GMR Group receives the TERI Corporate
Award 2009 for its CSR initiatives
Award presented
by the President of India for outstanding work by GMR Varalakshmi
Foundation in the areas of education, healthcare, empowerment and
community development
India|June'2009:
The President of India - Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, awarded the GMR
Group for its outstanding efforts in the area of Corporate Social
Responsibility. In a glittering ceremony, she handed over the TERI 2009
CSR trophy to Shri GM Rao, Group Chairman - GMR Group and his wife Smt.
Varalakshmi.
The TERI Corporate Award for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is in
recognition of corporate leadership for social responsibility and
sustainable development initiatives. Its objectives are to assess the
extent of CSR in corporate functioning and development, identification of
best practices and innovations in the Indian corporate sector.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri GM Rao said, “We are extremely honoured at
receiving this recognition. The work done by GMR Varalakshmi Foundation –
the Group’s CSR arm - is a humble effort on our part to give back to the
society, especially the less privileged and make them our partners in
progress. This award would serve as an impetus for us to reach out to more
and more sections of the society.”
The GMR Group received the top award in the category comprising
organizations with turnover exceeding Rs. 1000 crore per annum. GMR
Varalakshmi Foundation whose work was the objective of the award’s
assessment, works in the areas of Education, Health, hygiene and
sanitation, Empowerment and livelihoods and Community development
The Foundation works intensively with the poorer sections of the society
surrounding the business operations and projects of various GMR Group
companies all over the country. The thrust areas enable the Foundation to
develop need-based and locale-specific responses to the needs of the
diverse communities it works with, rather than being project driven with
narrow objectives.
The focus of GMR’s application for the award was its skill training
efforts in Hyderabad, which aim to capacity-build dropout youth from
villages around the new International Airport for entry level technical
jobs. Trained youth have been placed with various contractors at the
Airport, as well as the city in general. A permanent training centre set
up at the Airport trains over 600 youth every year. Over 75% of youth
trained are successfully settled in jobs.
According to Dr. V Raghunathan, CEO – GMRVF, “This award is a validation
of our commitment as a Group towards inclusive growth and providing
respectable means of livelihood to the less privileged sections of the
society.”
The GMRVF team was chosen for the TERI Corporate Award after a rigorous
selection process. A dedicated team of evaluators comprising TERI research
professionals first evaluated the submitted case studies. The summary of
all shortlisted case studies was sent to all jury members for their
consideration and later a formal presentation was made by the shortlisted
entries to the jury. Further an onsite verification of stated facts of
shortlisted case studies was also carried out to validate and authenticate
the selection.
Reachout's News Bureau
June' 2009
