Udaipur, also known as the city of lakes was dubbed as the most romantic spot on the continent of India by a British Administrator, James Todd. The city is famous for its tourism and is also considered to be a popular destination for weddings, thus attracting the hospitality industry. The city also has a presence of minerals, making it attractive for mining companies to set up operations in the area. The presence of these businesses makes it a popular CSR destination.

Udaipur was the second largest recipient of CSR funds in Rajasthan in FY2023-24. The Udaipur district received a total of Rs 97.57 crore from 211 companies in the last financial year. The top three sectors of focus for CSR initiatives in the district were Education, Environment, and Health which received Rs 44.56 crore, Rs 29.13 crore, and Rs 9.55 crore, respectively. The top three spenders in the district were Hindustan Zinc Limited (Rs 27.33 crore), HDFC Bank Limited (Rs 10.49 crore) and J.K. Cement Limited (Rs 10 crore).

Top CSR Projects in Udaipur

Water Economic Zones by DS Group

DS Group has launched an integrated watershed development project known as the Water Economic Zones Project to enhance natural resources, particularly water and soil and thereby, increase the productivity of the land.

The project is currently being implemented in an area of 2,607 Hectares (1,315 Hectares in Alsigarh and 1,292 Hectares in Kurabad) in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The chosen project area has low productivity rain-fed farming, severe soil erosion in the undulating topography and degradation of land and forest. The project works towards improving the quality of life of the tribal and rural community by developing possible water resources. These subsequently impact livelihood enhancement through value addition in on-farm and off-farm activities.

The company has partnered with two local NGOs for Alsigarh and Kurabad Watershed areas respectively to implement the project. It will reach out to more than 23000 people from 26 villages, mostly from a tribal background and will cover an area of around 11000 hectares across both locations in Udaipur.

So far, under the project, multiple soil and water conservation structures have been constructed. These include 28 Anicuts or Check Dams, 58 Mini Percolation Tanks or Earthen Dams and other structures like Continuous Contour Trenches, Gabion, Gully Plugs, Recharge Pits, etc. Further, 14 Check Dams and 1 Community Pond have been revived. These structures have water storage and recharge capacity of about 7,10,015 Cubic meters. So far, under the project, around 51240 cubic meters of Continuous Contour trenches have been constructed, which can recharge an additional 307336 cubic meters of water in an average monsoon.

ICICI Rural Self-Employment Training Institutes

The Central government’s Ministry of Rural Development (MORD) has roped in banks to set up RSETIs (Rural Self Employment Training Institutes) for young people from rural communities. On behalf of ICICI Bank CSR, the Foundation has been managing a residential RSETI in Udaipur and its satellite centres for a decade. Satellite centres provide doorstep training and flexible courses on location.

ICICI RSETIs have a high success rate, with more than 75% of the trainees continuing gainful employment long after they have passed out; nearly 58% are women. The curriculum is designed after surveying local employers. There are skilling courses in more than 30 trades, which also align with the guidelines of the National Skills Qualifications Framework. Other activities include roadshows and Ratri Choupal gatherings to generate interest in entrepreneurship.

These centres build micro-entrepreneurs and attempt to walk them through the venture end-to-end support. They will inform them about credit schemes from the government, fill out application forms and show the procedure to set up their business enterprise. There are follow-ups for two years after training where the team checks up on their progress. In fiscal 2020, 70% out of 17,500 trainees at the ICICI RSETIs were women.

Unchi Udaan by Hindustan Zinc

The ‘UNCHI UDAAN’ program is built on the base being created by Shiksha Sambal, another Flagship program by Hindustan Zinc. The objective of the program is to give wings to dreams of meritorious students, studying in government schools in communities around HZL operations, to study in IITs and other prestigious Engineering Colleges by providing quality coaching and residential schooling.

UNCHI UDAAN identifies and prepares young meritorious students from government schools in communities around HZL’s operational areas in Ajmer, Bhilwada, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur districts of Rajasthan and Pantnagar district of Uttarakhand. It gives wings to children’s dreams, of studying in IITs and other institutions of national repute. This is a multi-year residential program being implemented in partnership with ‘Resonance Eduventures Pvt. Ltd’ (Rajasthan’s leading coaching institute) as the technical partner and Vidya Bhawan as the school & hostel partner. 2 batches of 30 students each have currently been enrolled under this project. More than 2000 students appeared for qualifying examinations held for each batch.

Football Academy by Hindustan Zinc

Football Academy is a pioneering effort by Hindustan Zinc in Rajasthan to identify local football talent at an early age and train them to be Indian Football Stars. The objective of the project is to initiate a large scale holistic Football program for strengthening grassroots community connect by setting up the HZL Football Academy as well as Community Football Centers in communities around HZL operations; identifying talented young footballers from Rajasthan; training them using the latest methodologies and technological interventions to create Indian Football stars.

The project has 4 pillars:

1. Community Outreach Program – Geared to generate mass community engagement in football. 64 Community Football Centers are being set up in select communities around HZL operations. Children coming to these centers receive training for 2 hours a day for 3 days a week. Goal-Post campaigns to train 32 local community coaches have also been initiated. In just 4 months since the initiation of the Project, the outreach program reached out to 2500 children from Zawar, Debari and Dariba. Talent Hunts are being initiated across Rajasthan. Given the interest shown by girls during outreach camps, plans have been put in place to explore possibilities of forming girls Football teams in the Community Football Centers.

2. HZL Football Academy – Set up as a residential program for the most talented players. Training is provided by highly qualified expert coaches using world class infrastructure facilities, latest scientific methodologies and technology. The students selected for this football Centre of Excellence receive intensive football training as well as formal education till class 12. The Academy now has a capacity of 80 boys.

3. Performance Analysis Center – A high technology centre to provide world class scientific and technological training facilities to local football talents from an early age. It is being built at Zawar and will be ready by February 2018.

4. Zinc Football League – The best way to become a football champion is to play football matches and to win games and championships. A grassroots football league is being created to strengthen community connect and to give our young champions a taste of playing real games.

Saarthi Aaram Kendra by Tata Motors

Driven by its mission to address the issues in the trucking industry, Tata Motors in association with Pasco Motors, has launched Saarthi Aaram Kendra, at Madri, near Udaipur, Rajasthan.

The Saarthi Aaram Kendra initiative is a part of a larger driver welfare program. The initiative covers areas like accidental insurance, hospitalisation cover, financial counselling and educational assistance packages for their children, for the wellbeing of the saarthis and their families.

The initiative is aimed towards improving the working conditions of commercial vehicle drivers while promoting a better quality of life and taking necessary steps to enhance their mental and physical wellbeing.

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