|
|
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
|
| 04 June. 2009, New Delhi |
|
The President of India - Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, today 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.
About The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
A dynamic and flexible organization with a global vision and a local focus, TERI was established in 1974. While in the initial period the focus was mainly on documentation and information dissemination activities, research activities in the fields of energy, environment and sustainable development were initiated towards the end of 1982. The genesis of these activities lay in TERI's firm belief that efficient utilization of energy, sustainable use of natural resources, large-scale adoption of renewable energy technologies and reduction of all forms of waste would move the process of development towards the goal of sustainability.
All activities in TERI move from formulating local and national level strategies to suggesting global solutions to critical energy and environment-related issues. It is with this purpose that TERI has established regional centres in Bangalore, Goa, and Guwahati, and a presence in Japan, Malaysia, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates. It has also set up affiliate institutes: TERI-NA (The Energy and Resources Institute, North America) Washington DC, USA, and TERI–Europe in London, UK.
About GMR
GMR Group is a Bangalore headquartered global infrastructure major with interests in Airports, Energy, Highways and Urban Infrastructure. The Company has successfully employed the public-private partnership model to build a portfolio of high quality assets. The Company has ten power projects of which three are operational and seven are under various stages of implementation and seven road projects, of which five are operational and two are under development. In the Airports sector, it has developed and commissioned the Greenfield International Airport at Hyderabad. The Group, besides operating and modernising the existing Delhi International Airport, is also building a brand new integrated terminal T3 which will be commissioned in time for the Commonwealth games in 2010. It is also upgrading the Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport. The Group has also ventured into Sports and through its subsidiary, the GMR Sports, owns the IPL promoted Delhi's T-20 cricket team – the Delhi Daredevils. Through this venture it seeks to promote and nurture sporting talent at the grassroots thus creating good will for the GMR brand in Delhi and its catchment areas. The Group has also acquired a 50 percent stake in global power generation company InterGen NV, marking its foray into the global energy sector. The Group's South East Asia regional headquarters was officially opened on April 1, 2009, in Singapore. The Group is also committed to social development initiatives and executes these through its Corporate Social Responsibility arm, the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation (GMRVF).
|
|
|
|
|
