We are happy and humbled to announce that ITC won the first prize in the 'Best Industry for CSR Activities' category at the third National Water Awards by the Ministry of Jal Shakti. The CSR award was presented by the Honourable President of India, Shri Ramnath Kovind, in the presence of Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Cabinet Minister for Water Resources & Development. Shri Prabhakar Lingareddy, EVP & Head, Social Investments, ITC and Smt Swati Srivastava De, Senior Manager, Corporate Affairs received the award.
For decades, ITC has pursued an integrated approach towards water stewardship, combining demand and supply side measures to move toward water security. Its large-scale Water Stewardship Programme has reached 43 districts in 16 states, covering 11.33 lakh acres and impacting 3.3 lakh farmer households. ITC works in partnerships with governments, knowledge institutions, executing agencies, and most importantly, with communities of water users. Farmers become active participants in the project of good water use, with ITC understanding their challenges and needs and responding with targeted solutions.
Over the years, ITC has helped communities construct and revive thousands of traditional water harvesting structures, and used managed aquifer recharge techniques to raise groundwater levels, making more water available for use in agriculture. Besides, efforts toward biodiversity conservation are gradually helping improve water holding capacity in catchments.
ITC has also designed interventions to enhance access to water for livelihood requirements and to create a positive water balance. Considering the fact of increasing water stress under changing climates, ITC works to improve water use efficiency in agriculture and conserve and harvest water in its units.
