Social development and community development are critical to all the three pillars of sustainable development. Mahindra Lifespaces is cognizant of the role a thriving community plays in building a conducive business environment and a healthy economy. As a responsible organisation, we are committed to enhancing relationships with key stakeholders and creating a positive impact on the society through our corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Our philosophy is in alignment with the ideology of the Mahindra Group – "We will challenge conventional thinking and innovatively use all our resources to drive positive change in the lives of our stakeholders and communities across the world, to enable them to Rise". We understand that our social license to operate is determined by our sustained efforts to address the key social challenges in the region and the relationships we enjoy with our community. We contribute to the local communities that we operate in by focusing, amongst others, on key areas of intervention: education, skill development, health, environment.
We leverage our corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives not only with the communities around our project sites, but also promote sustainability amongst the industry and future generations. Our CSR strategy balances the needs and aspirations of our communities, the global sustainable development agenda, and the national priorities. In accordance with The Companies Act, 2013, we dedicate 2% of the average net profits of the three preceding years towards our CSR programs.
We have a CSR policy in place to guide us on the implementation of our initiatives. CSR initiatives are driven by our CSR implementation structure comprising the Sector CSR council, the Sector CSR team, and the Business ESOP champions for MLDL, MWC Jaipur, and MWC Chennai. Sector CSR council reviews the initiatives identified by Sector CSR team, and the Business ESOP Champions. We take feedback of the community on our projects. They are welcome to provide their suggestions in-person or through the drop box kept at project offices.
Mahindra Lifespaces’ CSR strategy is to contribute to local communities that it operates in by focusing on following areas of intervention: education, skill development, health, environment & sustainability. Our CSR Policy lays out vision, objectives, & implementation mechanism.
Education
Everyone has a right to learn. Access to quality education is a key determinant of an individual’s future trajectory and gives a chance to achieve a brighter future. Through our initiatives, we ensure access to affordable and quality education and skill development to the communities around our project sites.
1. Nanhi Kali
Nanhi Kali, a flagship project of the K.C. Mahindra Education Trust and Naandi Foundation was initiated in 1996 with the objective of providing primary education to underprivileged girl children in India. Today, it is a national sponsorship program which provides academic and material support to more than 350,000 underprivileged girl children and helps them complete 10 years of quality education with dignity.
2. Education & Skill Development
In 2020-21, 'Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd.' supported renewal sponsorship of 587 Nanhi Kalis for a further period of one year. 'Mahindra World City Developers Limited' supported renewal sponsorship of 142 Nanhi Kalis for a further period of one year, and 'Mahindra World City Developers Limited' is supporting a total of 279 Nanhi Kalis, through our Central CSR.
We also contributed for education of underprivileged children, vocational skill development programmes, formation of self-help groups and building toilets for government schools in villages. 150 rural youth were trained in 2020-21 in various Skill Development Programs such as Electrician training, Tally & Accounting, Basic Computer Training, Electronic Goods Repairing. We have trained 2,173 rural youth since inception. We have also trained a total of 1,544 women through skill development programs since inception including 126 women trained for SHG and Skill Development Program in 2020-21.
Through our initiatives in this area, we intend to spread awareness about sustainability, contribute to carbon sequestration, and promote research and development for developing a greener urban future.
1. Mahindra TERI Centre of Excellence (MT CoE)
MT CoE for Sustainable Habitats is a joint research initiative of 'Mahindra Lifespaces' and 'The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)'. It focuses on developing science-based solutions for India’s future built environment, with a view to reducing the energy footprint of the real estate industry and providing a coherent & robust database for market ready, scalable and viable materials and technologies that are energy efficient.
In 2020-21, Mahindra Lifespaces contributed to MT CoE to create innovative energy efficient solutions. More than 100 building materials have been tested so far, the creation of tested materials database online on MT CoE website is under progress. The thermal comfort prescription guidebook and Energy Conservation Building Codes (ECBC) for residential builsings (ECBC-R) Residential Envelope Transmittance Value (RETV) compliance calculator to enable the designers, developers to make informed decisions on the building envelope is ready and under peer review and feedback. Water Sustainability Assessment reports for major cities of Pune, Chennai, and Gurugram have been launched till date.
Read more about MT CoE here.
2. Green Army
The Green Army program is our flagship CSR initiative that aims to educate school children on the aspects of sustainable lifestyle and create one million caring citizens. In the COVID-19 pandemic, the school ecosystem underwent major transition. Children were restricted to their homes; classroom learning got migrated to online platforms and parents struggled to maintain a work life balance. Under such circumstances, we felt the need to work towards creating sustainable families, where all the family members as a unit practice sustainable practices for health and prosperous living. Hence, we conceived the program of Green Army Family. The Green Army Family initiative in the past seven months has reached to 84 schools, conducted 144 workshops and 11333 family members by end of February '21.
Read more about Green Army Initiative here
3. Hariyali
Mahindra Hariyali Tree Plantation initiative was launched by the Mahindra Group on its 62nd Founder’s Day on Oct 2, 2007 with the initial target of planting one million trees by 2008 to increase the green cover. Since then, the Mahindra Group has been planting one million trees every year. The plantation is carried out by employees and their families.
In 2020-21, we planted around 5,000 trees under the Mahindra Group’s tree plantation initiative called "Mahindra Hariyali" around Mahindra world city Jaipur.
4. Other Initiatives under Environment
Under our C40 initiative at MWC Jaipur, we installed LED Tube Lights in 1300 Rural Homes, Temples, Panchayats, Government Schools, and under Swachh Bharat Mission we constructed 6 Bio Toilets in Government schools and Colleges across 4 villages near Mahindra World City Jaipur.
Know more about C40 Climate Positive Development Program for MWC Jaipur here.
A great disparity exists in the quality and coverage of medical treatment in the country. Majority of the population, especially in rural areas doesn’t have access to primary healthcare facilities. In order to bridge this gap, Mahindra Lifespaces supports multiple initiatives to provide access to affordable and quality healthcare facilities to underprivileged and vulnerable communities. Additionally, we also strive to induce behavioural changes among women through sensitisation sessions on personal hygiene and safety.
In 2020-21, we provided support to under-privileged Children in the form of Cochlear Implant for Deaf & Mute Children and distribution of Dry Ration Kits to 1816 students in government schools in Rajasthan, Dry ration distribution to 400 families in Thiruvallur District, and to families of 85 school children who are below poverty line in vicinity of World City Chennai.
We contributed vaccine carriers and deep freezers for vaccine storage to the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Kunnavakkam. A population of 56,000 people depend on this PHC for the basic healthcare amenities. In addition, we distributed 7,000 reusable face masks, 2,000 face shields and 100 litres of hand sanitizers to police officials, government officials and health workers.
We also constructed 6 bio toilets in Government schools and colleges across four villages near Mahindra World City Jaipur.
CSR Action Plan, Activity List, and Impact