Maruti Suzuki India invests Rs 154 crore in CSR activities in FY2019

Maruti Suzuki India has invested over Rs. 154 crore towards its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives during FY 2018-19. The company says its CSR efforts are focused on community development, road safety and skill development. The investment has grown by 23.2 percent from Rs 125.08 crore in FY2017-18.

Kenichi Ayukawa, managing director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India stated, “Maruti Suzuki is focused on creating a visible social impact with its CSR initiatives. The projects are selected based on need-assessment and stakeholder consultation. These are closely monitored by the company and third party impact assessment is carried out. All our CSR efforts are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals propagated by the United Nations.”

Urbanising villages
Under its community development division, Maruti Suzuki is working with 26 villages of Haryana and Gujarat, focused towards the areas of water and sanitation, education, and community infrastructure. the Company set up 21 water ATMs in 20 villages. In addition to this, it has constructed more than 4,000 toilets, laid sewer lines, and provided support on waste management.

A glimpse of Maruti Suzuki's CSR initiatives with focused efforts towards Community Development, Skill Development and Road Safety

The company supports 50 schools through teacher training and infrastructure development in Haryana and Gujarat. In Sitapur, Gujarat, Maruti Suzuki India is setting up a 100-bed hospital by April 2021 to provide quality medical services to over 300,000 people residing in the area. It is also setting up a school in Sitapur by March 2020 which, in addition to academics, will focus on personality development of the students.

Developing youths for the industry
Maruti Suzuki’s skill development programmes are aimed to prepare the youth for employment opportunities in manufacturing and service sectors. To support the Skill India initiative of the government, the company established the Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing (JIM) in Mehsana, Gujarat in 2017.

Dojo Training centres

Along with technical aspects, the institute provides students training in soft skills like Kaizen, 5S and 3G. As a testament to its success, both the batches which have graduated from JIM, Mehsana have secured 100 percent placement. The carmaker has also established the second JIM in Uncha Majra, Gurugram, Haryana. Maruti Suzuki India says it continues to support over 110 government ITIs across the country. It continuously undertakes measures to upgrade workshop infrastructure, provide training on manufacturing trades and enhance industry exposure for trainers as well as students. Simultaneously, soft skills training are imparted to make students industry-ready. In FY 2018-19 over 8,000 students have graduated from ITIs supported by the company.

Promoting safe Indian roads
Maruti Suzuki has partnered with Delhi Police to implement Speed Violation Detection System (SVDS) and Red Light Violation Detection System (RLVDS) in February 2019 for improved enforcement of traffic rules. 12 ‘Automated Driving Test Centres’ are being set up in association with the Transport Department of Delhi, to reform the drivers’ license issuance system.

As per the reports, the company trained around 400,000 people at the 7 Institutes of Driving Training and Research (IDTRs) and 16 road safety knowledge centers (RSKC). These are set up in association with the state governments. Maruti Suzuki is working alongside the state governments of Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Bihar for these initiatives. Training is offered to existing as well as new drivers of private as well as commercial vehicles, apart from specialised training to operate forklifts. Additionally, traffic violators and license seekers are also provided guidance.

At the IDTR situated in Vadodara, over 14,000 tribal youth have been trained since 2009, of which more than 60 percent have gained employment. Concurrently, new technologies have been developed in partnership with Microsoft for deployment in driver training and automated driving testing programs initiated by the company.