Tata Leads in Latest ET CSR Ranking

India CSR News Network

MUMBAI: Four Tata Group companies have secured top 10 Rank in CSR for 2^nd consecutive year in Economic Times Survey, report published on September 15, 2016. There are four Tata group companies in the top 10 list. Tata Power retains its position. Compared to the previous study, it has jumped two places. Mahindra & Mahindra the top ranked company in 2014 has dropped 3 ranks to be placed fourth. Ultratech Cement and Shree Cements are a surprise entrant in the top 10. Interestingly no foreign players made it to the top 10 list – a trend that follows from 2014.

India’s ‘Top companies for Sustainability and CSR’, in its third year, attempts to examine companies, 217 of them, through the CSR microcosm and also on larger issues of sustainability. The study is result of a partnership between IIM Udaipur, Futurescape and The Economic Times.

The Tata Group was also ranked first in a recent sustainability leadership survey conducted across Asia for advancing the sustainable development agenda. The UN system’s set of 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) is now being woven into the development frameworks of countries, and also corporations.

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“Why do the Tatas often make it to such lists and rankings? The reasons are many. While the $ 103 billion group has an enviable record in philanthropy, enabled through a unique shareholding pattern — Tata trusts hold 66 per cent of Tata Sons — many of its companies are now emerging as sustainability innovators. Apparently, group companies haven’t rested on its philanthropic or CSR laurels.”, report said.

Tata firms top rankings:

Natural Capital, in simple terms, and as defined by the newly- minted Natural Capital Coalition, is an economic metaphor for the limited stock of natural (non-renewable) resources and the limited capacity of ecosystems to generate benefits for human well-being. Valuing environmental externalities is integral to the concept. The group, therefore, is emerging as a sustainability champion even as it endeavours to consolidate, restructure and renew traditional CSR to meet emerging needs —skilling, employability — and also address new challenges. Structures and process are undergoing an overhaul within the group.

Look at the manner in which the Group’s CSR approaches are changing. It was felt that synergies and the expertise lying within individual companies in the sustainability and CSR spaces were not being drawn upon for better dissemination, spread and impact, across the Group. The old Tata Council for Community Initiatives (TCCI) was banished and the Tata Sustainability Group (TSG) came into being to function as a crucible for sustainability and CSR.

The TSG is also the executing arm for a new generation of initiatives that go by the name of Group CSR Programmes (GCPs) which are implemented by another new entity created in 2014, the Tata Community Initiatives Trust (TCIT).

The first programme under this arrangement is TataStrive, a skills project with a focus employability, entrepreneurship and community enterprises. The first national Strive centre was set up in Aligarh to train youth as air-conditioning and refrigeration operators, electricians and solar PV installers. This was in July 2015. Since then three other centres — in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune — have been set up with several focus areas — BPO, debt recovery agents, F&B, retail, auto repairs  — with participation from companies like Tata Motors, Voltas and others.

Tata companies can set aside a portion of the 2 per cent CSR spend for GCPs. This is not all. The group’s volunteering programme — Tata Engage — plugs into the effort. Partnerships and collaboration form the bedrock GCPs. Don Bosco Tech, a skills ecosystem of a certain vintage, is an active partner. These initiatives are not the usual; they have been crafted by examining the challenges in the ecosystem; lack of life skills, attrition, trainer quality and assessment.

Key findings of the survey:

1 . Only the Top 33 per cent firms believe in taking a long-term view on responsible business.

2. Governance for business responsibility sees improvement. The average governance score is the highest of the four factors. This year more than 54 per cent companies have scored more than half the marks on governance vs 47 per cent last year.
3. Disclosures are poor as sustainability reporting is inadequate.
4. Sustainability is at the heart of high performing companies.
5. Total CSR spend of 173 firms for which data was available in 2014-15 was Rs 5752 crore with an average spend of Rs 33.25 crore per company. This translated into an average CSR spend as a percentage of average PAT of 1.4 per cent, which is lower than the government mandate of 2 per cent and more.
6. Government push makes corporate India step up. Over 39 per cent of companies focused on Swachh Bharat. 59 per cent of the companies surveyed work in the areas of solar energy.
7. Emissions disclosure needs more focus. Only 36 per cent (38 per cent in the previous year) of India’s top 200 companies disclosed data on GHG emissions while 54 per cent participated in carbon specific initiatives such as Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
8. Energy and Materials, given the inherent nature of their business, try to mitigate the impact on the external world through a business responsibility focus.
9. Education and healthcare attracted the largest CSR spends, accounting for 45 per cent of the total spends. Empowering women, support for senior citizens and armed forces veterans saw no takers.

(Source: Economic Times)

For full report visit the report.