AIM 2

Empowering over 2.5 million families with enhanced skillsets

At Vedanta, we are committed to delivering meaningful and sustainable social impact. We recognise our responsibility to leverage our scale and expertise to deliver positive change. Under this aim, our community development programmes focus on skilling women and youth, training farmers in agricultural and non-agricultural activities and promoting a culture of entrepreneurship. We use our resources to help improve community infrastructure and develop local leadership and agency through our support for community-owned enterprises.

Key material issues

Community development

SDGs impacted

Sub-goals2.3: By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment

4.4: By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship

8.3: Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalisation and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services

Additional details on Vedanta’s CSR programmes can be found in the Company’s CSR Annual Report

UPSKILLING YOUTH1

India’s growing economy needs skilled manpower to maintain the growth momentum. Skill development plays a pivotal role in empowering the youth of our communities. By increasing their access to better education, knowledge and skills through vocational training, we aim to build the capabilities of rural youth. We have established various skill-development centres that impart vocational training free of cost. Our focus is to provide rural youth with focused training and link them with employment opportunities, helping them generate a stable income.

1 A note on the data: Beneficiary count numbers are a sum total of the programmes managed by our BU CSR teams + the programmes managed by the Vedanta Foundation + the programmes managed by the Anil Agarwal Foundation. Only the beneficiary data of our BU CSR programmes has been assured by Ernst & Young LLC.

10+

INITIATIVES ACROSS OUR GROUP COMPANIES

173,266

YOUTHS TRAINED SINCE 2016 (FY2022: 11,778 YOUTH TRAINED; 5,133 ACROSS BUs)

Type of intervention

  • Setting up skill development centres
  • Enabling access to vocational training programmes including sewing, technical skills and computer literacy among others
  • Opportunities for internships and placements
  • Support for self-employment

CASE STUDY

Sterlite Copper inaugurates Skill Development Centre in Thoothukudi

In Thoothukudi, a mid-sized industrial town in Southern India, a section of the population is unable to find adequate employment due to the lack of formal education and training on specific skillsets. To address this learning gap, Sterlite Copper launched a Skill Development Centre on World Youth Skills Day 2021. The centre, established under the aegis of Tamira Muthukkal, Sterlite Copper’s flagship project, provides skill training to youth in and around Thoothukudi, helping them seek gainful employment. This centre offers courses focused on tailoring, welding, general electronics, logistics and food processing. The five trades were selected as per the priority areas identified by the Skill Gap Assessment Report released by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). Students enrolled in the programme will receive around 300-400 hours of training. The set of courses will be expanded based on the requirements of the communities.

The centre is aiming to train 600 youths in the first phase, and gradually increase the number to 1,500 in the next phase. The trained youth will also be provided support for placements, with Vedanta committing to find employment for at least 70% of the participants. The centre is supported by Vedanta Foundation, which has been actively working towards enhancing local youth’s access to education and skill development

SDG 2

Zero Hunger

SDG 4

Quality Education

SDG 8

Decent work and Economic Growth

"I am looking forward to starting my training and I’m confident that I will undertake it with full seriousness and complete it. I shall give it my best efforts and I‘m thankful to Sterlite for this opportunity.

Ms. Mariammal (Enrolled for tailoring) Resident of Sankaraperi village

SPORTS AND CULTURE

16+

INITIATIVES ACROSS OUR GROUP COMPANIES

69,232

SPORTSPERSONS BENEFITED

Types of intervention:

  • Football and archery training academies
  • Sponsoring para-athletes
  • Encouraging rural sports
  • Organising marathons and sports tournaments

CASE STUDY

Meeting aspirations through sports

Vedanta’s residential Sesa Football Academy in Goa has been shaping the careers of sportspeople for more than two decades and has produced around 200+ professional footballers, contributing immensely to Indian football. Vedanta Women’s League has also been created to serve as a platform for aspiring women footballers, giving them opportunities to hone their skills and connect with each other.

One football prodigy who has greatly benefited from the Vedanta Women’s League is Karishma Shirvoikar. She has made headlines for scoring her fastest goal within 15 seconds at the Junior Nationals. Karishma, who hails from a small seaside village of Odxel in Goa, had started playing football as a hobby, which soon became her passion. Vedanta Women’s League was the conduit that enabled her to transform her love for football into a career in sports.

She performed exceptionally well in the inaugural edition of Vedanta Women’s League at the age of 15, and then joined Gokulam Kerala FC. She represented India at the U-17 BRICS Cup in South Africa, also earning herself an offer to get trained at Palamos CF, a Spanish club. Karishma was a top scorer for Vedanta Women’s League for two successive seasons.

We are proud to have played a role in fulfilling Karishma’s dreams through scholarships and opportunities. She is truly an inspiration for those who want to follow their passion with hard work and dedication. Vedanta Women’s League has been a go‑to platform for footballers like her, who want to shine and grow. Vedanta has ambitious plans to expand this platform to reach out to other talents like her across the country.

AGRICULTURE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

16+

INITIATIVES ACROSS OUR GROUP COMPANIES

52,829

FARMERS BENEFITED SINCE 2016 FY2022: 36,521 FARMERS BENEFITED ACROSS THE BU.

Types of intervention:

  • Farmer training
  • Dairy and livestock development
  • SHGs, cooperatives
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Wadi-based agriculture
  • Watershed rejuvenation
  • Agriculturebased natural resource management
  • Veterinary care
  • Irrigation channel maintenance

CASE STUDY

TSPL’s Navi Disha – Promotion of sustainable agriculture

Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL) runs ‘Navi Disha’, a CSR project that has been benefiting farmers in villages on the Company’s periphery. The project is helping them reduce input costs, adopt sustainable agricultural practices and improve yields. Multiple workshops, integrated management classes, farm field schools, model farm demonstrations are used to train the farmers.

The programme is run in partnership with the Nabha Foundation, which takes knowledge support from Krishi Vigyan Kendras and other key stakeholders. Farmer Resource Centres (FRCs) have been set up to further encourage and support the farmers. FRCs act as a knowledge repository on agricultural practices and equipment, organic inputs, and so on. Farmers can acquire knowledge support free of cost and agricultural equipment at a nominal price.

Over 15,000 farmers across 26 villages are benefitting from this programme


SDG 2

Zero Hunger

SDG 4

Quality Education

SDG 8

Decent work and Economic Growth