Sustainability Report 2011

With a changing social ethos, India’s rich 2000 year-old tradition of classical music with all its diverse forms and genres seemed in the danger of being irrevocably lost.

To restore, maintain and preserve this priceless cultural legacy, to cultivate its growth and gradually build its future, ITC set up the Sangeet Research Academy in December, 1978. A public charitable trust, the Academy has a three-fold vision:

Since its inception, three decades ago, ITC Sangeet Research Academy (ITC-SRA) has effectively demonstrated how India’s rich cultural heritage can be preserved for future generations. Sangeet Sammelans and other Musical soirees have added a new vibrance and energy to the classical music scenario, while the Academy’s strong archiving and documentation practices, have enhanced the quality of music education.

For the regular music-lover, ITC-SRA is merely, an institution. For ITC, this initiative is a corporate tribute to the great Indian tradition and history of Classical Music.

The CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development is a co-creation of the apex national Chamber – the Confederation of Indian Industry and ITC. With its abiding objective of promoting sustainable business practices amongst corporates, the Centre is engaged in a wide spectrum of value-added and targeted services. By creating awareness in business and industry, providing thought leadership, building capacity of organisations and professionals and rewarding exemplary performances, the CII-ITC Centre has become a unique focal point of Sustainability movement.

The Centre is steered by its Advisory Council, led by Chairman, ITC Limited, Mr Y C Deveshwar and comprises members from industry, government, civil society and institutions which provide strategic direction to the organisation.

During the year, the Centre introduced three new service lines in the areas of stakeholder engagement, climate change strategies and training of sustainability assurance professionals. It is the only certified trainer for sustainability assurance professionals in South-east and South Asia. The Centre was involved in a number of capacity-building activities throughout the year, including training and raising the awareness of over 1200 employees across various sectors on sustainability best practices.

It also conducted the first ever in-house Sustainable Business Strategy Programme. The CII-ITC Centre is today playing a major role in engaging with policy makers to create an environment that encourages the adoption of sustainable business practices. The Centre is a consulting partner in several policy interventions such as Green Guidelines for Public Procurement, Low Carbon Expert Group of the Planning Commission, National Innovation Council, Ministry of Corporate Affairs on CSR policy.

The annual flagship event from the Centre, the 5th ‘Sustainability Summit: Asia 2010’ was organised in response to the growing demand for new growth models that are more ‘sustainable and inclusive’. Specific focus was given to key areas such as Innovation-led Inclusive Growth; Clean Energy; Water: Survival & Sustainability etc.

The CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development also successfully organised the Business Leaders Programme with Prof. Stuart Hart as the faculty. The objective of the programme was to train key decision makers in large organisations on sustainability strategies.

Another major global investor driven initiative of the Centre has been the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

This project aims to collect critical climate change data from the world’s largest companies to appraise the global marketplace on investment related risks and commercial opportunities.

The Centre also introduced two new publications, ‘Excellence in Sustainable Business - Strategies & Practices for Business Growth & Competitiveness’ - a knowledge resource on best practices drawn from the assessment findings of award-winning companies over the last four years and ‘Sustainable and Inclusive Innovation - Strategies for Tomorrow’s World’- a report which offers valuable insights into how innovations in products, services and processes are driving the creation of new businesses and industry structures.

In an effort to identify and recognise Indian businesses for their exemplary sustainability performance, the Centre annually presents the CII-ITC Sustainability Awards. A new category of applications for micro-business organisations was introduced this year. 68 companies competed for the Awards, now in its sixth year.

Information on e-Choupals (rural digital network) , watershed development etc. are detailed elsewhere in the Report.