Thane is another city besides Udaipur that is known as the City of lakes. The reference has been derived due to the factor that the city features about 35 lakes within its boundaries. The city’s close proximity to Mumbai has caused a perception among people outside Maharashtra that it is an extended part of Mumbai. Thane is the third most industrialised district of Maharashtra. The presence of major companies in the region has made it an attractive destination for CSR investments.
In FY2020-21, Thane received the fourth-largest share of the amount of the total CSR funds spent in Maharashtra. The district received a total of Rs. 75.68 Cr. from 306 companies in the last fiscal year. The top three sectors of focus for CSR initiatives in the district were Health, Education, and Environment, which received Rs. 34.75 Cr., Rs. 27.01 Cr., and Rs. 5.4 Cr., respectively. The top three spenders in the district were Macrotech Developers Limited (Rs. 9.68 Cr.), Citicorp Finance India Limited (Rs. 3.24 Cr.), and Skyline Mansions Private Limited (Rs. 2.35 Cr.).
Top CSR Projects in Thane
Project Tejas
Tejas, a teacher training project delivered by the British Council in association with Tata Trusts and the Maharashtra State Government, has upskilled 51,000 teachers across 36 districts in Maharashtra, who in turn, teach 1.4 million young students in the state schools.
The project set out to benefit primary school teachers and students across government schools in Maharashtra through improved English language proficiency. Tejas was run through an engaging, replicable model wherein teachers could not only manage their own development but also sustain it for larger peer to peer groups, in and beyond the State.
Tejas is a significant project for the State of Maharashtra as it represents a transition from a traditional model of teacher training to a more sustainable, internally supported approach that promotes holistic professional development through communities of practice. The project has helped build the State’s institutional capacity to support and implement large-scale, long-term in-service teacher training programmes which do not rely solely on cascade training as the medium of delivery.
The five-year project (2016-21) showed resilience to the pandemic and met its timeline by embracing the virtual platform and holding over 3,500 online meetings in the past year since the first lockdown.
The project started as a pilot in nine districts of Maharashtra in 2016 and later was scaled up in 27 other districts including Thane among others.
Oxygen on Wheels Project
In order to aid the fight against the pandemic, the Mahindra Group rolled out a free service initiative, ‘Oxygen on Wheels’ (O2W), to strengthen the availability of oxygen by connecting oxygen producers with the hospitals and medical centres in dire need of it.
O2W was launched in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Chakan, Nasik and Nagpur with over 100 Mahindra vehicles ferrying oxygen. The initiative was helmed by Mahindra Logistics in partnership with the administration and local government bodies. With a large fleet of vehicles at its disposal and an integrated command and control centre, Mahindra Logistics has been working on creating a seamless and endless chain of supply of lifesaving oxygen and transport it to the hospitals and medical centres in a way that is safe and reliable.
LANXESS B-ABLE Skill Centre
LANXESS India Private Limited has established a skill development centre in Thane as part of its CSR programme to provide training to aspiring candidates looking for suitable employability. The LANXESS B-ABLE SKILL CENTRE was set up in association with BASIX Academy for Building Lifelong Employability Limited (B-Able) who is the implementation partner for the project for a period of three years starting from 2019, covering Thane, Jhagadia and Nagda.
In its first year, LANXESS India trained 129 candidates in its centre in Thane wherein the candidates were given training under the categories of Sewing Machine operators and Call Centre executives. The courses started in January 2019 and after completion, candidates were assisted with placements.
A total of 96 candidates which is 78% of the total enrolments, have been placed in companies or have started their own business after the project concluded. LANXESS has supported B-Able on this project with the cost of mobilization, training, human resource, rent for the facility etc.
The project is focused on providing skill development training for the youth who are unskilled, semi-skilled, school dropouts and come from the underprivileged sections living in and around LANXESS India’s operations.
Water Project by Mahindra Logistics
Shahapur is the largest taluka in the Thane district and faces severe water shortage during the summer season. Towards easing the situation and improving the lives of residents, Mahindra Logistics has adopted Tembha and is conducting various developmental initiatives including infrastructure development, education, health and vocational guidance amongst others.
The company has set up a water project at Jambhulpada, a hamlet in Tembha village near Shahapur, as part of its CSR initiative in 2018. The initiative has benefitted around 75 families and permanently resolved their water woes.
