the booklet is available at http://indien.ahk.de/services/igcc-sustainmarkets/