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Business Ethics & Philanthropy The Ultimate CSR Report of Bajaj Finance Limited FY 23-24
The Ultimate CSR Report of Bajaj Finance Limited FY 23-24
Bajaj Finance Limited (BFL), a subsidiary of Bajaj Finserv Limited, is a deposit-taking Non-Banking Financial Company registered with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It is primarily involved in the business of lending and acceptance of deposits.
BFL has a diversified lending portfolio across retail, SMEs and commercial customers with a significant presence in urban and rural India. It is present in 3,504 locations across the country, including 2,136 locations in rural/smaller towns and villages and operates through more than 133,200 distribution points across India.
In alignment with Bajaj Group, BFL strives to embed ESG into the DNA of the company’s core operations. In FY 2023-24, the company spent Rs. 179.52 crore towards its CSR initiatives.
Environment Protection and Conservation
BFL Group is committed to contribute towards ensuring a clean and sustainable environment by continuously improving its environmental and sustainability performance. BFL Group’s Code of Ethics and Personal Conduct includes respecting the environment, eliminating waste and conserving resources as working norms. BFL also has an Environmental policy integrating sound environmental practices and governance systems in its day-to-day operations to minimize environmental impacts.
BFL has Embarked Upon Four Major Areas in its Environment Awareness and Conservation:
Environment protection and Sustainability Awareness Campaigns
BFL strongly believes that sustainable practices are a collective effort of the mankind and cannot be achieved by an individual or an organisation. Keeping this virtue in mind, the Company has initiated awareness campaigns on sustainable practices for its employees and for the world at large leveraging its social media presence.
Highlights
The company has installed solar panels of 626.8 kilowatt capacity
Planted 3.45 lakh saplings
Introduced 20 E-Vehicles for inter-office shuttle services
Financed over 54,000 E-Vehicles
Products that preserve and protect the environment
Another important way that the Company supports the environment is by providing financial offerings to customers that assist in preservation and protection of environment. For example:
– BFL provides financing to solar power generation facilities
– BFL has an Environmental Policy in place which sets outs commitments of the Company to bring in environmental and social friendly practices in its system. In its commercial lending business, the Company commits not to extend funding to polluting industries unless the units have a valid clearance from pollution control authorities and have installed effluent treatment plants.
– BFL offers financing for e-Scooters. This enables customers to access environmentally friendly modes of transport.
Reducing Paper Consumption
It has been an endeavor of BFL Group over last many years to keep reducing paper consumption across all its business operations. BFL Group has been increasingly focused on integrating digital applications across all aspects of its business operations which not only helps to improve efficiency, lower cost and enhance customer experience, but also aids in environmental protection by reducing paper consumption.
Eco-Friendly Practices
Some of the initiatives undertaken by BFL under this category include:
– Installation of Solar Panels: BFL has installed solar panels at two locations and same is operational having solar power generation capacity 69.6 kilowatt peak.
– E-waste policy: BFL group hands over its e-waste to registered vendors and has received certificate of e-waste disposal form the registered vendor.
– Efficiency in Light utilisation: The Company engages in the activity of selecting and designing offices to facilitate maximum natural light utilisation. Over 960 BFL Group branches are provided with LED light fittings as a standard feature.
Philanthropic Initiatives
Bajaj Group’s philanthropic philosophy was articulated by its founder late Shri Jamnalal Bajaj who had advised that all business activities should look for opportunities for philanthropy. In the same breath, he also said that business motive should not be considered during philanthropy.
While collaborating with other companies in the Bajaj Group, BFL has its own flagship projects that resonate closest to its social objectives of healthcare, education and livelihood.
Bajaj Finserv – BEYOND
The employability initiative viz. Bajaj Finserv BEYOND is the flagship CSR initiative of Bajaj Finance Limited, aimed to make graduates, especially first-generation graduates from small towns, employable for financial services industry. Under BEYOND a customised 100- hour certification programme is conducted viz. Certificate Programme in Banking, Finance and Insurance (CPBFI) for final-year under-graduate students.
CPBFI comprehensively covers all aspects of employability i.e. attitude, skills and knowledge and unlike conventional skilling programmes, prepares the students for more than 10 roles in financial services industry. The programme also produces a unique talent pool of “industry trained graduates” for the entire BFSI industry, which offers an excellent balance between cost and productivity compared to their traditional target segments.
Under Bajaj Beyond, the Group has committed Rs 5,000 crore to social impact initiatives over 5 years which will benefit over 2 crore youth. It will enable young aspiring students to take advantage of employment and entrepreneurial opportunities offered by India’s growing economy.
Bajaj Finance is an integral part of Bajaj Beyond which is trying to make a positive difference to people’s lives while also enhancing India’s young talent. Empowering Today’s Youth through Skilling at Bajaj Finance, the focus is on India’s next generation – its children and youth, in the areas of skilling, child education, child health, child protection, and inclusion for Persons with Disabilities. These are either self-implemented or carried out in collaboration with non-profit organisations.
Skill Development
Under skilling, the company’s self-implemented flagship skilling programme is named Certificate Programme in Banking, Finance, and Insurance (CPBFI). The programme equips young graduates, especially first generation graduates from tier-2 and tier-3 cities with the knowledge, skills and attitude required for securing employment in the banking, insurance and financial services industry.
The programme works to bridge the skilling gap, by linking industry with academia. CPBFI offers training modules co-designed by industry experts and spans 410 colleges with over 240 trainers across 22 states. The 100-hour programme combines experiential learning with insights from corporate trainers and finance experts, covering technical skills and 20+ workplace skills. CPBFI also emphasises the right attitude using psychology-based tools.
Partnership with the NSDC and AICTE
FY 2024 was a milestone year as Bajaj Finserv partnered with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, to provide joint certification to students completing the programme.
As part of the partnership, Bajaj Finserv, jointly with the Ministry of Education, launched Project Odiserv in Odisha, introducing the programme in 60 colleges, spanning 11 cities and 10 districts of the state. Subsequent job fairs at key locations in the state enabled students to secure employment opportunities.
Bajaj Finserv, the holding company for the Bajaj group’s financial services businesses also works with several non-profit organisations to provide skill development programmes and vocational training to enable youth to enhance their income through employment or enterprise. The focus is on sector-specific or need-based training, healthcare capacity-building, enhancement of teaching skills, women empowerment through skilling and skill development for persons with disabilities.
Holistic Development of Children and Youth
Enabling Holistic Development of Children and Youth Protecting and enhancing the wellbeing of children is central to the company’s social impact programmes. The focus is on child health, child education, child protection and inclusion of persons with disabilities, in collaboration with several grassroots-level organisations.
