Together we help uplift communities
Download the Vedanta
Social Impact Report 2020-21
We are the primary economic driver for the communities, where we operate.
We shoulder this responsibility seriously and endeavour to fulfil our role in a
manner that upholds the dignity of all our stakeholders and allows us to live up
to our deeply cherished values.
The Vedanta Sustainability
Framework and its associated
standards and policies guide
our work on social performance.
In areas with indigenous
populations, we are committed
to following the principles of
Free, Prior, Informed Consent
(FPIC). With its genesis in the
UN Declaration of Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, it has been
adopted as a best practice by the
IFC and ICMM.
Our CSR Council, led by a senior
business leader, and including
CSR Heads and CSR Executives
from all business units, meets
every month and reviews the
performance, spends and
outcome of CSR programmes
across units. Governed by
our in-house CSR Policy and
Sustainability Framework,
the Council is responsible for
governance, synergy and
cross-learning across the
Group's CSR efforts.
The Board CSR Committee
comprising senior Independent
Directors, apart from providing
strategic direction for CSR
activities, also approves its plans
and budgets, and reviews the
progress of the initiatives.
SOCIAL PERFORMANCE & SOCIAL LICENCE TO OPERATE
Securing and retaining one's social
licence to operate is an outcome
resulting from a company's ability to
garner the trust of the communities
where it operates. Social
performance frameworks are a good
mechanism to measure, manage, and
monitor this aspect of the business.
With a view to evaluate Vedanta's
social performance and impact, our
senior leadership commissioned a
study conducted by independent,
globally renowned experts. This
study spanned four sites, post which
the reports were submitted to the
Vedanta ExCo for its consideration.
The reports made a clear case for
a reboot of our social performance
practices.
Based on the findings of the report,
a Group-wide self-assessment
drive with all units was conducted
in FY2021. These led to the
formation of Social Performance
Steering Committees, with cross
functional participation. The
primary intent was to explain to
our internal stakeholders that
social performance and licence to
operate go beyond the ambit of an
organisation's CSR activities and are
closely related to its operations, HR
practices and other activities.
This awareness initiative resulted in
the formation of Social Performance
Management Committees (SPMC)
at each unit, development of
standard and guidance note and its
implementation through VSAP.
Following the success of the
initiative, we are engaging the
third-party consultants again to
reinstate the project through the
means of pilot to be conducted at
two BUs - Lanjigarh and HZL. With
the initial formalities complete
along with senior management
approvals, FY2022 will see these
two BUs undertake pilot projects
including social risk assessment
and grievance mechanism tracking,
among others.
Through such proactive and
targeted initiatives, we are
progressing towards our objective
of becoming a developer of choice
in our areas of operation.
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES
Community provides us the critical support to grow sustainably with all
stakeholders. We have evolved one of the
most elaborate community empowerment initiatives in our industry, and we regularly garner inputs and
insights from
stakeholders to improve our programmes.
In FY2021, ~₹331.12 crore was spent to help communities elevate their quality of life through
various interventions. An
overview of these programmes is provided below.
Children's well-being and education
Key-Features
7,00,000+
Children Benefited
Types of Interventions
Anganwadis, child-care centres; public school infra structure & sanitation, scholarships, teacher
training, digital classrooms, libraries, career counselling, exam preparation, science fairs and
Vedanta schools.
Healthcare
Key-Features
2.4 million
People Benefited
Types of Interventions
Support to primary health centres;
HIV/AIDS awareness programmes;
health camps; mobile health vans;
specialist doctor support; nutrition
programmes; Vedanta-run hospitals;
health awareness drives
Women's Empowerment
Key-Features
47,000+
Women Benefited
Types of Interventions
Self Help Groups; Women's co-operatives; Micro-enterprises
Agriculture & animal husbandry
Key-Features
36,000 +
People Benefited
Types of Interventions
Climate change adaptation; Wadi & water-shed rejuvenation;
natural resource
management; dairy & livestock
development; farmer training; SHGs;
co-operatives; veterinary care; irrigation.
Environmental restoration & protection
Key-Features
74,000+
Saplings planted and under maintenance
Types of Interventions
Sapling plantation and greenbelt
management; water conservation
structures; pond desilting
Drinking water & sanitation
Key-Features
3,23,000 +
People Benefited
Types of Interventions
Provision of drinking water; construction
of toilets; RO plant set up; digging of
borewells; handpump repair/installation;
sanitation drives
Upskilling youth
Key-Features
- 20+
- Initiatives across our Group companies
76,000+
Youth Benefited
Types of Interventions
Sewing centres; vocational training
centres; technical & computer literacy
programmes; traditional crafts and
painting training
Sports & culture
Key-Features
69,000+
Sports persons and culture enthusiasts benefited
Types of Interventions
Rural sports; sponsorship for:
para-athletes; marathons; sports
tournaments; music festivals; football
and archery training academies
Community infrastructure
Key-Features
96,000+
People Benefited
Types of Interventions
Tube-wells, checkdams; drains; ponds; roads; public CCTV; bus stands; street lights; parks;
public
infra; community centres; health
centres; sports complexes; temples, irrigation.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH DURING COVID-19
In addition to the execution of our long-term social development agenda, we were also among the foremost
Indian companies which stood in solidarity with the larger community during these challenging times. We
have
pledged ~₹150 crore to help the country in its fight against the second wave of COVID-19 and we
are undertaking
several initiatives, as summarised below.
Health and medical support
- Setup 10 field hospitals with
1,000 critical care beds for COVID
patients, across Rajasthan,
Delhi/NCR, Chattisgarh, Odisha,
Karnataka, Jharkhand and Tamil
Nadu
- Vedanta's business units have
been supporting 1,000 beds
for COVID-19 patients across
business locations
- Cairn Oil & Gas has set up a
100-bed COVID Care Centre in Barmer along with the district
administration
- Vedanta Aluminium, Jharsuguda &
BALCO, Korba have set up COVID
Care Centres with a capacity of
100 beds each
- Vedanta Sesa Goa has added 100
critical care beds with oxygen and
ventilator support at Goa Medical
College
Oxygen supply
- HZL is supplying 8 tonnes of oxygen
to local hospitals, while Sesa Goa is
providing 3 tonnes of Liquid Medical
Oxygen on a daily basis. ESL has
also committed to supplying up to
10 tonnes of oxygen daily
- HZL runs an oxygen bottling plant
with capacity of up to 500 cylinders
per day, and is setting up a 1,200
cylinders per day bottling plant
- In order to facilitate on-time
oxygen transportation to
hospitals in Rajasthan, Cairn Oil &
Gas has provided 11 tankers
- Sterlite Copper is initiating the
operation of its oxygen plant
at Tuticorin, with a capacity to
produce 1,000 tonnes of oxygen
per day
UN SDGs and target linkage
Goal: SDG 2
Zero Hunger
Target: 2.1 - End hunger
and ensure access to safe,
nutritious, and sufficient
food, all year round
Target: 2.2 - End all forms
of malnutrition
Goal: SDG 4
Ensure inclusive
and equitable quality education
and promote lifelong learning
opportunities for all
Target: 4.4 - Increase
the number of youth and
adults who have relevant
skills, including technical
and vocational skills, for
employment, decent jobs and
entrepreneurship
Goal: SDG 6
Clean water & sanitation
Target: 6.6 - Protect and
restore water-related eco-systems
Goal: SDG 8
Economic
Growth & Decent work
for all
Target: 8.6 - Reduce youth
unemployment, illiteracy,
unproductivity
