Tag: #SocialImpact

  • Muthoot Finance hikes CSR spend to Rs 174 crore for FY27

    Muthoot Finance hikes CSR spend to Rs 174 crore for FY27

    Muthoot Finance, India’s largest gold loan non-banking financial company, said on Monday it will boost its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spending to Rs 174.03 crore for fiscal year 2027, extending programmes in healthcare, education and housing to underserved communities nationwide.

    The Muthoot Finance CSR outlay follows FY26 spending of Rs 106.42 crore, which the company said reached approximately 3.37 million beneficiaries through initiatives spanning education, healthcare, livelihood support, community development and sports promotion.

    “At Muthoot Finance, we believe sustainable growth must go hand in hand with meaningful social impact,” Managing Director George Alexander Muthoot said in a statement.

    He said the FY26 results reflected the company’s commitment to underserved communities through healthcare, education, housing and social inclusion programmes.

    Education remained a central focus of the Muthoot Finance CSR strategy, with flagship programmes including the Muthoot M. George Excellence Awards, higher education scholarships and the Muthoot Shiksha Jyothi initiative supporting nearly 11,900 students, including first-generation learners, the company said.

    Muthoot Finance has also established several educational institutions, including Sanskara School in Kochi, the Muthoot Institute of Technology and Science, and the newly launched Kalaivani School in Tamil Nadu.

    On healthcare, the company said its Muthoot Snehasraya programme and related interventions benefited more than 100,000 people in FY26 through medical outreach, rehabilitation support and community healthcare services.

    The company’s housing initiative, Muthoot Aashiyana, has built more than 270 homes for vulnerable and disaster-affected families since its 2018 launch, providing shelter and stability to underserved households, Muthoot Finance said.

    Muthoot Finance also expanded its Soundscape Project, which provides digital hearing aids to children with hearing impairments, reaching 267 beneficiaries across Kerala, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

    Separately, the company’s prison rehabilitation programme, Radio Parvaaz, supports emotional wellbeing and informal learning among inmates, alongside initiatives for children of incarcerated parents.

    Other community programmes included Box of Hope for fisherwomen’s livelihoods, a maritime safety programme for coastal communities in Tamil Nadu, and Pedal for Progress, which distributes bicycles to tribal students.

    Deputy Managing Director George Muthoot George said the company aims to move beyond addressing immediate needs toward empowering communities for long-term self-reliance.

  • Belstar Microfinance empowers Anandam Trust with van

    Belstar Microfinance empowers Anandam Trust with van

    Belstar Microfinance Limited, a subsidiary of Muthoot Finance Limited, had donated a Maruti Eeco van to Anandam Trust, a home for senior citizens, as part of a community outreach programme aimed at improving emergency healthcare access for elderly residents.

    The Belstar Microfinance Van Donation will help more than 110 elderly residents at the trust reach nearby hospitals quickly during medical emergencies, the company said in a statement.

    Anandam Trust also runs daily tuition classes for underprivileged schoolchildren with learning difficulties, and the vehicle will additionally be used to transport students between locations.

    Company executives said timely access to transport can be critical for elderly residents without family support or independent income, and that the initiative reflects Belstar’s broader focus on community welfare beyond its core lending business.

    “At Belstar, we believe that meaningful progress extends beyond financial services and is reflected in the positive difference we create in the communities around us,” said J. Balakrishnan, Whole Time Director and Chief Executive Officer of Belstar Microfinance Limited.

    “Supporting initiatives that address essential needs, especially for senior citizens, is a step towards building stronger and more caring communities.”

    Bhageerathy Ramamoorthy, Managing Trustee of Anandam Trust, thanked Belstar Microfinance and its leadership for the contribution, saying the van would directly support the healthcare and emergency transportation needs of residents at Anandam Old Age Home.

    Belstar Microfinance, ranked among India’s top 10 NBFC-MFIs, holds an “AA/Stable” credit rating from CRISIL and operates across 19 states and two union territories, offering micro-enterprise, education, consumer and emergency loans, along with gold loans in select southern states.

    The company said its business model follows a double bottom line approach, balancing financial performance with social impact, particularly through women’s economic empowerment.

  • HCLFoundation seeks NGO applications for Rs 24 Crore HCLTech Grant Edition XII

    HCLFoundation seeks NGO applications for Rs 24 Crore HCLTech Grant Edition XII

    HCLFoundation has invited applications from non-profit organisations across India for Edition XII of the HCLTech Grant, Rs 24 crore initiative targeting transformative rural development across four themes — water, biodiversity, health and education.

    The corporate social responsibility arm of global technology company HCLTech is accepting submissions at www.hclfoundation.org/hcltech-grant until June 30, 2026, the Foundation said in a statement on Thursday.

    Four winning organisations, one from each theme, will receive Rs 5 crore each. Eight additional NGOs will receive Rs 50 lakh each for proposed projects across the same categories.

    “Some of the most transformative solutions emerge from grassroots organisations deeply connected to the communities they serve,” said Dr Nidhi Pundhir, Director, HCLFoundation.

    “Through this edition of HCLTech Grant, we aim to provide a platform for NGOs to unleash their potential, scale innovative ideas and create sustainable change.”

    The HCLTech Grant has to date reached 2.3 million lives across 61,000 villages in India. Funded initiatives have resulted in the planting of more than three lakh saplings, rejuvenation of over 68,300 hectares of land and a reduction of more than 67,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Total commitments under the programme now exceed ₹203 crore.

    Winners of Edition XI included Gramin Vikas Vigyan Samiti from Rajasthan, Live Foundation from Jharkhand, Goodwill Foundation from Mizoram and Mahila Jan Adhikar Samiti from Rajasthan, each receiving Rs 5 crore for projects spanning water harvesting, biodiversity conservation, healthcare access and gender equality through education.

    HCLFoundation also announced the HCLTech Grant Edition XII Pan India Symposiums 2026, scheduled in Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Nagpur and New Delhi, to bring together NGOs, government bodies, corporates and policymakers on the role of CSR in nation building.

    HCLFoundation has positively impacted over 8.4 million lives through long-term programmes in education, health, sanitation, skill development, environment and disaster risk reduction.

  • DEVI Sansthan to list on Social Stock Exchange to scale foundational learning

    DEVI Sansthan to list on Social Stock Exchange to scale foundational learning

    DEVI Sansthan (Dignity Education Vision International), a 33-year-old not-for-profit organisation focused on foundational literacy and numeracy, is set to make a landmark entry onto the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Social Stock Exchange (SSE), with its public issue scheduled to open on June 29, 2026.

    The Social Stock Exchange listing marks a significant milestone for the Ranchi-based organisation, positioning it among a small group of social enterprises to access transparent, impact-aligned public funding through India’s regulated capital markets framework.

    Funds raised through the issue will be channelled into foundational literacy and numeracy programmes, teacher training, learning outcome assessments, accelerated learning interventions, and school-based education models aimed at improving learning outcomes at scale across underserved communities.

    Founded in 1992 by educationist and former World Bank economist Dr. Sunita Gandhi — who also serves as Chief Academic Advisor of City Montessori School, recognised as the world’s largest school — DEVI Sansthan operates through its proprietary ALfA (Accelerating Learning for All) methodology. The model deploys peer-learning-based approaches to help children acquire foundational reading, writing, and arithmetic skills in a significantly compressed timeframe.

    “For decades, we have seen millions of children move through education systems without acquiring basic reading and arithmetic skills,” Gandhi, Founder and CEO of DEVI Sansthan said in a statement.

    “The Social Stock Exchange listing is an important step towards strengthening transparency, expanding collaborations, and taking foundational learning interventions to communities that need them the most.”

    Nixon Joseph, Group Executive Director of DEVI Sansthan and former President of SBI Foundation, said foundational literacy and numeracy represented one of the most critical challenges within the education ecosystem today.

    “The Social Stock Exchange listing reflects our commitment towards transparency, accountability, and long-term impact,” Joseph said. “It will help us strengthen our outreach, deepen collaborations, and expand access to quality foundational learning for underserved communities across geographies.”

    The organisation’s work currently spans foundational learning interventions, educator capacity-building programmes, learning outcome assessments, and large-scale literacy campaigns targeting children, youth, and adults across the Ranchi district. DEVI Sansthan collaborates with government agencies, schools, and private stakeholders to build what it describes as sustainable learning ecosystems at scale.

    The BSE Social Stock Exchange was established to connect social enterprises with mainstream capital markets investors seeking measurable social impact alongside financial accountability.

  • CSR Social Stock Exchange: India opens 10% investment window for firms

    CSR Social Stock Exchange: India opens 10% investment window for firms

    The corporate affairs ministry has opened a new funding channel for nonprofits, allowing companies to direct up to 10 per cent of their mandatory corporate social responsibility spending into zero coupon zero principal instruments listed on the Social Stock Exchange, in a move aimed at deepening transparency in social sector financing.

    The amendment, effective immediately, inserts the subscription to such instruments into Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013 — the schedule that governs permissible CSR activities for profit-making companies required to spend at least 2 per cent of their three-year average net profit annually on social causes.

    Under the revised CSR Policy Rules, 2014, definitions for both not-for-profit organisations and zero coupon zero principal instruments have been formally introduced for the first time, providing regulatory clarity to companies seeking to deploy funds through the Social Stock Exchange.

    Not-for-profit organisations will be able to issue these instruments through the Social Stock Exchange in accordance with regulations set by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

    Unlike conventional bonds, zero coupon zero principal instruments carry no interest payments and no repayment of principal, functioning instead as a regulated grant or social investment vehicle designed to fund public welfare projects.

    “It helps in furtherance of a transparent and credible mode of funding CSR projects by companies and enables social enterprises to access a wider pool of capital,” said Anshul Jain, Partner Regulatory at PwC India.

    The 10 per cent cap on CSR Social Stock Exchange investments per financial year is intended to balance innovation with fiscal discipline, ensuring core CSR commitments remain intact while creating fresh pathways for social capital mobilisation.

    The Social Stock Exchange, established under SEBI oversight, is designed to bring market discipline and disclosure standards to social sector funding — a segment historically dominated by opaque grant-making and bilateral philanthropy.

  • Malabar Gold pledges bold Rs 200 cr CSR push in 2026-27

    Malabar Gold pledges bold Rs 200 cr CSR push in 2026-27

    Malabar Gold & Diamonds has kicked off its most ambitious Corporate Social Responsibility cycle to date, with a bold Rs 200 crore programme for 2026-27 now under way across 19 states.

    The retail jewellery group unveiled the plan earlier this week at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi, where Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal inaugurated the distribution of educational scholarships for 33,000 girl students.

    The Malabar Gold CSR 2026-27 initiative spans 15 major programmes at more than 3,000 locations and is designed to benefit over two lakh people by the end of the financial year.

    “Malabar Gold & Diamonds’ decision to allocate INR 200 crore towards CSR will further strengthen the nation’s progress,” Goyal said at the launch event Wednesday. He emphasised that India’s growth is rooted in the empowerment of women and girls.

    Education receives the largest share at Rs 114 crore. Scholarships are now being distributed to students across 284 districts in 18 states — a rollout timed to mark the group’s 33rd anniversary. Micro-learning centres for street children, run in partnership with the Pratham Education Foundation, are also being expanded this year from 1,543 to 2,500 locations across 17 states, with enrolment targets rising from 64,000 to one lakh students.

    Group Chairman M.P. Ahammad said “human resource development is the backbone of national growth,” and added that the scholarship programme gives students the means to contribute to national development. Pratham CEO Rukmini Banerji, who attended the New Delhi launch, called the micro-learning model a proven route to reaching the hardest-to-reach children.

    Food security is the second-largest priority. The Hunger Free World project, allocated Rs 30 crore, already provides daily nutritious meals to 1,15,000 people in India, Zambia, and Ethiopia — a figure the group aims to grow through this cycle. The Grandma Home initiative for destitute mothers anchors the Rs 25 crore housing allocation, while Rs 14.2 crore funds healthcare access, including subsidised medicines through Malabar-Thanal pharmacies.

    Environmental protection receives Rs 10 crore, with the remaining Rs 6.8 crore directed at other humanitarian activities.

    The programmes are administered by the Malabar Charitable Trust, which channels five per cent of the company’s net trading profit into CSR activities annually. The group operates under ESG principles centred on women’s empowerment, healthcare, and education.

    The launch on Wednesday was attended by Malabar Group Managing Director of India Operations Asher Ottamoochikkal, Executive Directors Nishad A.K. and Abdulla Ibrahim, Kerala House Resident Commissioner Puneet Kumar, and Thanal Chairman Idris.