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May 5, 2025
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CSR: Kerala paves the way for recycling plastic

By
Hency Thacker
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Kerala paves the way for recycling plastic
Whenever you enter a city or a town in India, mountains of burning waste is a common sight. Bhalswa in Delhi and Deonar in Mumbai are quite infamous all over the world. It is a known fact that the only way to get rid of this perennial problem is to follow the 3 R’s-Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. When it comes to innovation, it is assumed that all the technology and processes first come to the biggest cities but small villages and towns in Kerala are setting benchmarks when it comes to living is a sustainable way.
Kollam, with a population of around 4 lakhs,  is a town which primarily depends on fishing. Over the last few decades, the fishermen are facing the brunt of the plastic waste in the sea. Their catch has reduced to around 20% of what they used to wish on top of which they have to face the problem of plastic waste entangled in their fishing nets.
They realised that this plastic waste is also a problem for their source of livelihood – fish. So they got in touch with the government and the minister of fisheries proactively started a project to build a recycling facility run by women. It was killing two issues, plastic waste and women empowerment, with one stone. This project has been a huge success and by the end of 2018, they had collected 65 metric tonnes of plastic from the sea.
Another village in Kerala, Eraviperoor, has instituted a recycling project where the recycled plastic is used to construct roads. The Suchitwa System is the government’s waste management program which helps with the infrastructure for the Resource Recovery Facility. The waste is segregated at source level and the plastic is directed to the recycling facility.
The recycling facility employs shredders which can shred 500 kg’s of plastic in a day. They then sell this shredded plastic to the government’s Public Works Department ( PWD) which uses it as a raw material for making roads. The government has instituted such projects across Kerala and they have succeeded in recycling 9700 tonnes of plastic which has been used to construct 246 km of polymerized roads.
Research has found that the most effective environmental initiatives are community-led and led by the local people themselves. These two examples should serve as motivation to the bigger cities that they themselves carry the keys to unlock their waste management problems.

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Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

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DCB Bank and WWF-India collaborate to conserve the endangered Indus River Dolphin

By
The CSR Journal
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Indus River Dolphin
Dolphins are an indicator species of healthy river systems. India is one of the few countries in the world that has two fresh water dolphin species – the Gangetic River Dolphin and the Indus River Dolphin, sub-species of South Asian River Dolphin. The latter is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
DCB Bank and WWF-India have announced a partnership to conserve the endangered Indus River Dolphin in the Beas Conservation Reserve.
Working closely with the Department of Forests and Wildlife Preservation, Government of Punjab, the organizations will implement initiatives around education, awareness and community led conservation to protect the species and its habitat and ensure conservation measures for its long term survival.
The partnership between DCB Bank and WWF-India aims to strengthen multi-stakeholder leadership and community-led dolphin conservation. Local institutions will spearhead the conservation efforts for the species and work with farmers living in villages on the banks of the river to reduce input use (water, chemical fertilizers and pesticides) in their farms.
As part of the partnership, WWF-India will also implement its Water School Programme which aims to build awareness among students on the need for conservation of natural resources across 30 schools in four districts along the Beas Conservation Reserve.
DCB Bank Managing Director and CEO Murali Natarajan said, “The project will take measures to protect the dolphin’s habitat in the River Beas and create a healthy ecosystem that will enable these beautiful aquatic mammals to thrive in their natural habitat for years to come. I am confident that our ‘Beas Mitras’ initiative will help spread awareness among both local communities and students of the dire need to protect the Indus River Dolphin. This initiative will focus on protection of natural water resource for the long term sustainability of the river, communities and the environment.”
Ravi Singh, Secretary-General and CEO, WWF-India, said, “As we continue this journey to protect the Indus River Dolphin, we believe the partnership will make a positive impact on the species’ population and its habitat. We are also deeply appreciative of the involvement of local communities who are the stewards of our conservation effort in the state.”
The first organized survey of Indus River Dolphin in the Beas Conservation Reserve (185kms) was jointly conducted with the Department of Forests and Wildlife Preservation, Government of Punjab in May 2018. Taking this forward, monthly dolphin surveys will be carried out to establish occurrence and population status along with habitat conservation measures.

CSR: World Bicycle Day

By
Kasmin Fernandes
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Employees of Liberty General Insurance Limited, cycled as a part of their annual CSR activity ‘Serve with Liberty’ ahead of World Bicycle Day
Employees of Liberty General Insurance Limited, cycled as a part of their annual CSR activity ‘Serve with Liberty’ ahead of World Bicycle Day
It is World Bicycle Day today. Not only is cycling the most environmentally responsible way to commute, it’s a practice companies are promoting as part of their CSR.

CSR activities on World Bicycle Day

Employees of Liberty General Insurance Limited, as a part of their annual CSR activity ‘Serve with Liberty’ came together and cycled to spread awareness about reducing carbon emission and following traffic rules. A group of volunteers from Liberty General Insurance cycled for this cause during peak office hours from Lower Parel to Worli in Mumbai on May 10th, ahead of World Bicycle Day.
The activity was led by Anita Gupta, super randonneur and endurance cyclist from Liberty General Insurance along with Firoza Suresh, Bicycle Mayor of Mumbai, and founder of Smart Commute Foundation NGO. These experienced cyclists along with ‘Serve with Liberty’ helped in spreading awareness about not just reducing carbon emission but also how cycling if pursued as a sport can help us in staying fit.
The Cycling Federation of India (CFI) felicitated Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd (HMSI) in New Delhi for supporting young Indian cyclists representing India as part of its CSR.
The HMSI had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the CFI in May 2017 to support the Indian cyclists at global level. In last two years, Honda has provided equipment, including static trainer, motorised, disc wheel cycles and foreign training support. With its support, 18 Indian cyclists are making the country proud in the World Premiere Cycling Championships.
Starting 2019 on a thumping note, the Indian cycling team, led by Ronaldo Laitonjam Singh and Alban Esow, topped the medals tally with four gold, as many silver and two bronze medals at 26th Junior Asian Track Cycling Championship in Jakarta (Indonesia). Represented by Mayuri Lute, Manjeet Singh and Apolonious, team India secured first place in medals tally by bagging 6 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze medals at Track Asia Cup in September 2018. Alban Esow won the first silver medal for India in the World Junior Cycling Championships at Aigle in August 2018.

Will Mumbai become the bicycle capital?

Firoza Suresh, who is the founder of the NGO ‘The Smart Commute Foundation’, has a vision of making Mumbai the bicycle capital of India by 2030. They have been working with the corporate sector to enable a behavioural change in people’s attitude towards accepting cycling as a way of life and with the civic authorities to understand and develop a cycling policy.
Rishi Shah co-founded the company Mumbai Riders in 2016 with the purpose of reviving cycling. They organise cycling rides across the city and have organised more than 200 public events along with various corporate events, having hosted more than 6000 riders. They have organised a Midnight cycling event for the public on June 8.
If you’ve been waiting to get out your bicycle and hit the streets, World Bicycle Day today is the best day to begin!

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The Critical Role of the Afghan Diaspora in the Pursuit of Peace in Afghanistan

By
The CSR Journal
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Afghan diaspora

By Gabriel Piccillo & Mark Thomas Patterson

On April 23rd, 2019, the Charge d’Affairs of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Karen Decker, hosted more than 120 Afghan youth leaders at the ‘Youth and Peace’ Roundtable conference convened by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Attendees came from various backgrounds including academia, civil society, private sector, government, and international organizations.

The one-day event was an opportunity for Afghans to openly discuss their opinions about the Afghan peace process in addition to their hopes and priorities for the future of their country. It provided participants with the opportunity to discuss ways their voices could be empowered in the dialogue surrounding the Afghan peace process. Efforts to strengthen the voices of those who often go unheard are critical to the pursuit of long term and sustainable peace throughout Afghanistan.

The open forum showed Afghans around the world that senior officials involved in efforts to stabilize their country value their thoughts, their voices have not been forgotten, and they can play a valuable role in shaping the future of their country. These kinds of efforts are useful models for engaging Afghans across the globe who have seen their country ravaged by conflict and instability for decades.

For decades, scholars and policy makers analyzing the Afghan peace process have criticized its limited inclusion of the Afghan government and diaspora communities around the globe. Intra-Afghan reconciliation depends on sustained dialogue between all parties involved in the conflict. Engaging the Afghan diaspora is a critical step towards making this aspiration a reality.

Understanding the grievances and challenges faced by members of the Afghan diaspora, recognizing what they believe can be done to increase the prospects for progress, and ensuring they are given a platform from which they can voice their opinions about the future of their country are important steps the international community should take throughout the months and years to come.

Many of those who have fled the war in Afghanistan have gone on to pursue meaningful careers in business, academia, the private sector, and government around the world. Providing these members of the Afghan diaspora with a platform from which they can contribute to the conversation surrounding the challenges facing their country is critical.

What has become known as “brain drain” has caused substantial challenges throughout Afghanistan and other regions faced with instability and low levels of economic development. The brain drain phenomenon suggests that those most capable of nurturing progress in their home countries are also those who have the means to pursue safer and more prosperous lives abroad.

As a result of their expatriation, they play more limited roles in the pursuit of progress in their home countries. Many of those who could make the most valuable contributions to socioeconomic and political progress in Afghanistan are now scattered across countries with higher levels of socio-economic development. Countries such as the United States, think tanks across the globe, nonprofits, and civil society, should cooperate closely with efforts to provide members of Afghan diasporas the means through which they can contribute to their country’s path to peace.

Though their decision to leave Afghanistan is understandable, the mass exodus of highly skilled labor from the country has affected the Afghan-peace process, socio-economic development, and efforts to create conditions conducive to foreign direct investment detrimentally. Encouraging members of the Afghan diaspora living abroad to contribute to the dialogue surrounding the challenges facing their home country could prove enormously productive.

The constructive nature of diaspora engagement is exemplified by Liberia, a West African country who experienced two devastating civil wars in recent history, which caused a substantial portion of the Liberian population to flee the country. The Liberian diaspora living in the United States became essential in achieving economic development, nurturing reconstruction, and peacebuilding in the country.

As of today, Liberian Americans continue to provide essential foreign aid to their home country. Furthermore, Liberian professionals who lived the United States are returning to the country and providing valuable expertise in fields such as telecommunications, economic development, tribal reconciliation, and finance.

The assistance provided by the diaspora also extends to the political and security realms. For example, by funding democratic opposition, the Liberian diaspora was able to encourage political dialogue and decrease levels of widespread political violence. Additionally, diaspora communities across the United States, particularly in the state of Minnesota, brought together diverse actors fueling the conflict who otherwise would not have been at the same table. They acted as track two diplomatic mediators.

Though much progress has been made throughout the past few months in encouraging intra-Afghan dialogue in a spirit of compromise, negotiations, and reconciliation, much work remains to be done. The people most passionate about the pursuit of peace are those who have suffered from its absence the most. It is an unfortunate reality that these people’s voices often go unheard. It is important that they are given the opportunity to discuss their thoughts and concerns, interact with policymakers and other stakeholders, and present a unified message about what they feel the future of their country should look like.

It is both their right and the international community’s responsibility to ensure that members of the Afghan diaspora are provided with platforms from which they can voice their hopes, expectations, and desires for the future of Afghanistan. Members of the Afghan diaspora and their families are those whose futures will be most affected by the decisions made by policymakers. It is therefore their right to make constructive contributions to the development of policies aimed at peacebuilding.

Members of the Afghan diaspora possess critical knowledge and understanding of the conflict that has sown death and destruction throughout their country for decades. Including their knowledge and opinions in the shaping of the future of their own country is a vital step towards achieving long lasting and sustainable peace in the country.

Views of the authors are personal and do not necessarily represent the website’s views.

Gabriel M. Piccillo is Vice President for Conflict, Stabilization, and Reconstruction at the International Institute for Peace, Democracy, and Development (IIPDD), an Afghan-U.S. NGO. He is based in Washington, DC.

Mark Thomas Patterson is a Project Assistant at the International Institute for Peace, Democracy, and Development (IIPDD), an Afghan-U.S. NGO. He is currently studying International Affairs with a specialization in International Politics in the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University in Washington D.C.

Thank you for reading the column. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please drop a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

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Liferay’s Employee Volunteer Program Builds Sensory Playscape for Specially Abled Children

By
The CSR Journal
-

Liferay’s latest effort to create a fair and equitable society is being practised through its Employee Volunteer Program (EVP) by which Liferay India has built a sensory playscape for visually impaired children. The leadership at Liferay understands true progress in society is possible only when its neediest members are cared for. This is why its construction of a sensory playscape at Shree Ramana Maharishi Academy for the Blind was a vital step in creating a world where each is able to realize his or her fullest potential. The sensory playscape was built in partnership with Anthill Creations, an innovative developer of sustainable and interactive playscapes.

The earlier playground in Shree Ramana Maharishi Academy was in a dilapidated condition to the needs of specially-abled children. In conjunction with Liferay employees, Anthill Creations helped in creating a playground that links complementary activities. To create a feeling of familiarity among children, the playground equipment has been designed in the shape of common and recognizable objects. There are loose parts on the playground to facilitate imaginative play. The playground has accessible surfacing and sufficient space for manoeuvring. There is an optimum balance between the amount of elevated and ground level equipment such as ramps and transfer systems.

Equipment installed in the playground provides appropriate levels of challenges and risk, keeping in mind specially-abled children’s needs. Most importantly the playground is fitted with sensory stimulus activities and visual and tactile clues. For example, the playground has tyre sound chimes and swings that allow swinging, balancing, running, and broadcast musical rhythms. Drumming sets installed in the playground facilitate activities related to sound localization and allow children to listen to nursery rhymes.   

Textured walkways in the playground acquaint children to the sense f touch and feel of different textures allowing them to mentally map the playground. The entire playground has been mapped with textured pathways. Beneath seesaws in the playground, tyres are buried making the seesaw’s shockproof. Tyre tunnels made from tyres in the playground encourages the development of gross motor skills and help in crawling and interacting with peers. The tyres have different textures to facilitate easy mind mapping.   

Speaking about the newly created playground Mr Manish Gupta – Director of Liferay India said “At Liferay, we take our responsibility towards society and the EVP highlights this well. Employees at Liferay also participate in EVP willingly and our current collaboration with Anthill Creations to create a Sensory Playscape is an appropriate way for us to fulfil our obligation to society. All children deserve a happy and carefree childhood. By creating a sensory playscape at the Shree Ramana Maharishi Academy we’ve ensured visually impaired children, despite their disadvantages, enjoy their childhood playing in structures especially built for their needs.

“We’re very pleased that Liferay India decided to enliven further the lives of rambunctious young children. The children at our academy are exceptionally bright and active; they needed a playscape suited to their needs. Nothing makes those working at the academy happier than the laughter of the children enrolled here, over the next few years they, and the children, will have an abundance of joy. Those enrolled at the academy in all respects are like children elsewhere, they like to have fun and love playing. The new playground is allowing them to do both without being closely supervised and with no fear of injury. We look forward to continued contribution from Liferay so that we can sustain the momentum of this journey” said secretary SRMAB.

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Why Corporates Should Adopt UNGC Principles for CSR

By
Hency Thacker
-

The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) has released 10 principles more than 15 years ago to drive sustainability. Since then, nearly 12,000 companies worldwide have recognised these principles as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility and have committed to adopting the sustainable and socially responsible policies that it calls for. The recommended policies by the UNGC revolve around the themes of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.

The initiative has seen tremendous success over the years among the multinational conglomerates. UNGC’s extensive toolbox helps businesses share information, engage in open dialogue and take action to accelerate tangible progress toward a more sustainable world. This includes action platforms to establish partnerships and solve challenges, an online UN Business Action Hub and other resources, such as a reporting partnership with GRI.

The UNGC has clearly been an important international initiative for the global adoption of sustainable business practices and, arguably, a proof-point that commitment to clear and achievable objectives works. According to the UN Global Compact Performance Report by Ecovadis, organisations that have committed to the UNGC’s 10 principles perform significantly better on sustainability measures. In fact, the UNGC participants score, on average, 12 points higher compared to non-participants. The report also clarifies that small- and medium-sized businesses (29-999 employees) demonstrate better performance than larger organisations and act faster when addressing critical sustainability issues.

When looking at performance by theme, results by non-participants were strongest in labour and human rights and the environment, areas where there is strict regulation. However, they lag UNGC participants by about 10 points in each category. Ethics and sustainable procurement themes have the greatest gaps in performance between UNGC participants and non-participants, likely due to a lack of executive-level commitment to make investments in these areas.

Participation in the UNGC is not a guarantee of advanced CSR performance in and of itself. But there is a distinct correlation which concludes that companies that follow through on the commitments and use the resources available to them are better-equipped to make stronger progress.

The UNGC’s 10 principles are effective because these goals help companies hone in on the sustainability risks and considerations that should be top of mind for all businesses.

Thank you for reading. Please drop a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

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CSR: Why so few corporate-cultural collaborations?

By
Kasmin Fernandes
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Despite the wide range of tangible benefits to corporate sponsorship of culture, there are several misgivings and misunderstandings that prevent effective corporate-cultural collaborations.

Real nature of corporate-cultural collaborations

The nature of support extended through a corporate setup cannot be compared to individual philanthropy since the money at stake does not belong to a single individual.
Gayatri Divecha from Dasra, an Indian philanthropy consultant firm, says that funding was a lot more easily available to the arts a few decades ago, when patrons from older generations felt a strong affiliation to culture and supported it through their independent funds. However, today decisions are no longer made by individual heads of the company but rather by a board of trustees or directors who decide to fund an initiative depending on a wide range of issues ranging from brand image to long term strategic goals.

Global identity overshadows local one

Today with globalization, businesses have shareholders who are dispersed over a wider geographical area than decades ago. As a result, the current shareholders may not identify as much with the relationship that the corporation has with local citizenry. Therefore, the global identity of the company overshadows the local one.
This in turn has a domino effect on the local art community. Often, decisions are made at a national or regional level – leaving independent funding of local corporate-cultural collaborations in the lurch, and preventing best practices learnt at the grassroots level from being implemented swiftly and effectively. This, in turn, prevents long term ecosystem development of artistic enterprises – wrapping up arts funding in a never-ending network of bureaucracy and coordination.

Creative freedom and autonomy

An unreasonable imposition of branding or visibility targets on corporate-cultural collaborations is a direct result of an erroneous understanding of the nature of such partnerships: excessive branding is in fact ineffective, and takes away from the goodwill that such a partnership would have garnered for both the corporate enterprise and the cultural institution.

Could CSR be way out for corporate-cultural collaborations?

The Apeejay Surrendra Group CSR has entered into a private-government partnership with the National Culture Fund and Archeological Survey of India to restore the historic Jantar Mantar Observatory in New Delhi a few years back. Together, they planned to work towards the preservation, maintenance, upgradation and beautification of Jantar Mantar in accordance with its conservation requirements.
To raise public awareness about the fascinating yantras, Apeejay Surrendra Group CSR helped create visual CDs and new signage panels, and organised interactive lectures at the observatory on Summer/ Winter Solstices and Spring/Autumn Equinoxes in partnership with Nehru Planetarium and the Astronomers Association of India. This example goes to show that CSR could be a ray of hope for corporate-cultural collaborations in India.

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CSR: No Rent for Womb

By
Hency Thacker
-

The government of India has banned commercial surrogacy by passing The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016 which makes payment for surrogacy a punishable offence. Commercial Surrogacy is a 400-million-dollar industry according to some estimates, with Anand in Gujarat known as the Indian Baby Factory.

India is the go-to destination when it comes to fertility tourism. Commercial Surrogacy was legalized in India in 2002. Until December 2018, India was one of the few countries where a woman could legally be paid to carry another’s child through IVF and embryo transfer.

Surrogacy has become an “industry” which must be regulated so that marginalized people do not suffer at the hands of it. The cost of fertility treatment and surrogacy are amongst the cheapest in India. It follows a set pattern wherein vulnerable poor women are tempted to rent their wombs. The would-be parents are charged between $10,000 to $28,000 for the complete package which includes the fertilization, the surrogate’s fee, and delivery of the baby at a hospital. The surrogate mother is paid a fee of about $7500 for nurturing the child in her womb.

However, there are a plethora of issues when it comes to commercial surrogacy. There are no laws for surrogate mothers to protect her in case of birth complications, forced abortion, rejection by clients, and health risks.

Apart from this, a huge chunk of India’s population lives below the poverty line, earning less than $2 per day. $7500 is a huge amount for them, which increases the probability of women being forced into surrogacy to provide for their families. This surrogacy banning bill will arrest this forceful exploitation of women.

It is being argued that surrogacy is the only chance for people to have children ignoring the most desirable option which is adoption. According to statistics presented to the Supreme Court in a PIL filed in 2011, there were 11 million abandoned children in that year, 90% of them were girls.

India has the highest number of orphans in the world and the government has brought in the Juvenile Justice Act 2015 to make adoption easier for parents. However, the adoption rates in India are abysmal. Last year, about 3000 children were adopted in the entire country. Even educated people in the country do not consider adoption as an option to have children. The orphaned children deserve a better life and their well being also contributes to the development of the nation. Adoption not only gives childless couples or individuals a chance to have children but also gives the child a family he or she rightly deserves.

Corporates have a huge opportunity to make a difference by creating awareness and improving dismal adoption rates. CSR projects should be aimed at improving the adoption scenario in India as adoption is the last resort for people who cannot have children of their own. Educated people who work for these corporates can take a lead and consider adoption as a serious option of having an offspring.

This article first appeared in our print edition. To grab a copy, click here

Thank you for reading. Please drop a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

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India’s Stand on Domestic Violence

By
Hency Thacker
-

Women have always been advised by the conservatives that they should stay at home rather than stepping out for their safety. Home is considered to be the safest of all the places in the world. Ironically, it has been proven that women are more unsafe at home in many cases. According to Global estimates report published by the World Health Organization (WHO), about 1 in 3 (35%) women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. According to the report, worldwide as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by a male intimate partner.

The stand of India in terms of domestic violence is worse than the global average and is the highest at 37.7% in the WHO South-East Asia region. As per figures released by WHO, the violence ranges from 23.2% in high-income countries and 24.6% in the WHO Western Pacific region to 37% in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region.

“Violence against women — particularly intimate partner violence and sexual violence — is a major public health problem and a violation of women’s human rights. WHO together with UN Women and other partners have developed a framework for prevention of violence against women called Respect which can be used by governments to counter this menace,” read a statement by the WHO.

According to healthcare professionals, violence can negatively affect a woman’s physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health, and may increase the risk of acquiring HIV in some settings.

Explaining how gender-based violence is perpetrated, the global health organisation said that men are more likely to resort to violence if they have low education, a history of child maltreatment, exposure to domestic violence against their mothers, harmful use of alcohol, unequal gender norms, including attitudes accepting of violence, and a sense of entitlement over women.

Education also plays an important role among the victims. According to the study, women are more likely to experience intimate partner violence if they have low education. Apart from this, exposure to mothers being abused by a partner, abuse during childhood, and attitudes accepting violence, male privilege and women’s subordinate status also contribute towards women’s accepting stance towards violence.

Considering SDG 5, in order to establish gender equality by 2030, India has to take bold steps in changing the mindsets and attitudes of the citizens. WHO has warned that intimate partner violence can cause serious short-and long-term problems for women and adversely affect their children besides leading to high social and economic costs for women, their families and societies. Considering this, more women-focused initiatives by the government, civil societies as well as corporates are required, along with significant participation from responsible citizens.

Thank you for reading. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please drop a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

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CSR: Corporate patronage of art and culture

By
Kasmin Fernandes
-
Given the myriad challenges facing cultural institutions in the country today, it has become more important than ever for the private sector – especially corporates and business houses – to step in and contribute to the development of art and culture in India. Schedule VII of The Companies Act, 2013, allows for corporate patronage of art and culture to be counted as CSR, giving corporates an effective and worthwhile cause to invest in.

How does it work?

By instituting a comprehensive CSR strategy that addresses long term goals and investment priorities of the company, companies can use their CSR funds towards corporate patronage of art that does not accrue any direct benefits in terms of branding but provides valuable reputational perks and visibility benefits.
The large availability of space, the legal and technical expertise in fundraising and fund collection, the presence of vast corpuses dedicated to CSR funding, and the business expertise of marketing and organising events all come together to make corporations ideal patrons of culture in a rapidly changing economy.
Such patronage yields valuable benefits for corporations too: in an increasingly competitive business environment, where consumer choice hinges upon company reputation and public perception, funding of art and culture leads to an accrual of goodwill for corporates. Moreover, such funding – when directed in the right manner – allows for the creation of ecosystems that feed an increasingly valuable and high budget cultural economy.

Corporate patronage of art in India

Corporates across the country have realised the value of such an investment in culture, and have slowly but steadily increased their funding of the arts through varied initiatives. Companies like Godrej have set up centres like the Godrej India Culture Lab within their campuses, while those like ESSAR have created bodies like Avid Learning, which organises workshops, panel discussions, and other programs to foster creative learning across cultural fields. Other companies, like the Apeejay Group, have incorporated culture into their commercial activities: the Oxford Bookstore chains routinely have book readings.
Similarly, other companies like Mahindra have sponsored festivals like the Mahindra Blues festival and set up awards like the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) to maintain a sustained engagement with the cultural sphere. The growing interest in corporate patronage of art and culture stems from the increased awareness of the tangible benefits of such funding.

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