Top CSR projects in Mumbai

CSR in Indian cities is growing year on year. While rural areas took practically all the funding pie in the decades past, slum rehabilitation, community development of impoverished urban dwellers and environmental projects are getting more attention from corporates in recent years.

In FY2020-21, the state of Maharashtra was the highest recipient of CSR funds in India. And within Maharashtra, Mumbai was the top destination among corporates for their CSR initiatives. This could be attributed to the fact that Mumbai is known as the commercial capital of India, which has the headquarters of most of the major national as well as international companies.

In FY21, Mumbai City received a total of Rs. 394.15 Cr. in CSR funds from 914 companies. The top three areas of focus for the CSR programs were: education, health and Gender equality, with an expenditure of Rs. 186.62 Cr., Rs. 182.09 Cr., and Rs. 9.18 Cr. respectively in them. The top three spenders in the district included Tata Sons Private Limited (Rs. 50.37 Cr.), ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Limited (Rs. 19.82 Cr.), and Fullerton India Credit Company Limited (Rs. 19.1 Cr.).

Best CSR projects in Mumbai

Corporate social responsibility in the cities largely concentrates on slums and semi-urban areas in the vicinity. Here are the top CSR initiatives in Mumbai that have gained recognition for their Best Practices and for meaningful impact.

Viacom18 Chakachak Mumbai

Viacom18 identified WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) as one of their key focus areas in its CSR policy. The company places emphasis on sustained change in behaviour for long term impact. Chakachak Mumbai was conceptualised to create a long-term impact in WASH – the sector of water, sanitation and hygiene.

Viacom18 CSR partnered with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to support them to make Mumbai Open Defecation Free. For this purpose, a two-pronged approach was undertaken that involved creating infrastructure and also changing public behaviour around cleanliness.

Capita CSR

Capita India is UK-based Capita group’s largest multi-client service centre. The company looks after various CSR projects in Mumbai. Capita CSR has supported children’s home HBT in Mumbai since 2007, funding teachers’ salaries, medication and supplies. Handmaids of the Blessed Trinity (HBT) is managed by two nuns. The home looks after 35 children who are either from broken homes, have lived on the streets or are orphans. HBT also runs a school for 400 children between the ages of 5 and 11 who live in the Mumbai slums, charging them nominal fees. Children who can’t afford the fee are never turned away.

Capita is a CSR partner for NGO Aasara, which has been working for the welfare of street children in Thane and the adjoining areas for close to 20 years. Through its CSR partnership, Capita aims to re-integrate around 40 children aged 6-14 from the illegal Kalwa slum into state education year after year. The company’s team in Vikhroli has been working with NGO Vidya, which focuses on remedial education for children, with a particular focus on empowering underprivileged girls and women.

Tata Steel RISHTA

Regional Initiative for Safe Sexual Health by Today’s Adolescents (RISHTA) enables adolescents to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health and overall well-being as well as provides coaching on life skills and self-development. It Increased awareness about adolescent reproductive and sexual health in communities and improved overall health of adolescents by identifying and training peer educators among them. The target groups in Project RISHTA are primarily adolescents in the age group of 12 to 24 years, married and unmarried who may be either school going, school dropouts or non-school going.

Tata Steel CSR provides leadership and vocational training opportunities to young people in the programme area. The initiative has proved to be a success because it engages the youth (through designated Youth Resource Centres) by conducting behaviour change communication campaigns using street theatre, puppet shows, and dance.

BPCL community development

BPCL’s journey with corporate social responsibility started with Mahul back in the 80s. Mahul village is located near the public enterprise’s refinery in Mumbai. The first CSR programme in 1986 set out to benefit the fishermen and fisherwomen, their health and literacy levels.

The villagers were mostly from the fishing community, they were rich but needed help and direction in education, health, etc. BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited) ran an integrated CSR programme for the community which was so successful that it went on to start another community development project in the nearby area of Karjat.

Adopting Karjat led to the top brass at BPCL realising the significance of the impact that CSR interventions could make to people’s lives, and so started the petroleum company’s social welfare legacy that continues to this day.