Vedanta to spend Rs 285 crore on CSR activities in FY18

Metal czar Anil Agarwal-promoted Vedanta group has lined up Rs 285-crore investments in Corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in FY18.
"We spent Rs 126 crore towards CSR activities last year and are looking at spending around Rs 285 crore in FY18.
"The Vedanta group, in partnership with Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, plans to modernise around 4,000 anganwadis as 'Nand Ghars, which will focus on children's health and education and skilling women," Vikas Sharma, CEO of Bharat Aluminium, a group firm, told PTI here.
The company today received Award of Appreciation in CSR Innovation for Nand Ghar initiative from Union Minister of State Ramdas Athawale.

Sharma said the company will spend 50 per cent of the proposed investments on building 4,000 Nand Ghars (modern anganwadis).
"We have also launched projects 'Sakhi', 'Mamta' and 'Bhagyalaxmi' for skilling. We have presence in 1,759 villages and 2.37 million people will benefit from these projects," Sharma said.

Nand Ghars are equipped with BaLA designs (Building as learning aid) and TV for delivering interactive learning for holistic development of children. Each cluster of it is equipped with a mobile health van to ensure primary healthcare for children, pregnant and lactating mothers, he said.
'Project Nand Ghar' is committed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of eradicating child malnutrition, providing education, healthcare and empowering women with skill development, Sharma said.

The company is working on CSR activities in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Goa.
The Nand Ghar project will run as children's education and health centre in the morning and train women in entrepreneurial skills in the second half, the company said.
The programme will help to eradicate malnutrition in children and create women entrepreneurs across the country. An estimated 25 lakh community members, including children, will benefit through this project each year, it said.