By Rusen Kumar
NEW DELHI (India CSR): In this exclusive interview, Rusen Kumar, Managing Editor, India CSR, engages with Sudeep Agrawal, CFO & Head – CSR, Ashirvad by Aliaxis, to discuss how strategic financial leadership can drive meaningful social impact. The conversation highlights how Ashirvad by Aliaxis integrates CSR into its core business strategy, ensuring that financial discipline and sustainability go hand in hand. Sudeep Agrawal explains how the company aligns its CSR investments with key focus areas such as water and sanitation, healthcare, education, skilling, and environmental conservation. Drawing from his professional experience, including his tenure at Philips, he emphasizes the importance of outcome-based funding, transparent processes, and measurable impact. The interview explores flagship initiatives like mobile healthcare units, vocational skilling through the Plumber Saathi programme, water body restoration, afforestation, and school transformation projects. Overall, the discussion reinforces that CSR, when embedded within financial planning and long-term business vision, can strengthen community trust, enhance brand resilience, and create sustainable value for both society and the organization.
1. How does Ashirvad by Aliaxis integrate financial strategy with social responsibility as the CFO and Head of CSR?
We align our CSR investments with our core focus on water and sanitation, integrating financial strategy with social responsibility. Our initiatives in water-body restoration, afforestation, and rural education strengthen Ashirvad by Aliaxis’s sustainability, build community trust, and reduce risks. This approach ensures disciplined budgeting, measurable impact. By directing the CSR toward measurable social impact, companies build a foundation of public trust that naturally enhances brand equity and resilience.
2. How has your financial strategy experience at Philips enhanced Ashirvad’s CSR programs?
My experience at Philips taught me how to align financial discipline with long-term impact. I have applied that approach at Ashirvad by ensuring our CSR programmes are strategically funded, outcome-driven, and closely linked to our core focus on water and sanitation, afforestation, and rural education. This helps to create value for both the community and environment.
3. What are the key metrics and long-term goals for the Plumber Saathi programme to measure its success and societal impact?
The Plumber Saathi programme, in collaboration with the Smile Foundation, is a mobile upskilling initiative that trains youth in plumbing for sustainable careers. Focused on long-term impact, it enhances skills, employability, and income while supporting career growth.
Its progress is tracked through participation, reach, and knowledge gains using OMR-based pre- and post-tests. As of September 2025, 22 sessions across Jharkhand and Odisha trained 672 plumbers, showing strong learning outcomes. Attendance and engagement are monitored through digital tools and registers to ensure transparency and accountability.
4. How do the Mobile Medical Units address health and hygiene challenges, and what are the expansion plans?
The Smile on Wheels program, a joint initiative with the Smile Foundation, uses Mobile Medical Units (MMUs) to deliver quality primary healthcare to underserved communities. These MMUs serve as mobile clinics providing curative and preventive care, specialized health camps like eye check-ups with free spectacles, and screenings for anaemia and non-communicable diseases. They also promote maternal and child health through antenatal care, immunization, and awareness on hygiene and preventive health.
The initiative builds strong linkages with government health systems, connecting beneficiaries to schemes like Ayushman Bharat and referral hospitals for advanced care. Operating across Bengaluru, Bhiwadi, Durgapur, and Kolkata, it covers 57 locations and delivers about 25,000 OPDs each in Bengaluru and Bhiwadi, and 41,000 treatments each in Durgapur and Kolkatareflecting its growing reach and impact.
5. How does Ashirvad ensure long-term ecological benefits and community engagement in environmental initiatives like sapling planting and water body restoration?
Ashirvad drives long-term ecological impact through scientific monitoring, native solutions, and community participation. Under the Jaltara Project, implemented with the Art of Living, the company enhances groundwater recharge and restores water bodies using scientifically designed Jaltara structures across Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Telangana.
In Bengaluru, over 15,500 native saplings have been planted in Kanakapura with Art of Living (VVKI), while in Cuttack, 14,000 climate-resilient trees have been geo-tagged for continuous monitoring. The Water Body Restoration Project in Karnataka applies nature-based interventions such as biodiversity assessments, water quality analysis with IISc, and phytoremediation research to improve water quality. Across all initiatives, Ashirvad ensures sustained community engagement through awareness, training, and participation for lasting ecological impact.
6. What is Ashirvad’s vision for education-focused CSR, and how do school restoration projects contribute to children’s holistic development?
Ashirvad’s education-focused CSR, in partnership with the Art of Living, aims to create holistic and inclusive learning environments beyond just infrastructure development. Through its school restoration initiatives in Karnataka and West Bengal, the program enhances education quality for underprivileged students, aligning rural schools with private-school standards.
Currently supporting 8 schools in Karnataka and 2 in West Bengal, the project focuses on better infrastructure, learning resources, and teacher training. Schools are equipped with new classrooms, dining halls, libraries, internet access, and upgraded science and sports facilities. Alongside, the Nursing Scholarship Project supports over50 students, building a skilled and compassionate healthcare workforce. Together, these initiatives foster well-rounded child development and strengthen education at the community level.
The Ashirvad Plumbing School’s formal 80% practical curriculum classifies it as a “non-academic educational program” where the project has a key component of promoting education through vocational skills. Through its centres in Bhiwadi and Bengaluru, the school trains 20-25 students per batch and provides full support, including hostel facilities and placement assistance.
7. What challenges and opportunities have you faced in implementing ERP systems and process improvements in global CSR operations?
Ashirvad’s CSR operations are driven by ERP-enabled process improvements and alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ensuring consistency, data-driven monitoring, and measurable impact.
Key SDG priorities include:
Good Health & Well-being: Smile on Wheels delivers mobile healthcare across four states; the Nursing Scholarship Project supports over 50 students to strengthen the healthcare workforce.
Quality Education: School restoration in Karnataka and West Bengal, along with the Bridge Training Program for Women and Plumber Saathi, have enhanced learning and employability for 7,200+ individuals.
Gender Equality: The Bridge Program and the Ladies’ Barrack at Bhiwadi promote women’s empowerment and workplace safety.
Clean Water & Sanitation: The Jaltara Project and water restoration efforts improve groundwater and water quality across states.
Decent Work & Economic Growth: Skilling initiatives boost income opportunities for plumbers and women trainees.
Sustainable Cities & Communities: Projects like Jaltara and Bhiwadi Ladies’ Barrack foster community-driven sustainability.
Life on Land: Afforestation drives—15,500 saplings in Bengaluru and 14,000 in Cuttack—support biodiversity and ecological balance.
8. How does Ashirvad engage with local communities to ensure relevant, impactful, and sustainable CSR initiatives?
Ashirvad combines on-ground action with strategic partnerships to make its CSR initiatives impactful, sustainable, and community-driven. The Smile on Wheels program delivers mobile healthcare, eye camps, and health awareness across Bengaluru, Bhiwadi, Durgapur, and Kolkata, while linking beneficiaries to government hospitals and Ayushman Bharat.
Through Plumber Saathi, Ashirvad partners with local dealers to mobilize beneficiaries, aligning business growth with community well-being. Water conservation and plantation projects encourage community ownership for long-term ecological impact.
At the grassroots, Plumbing Schools recruit trainees via local outreach and government coordination. Women’s empowerment is strengthened through the Bridge Training Program, which has trained 375 women in Karnataka and Maharashtra, and the Ladies’ Barrack at Bhiwadi UIT Police Station, enhancing safety and facilities for women personnel.
9. What are Ashirvad’s future CSR aspirations, strategic priorities, and new areas of social impact?
We will continue to focus on the areas mentioned above and aim to maximise our impact.
10. What advice would you give organizations seeking to combine strategic financial leadership with social responsibility?
My advice would be to treat social responsibility as an integral part of business strategy, not a separate function. When financial planning and CSR share the same vision and accountability framework, every rupee spent delivers both economic and social value. Organizations should focus on measurable outcomes, transparent processes, and partnerships that align with their core purpose. True financial leadership isn’t just about managing resources efficiently. It’s about investing them wisely to create long-term value for both the company and the community.
About Rusen Kumar
Rusen Kumar is a distinguished journalist, author, and visionary knowledge entrepreneur specializing in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability in India. He is the founder and managing editor of India CSR Network, a leading platform dedicated to CSR and sustainability issues.
(Copyright@IndiaCSR)
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