Since Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) inception, care and concern for the underprivileged communities has been a core value at the company. Reaching out to the disadvantaged with a view to positively impacting the quality of their lives is a spontaneous and natural process across L&T’s establishments. Through the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes, L&T contribute’s to India’s developmental agenda as well as align’s itself with the UN Social Development Goals. Through CSR L&T addresses the most pressing needs – water, sanitation, education, health and skill development. L&T view’s their beneficiaries as partners on a journey towards betterment. Developmental plans are devised in consultation with NGOs who understand their needs best. Architects of their own future, the disadvantaged are intensely motivated to sustain L&T programmes – and ensure their success.
CSR Project or Activity
1) Water & Sanitation
The Integrated Community Development Program of L&T started in 2014-15, focused on making water – the very ‘necessity of life’ – available to four water stressed districts in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, covering 11006 households across an area of 9337 hectares. With an agenda focused on community empowerment through Integrated Community Development, L&T has ensured water availability for drinking, sanitation and agriculture
Interventions
- The water and soil conservation structures like check dams, anicuts, contour trenches, farm bunds and farm ponds constructed with the participation and contribution of the community, helped in increasing the water level in the water bodies in these villages and retain soil moisture.
- The community groups like Village Development Committees (VDCs) with 50 per cent participation from women and Self Help Groups (SHGs) were created to maintain the structures created through the project.
- Farmers were trained in agricultural practices with optimal use of water and use of zero budget natural fertilisers to retain the fertility of the land. The community members also devised methods that improve the arability of land.
Sanitation Drives
The Swachha Bharat Program of GOI, gave the necessary impetus to L&T to initiate the sanitation drive in villages. L&T trained local youth in masonry skills and used local materials to achieve the following:
- Construction of over than 970 well-designed toilet-cum -bathrooms.
- Community-based monitoring committees to deter open defecation.
- L&T received ISC-FICCI sanitation award for Best Corporate Initiative in Sanitation this year.
Impact
- Access to water for drinking, sanitation, irrigation, cultivation of fodder and extra crops
- Two revenue villages and 13 hamlets are open defecation free, benefitting 1100 households
- Improved economies, for 11000 households, raising the aspirations of the people.
- Chettipalayam watershed project, South Coimbatore, enabled water holding of 47 lakh litres in one year and made 18 hectares of barren land cultivable
2) Education
Basic Infrastructural support includes construction or repair of the classrooms, toilet blocks and water stations for basic hygiene facilities, midday meal kitchens and sports ground.
Educational support: Supplies such as uniforms, textbooks, notebooks and sports kits are provided to under privileged students in government and unaided low-income schools in rural and tribal villages.
Balwadi program: L&T strengthens early childhood development program by improving the quality of balwadis and anganwadis in urban slums and rural areas, ensuring entry into the mainstream education system and improved enrolment in the primary schools.
- Supplementary food is provided in tribal balwadis.
- Toy vans visiting anganwadis provide necessary childhood development activities
- Training of Trainers for Balwadi teachers for capacity building.
Afterschool community study centres offer supplementary education and reach out to the firstgeneration learners and children from weaker sections. Efforts are directed towards designing a curriculum for easy learning that is aligned with the school curriculum.
Focus on Science Innovation and Technology:
- L&T has supported Government initiatives and sponsored Mini Science Centres in rural schools, simplifying complex scientific concepts
- A Science on Wheels program reaches out to 3293 children in 17 schools, encouraging students to develop interest in science and technology-related subjects.
- To facilitate the access of e-learning technology to rural and tribal students, L&T has provided computer labs and digital classrooms in several rural schools.
Capacity building: Teacher Training Programmes are conducted to enhance the quality of education being imparted to students studying in Government schools and low-income trust run schools.
Overall development of children:
- Children are also given inputs on life-skills and extra-curricular activities such as dance, music and drawing.
- Educational and recreational outings are organised
- Specialised health camps are organised for children for eye check-up, early detection and treatment of anaemia, malnutrition and other childhood diseases.
- Education sessions on health and hygiene with children and adolescents are conducted for preventive care and for promoting healthy sanitation practices.
Creating learning environment: The community level School Management Committee (SMC) and parents are invited for a dialogue to encourage students to continue their education, as well as for sustaining L&T’s efforts in future.
Impact
- 250 schools gained better facilities that increased enrolment and retention of students.
- 1,56,168 students covered through our education projects this year.
3) Health
Interventions
Health Centres: A team around ninety well-qualified medical rehabilitation consultants and 12 professionallystaffed, well-equipped multi-speciality centres provide the following services:
Physical health: Health Centre offers tertiary health services including Family Planning surgeries, Day Care General Surgeries, Endoscopy Procedures and Dental Procedures. It also provides eye checks, mother and child health care, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, infertility treatment, hearing-speech services and a skin clinic focusing on leprosy treatment and communicable diseases.
Psychological health: Psychiatric OPDs and family counselling services address mental health and stress related issues, while a Child Guidance Clinic helps younger members of the community.
Health Camps:
- Mobile health vans visit the communities around the centre.
- Specialised health camps covering Eye care, dental, Paediatric and Gynaecological care.
- Specialised health promotion programme with focus on hygiene, reproductive health and family life education for children and adolescents in Government remand and corrective homes and homes for neglected children
HIV and AIDS Management Programme: L&T’s state-of-the-art Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) centre provides diagnostic, medical and counselling services in association with National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).
TB related services: Comprehensive TB related treatment in Mumbai including individualised treatment OPD, check-up, diagnostics, medicines and nutrition, support, home visits and counselling. L&T runs an exclusive TB clinic in Koldongri, in the suburbs of Mumbai, in partnership with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) providing CAT I, II and IV treatment to the patients, with a cure rate of 85-90%.
Dialysis centres: 2384 dialysis sessions have been conducted at the L&T-run kidney dialysis centre at Thane.
Cancer detection camps: Targeted at women, L&T promotes preventive education and early diagnosis of cervical and breast cancer through cancer detection camps.
Impact
350076 Lives touched through various health services.
4) Skill Development
Skill development has emerged as a key strategy to realize the potential of demographic advantage of having the youngest workforce with an average age of 29 years in India. L&T’s skill building initiative aims to create human resources for improving the country’s competitiveness and growth, especially in the field of Construction skills by training the youth.
Interventions
Construction Skills Training Institutes (CSTIs): L&T runs 9 CSTIs in 9 states, providing. free training in construction skills for the large unorganised workforce in the sector, making them employable.
Employable skills training for women: At many L&T sites, local women, young girls and physically-challenged persons are trained in various employable skills as per their interests and aptitude. The courses include Tailoring, Embroidery, Beautician Course, Food Processing, Home Management, Computer Skills, Basic Education and Basic Health.
Impact
- 7365 youth completed various courses at CSTIs this year
- 15338 people have been trained in employable vocational skills this year.
India Avenue is a boutique investment management firm providing investment solutions that allow our clients to benefit from India’s remarkable growth story.
OUR BUSINESS
2005
The journey towards the “birth” of India Avenue originated in 2005, when ING Investment Management started a business in India as a separate division, utilising a practiced multi-manager philosophy in markets like Australia, and exported it to India. Three of our founders, Mugunthan Siva, Rajeev Thakkar and Sajjan Raut Desai worked together for INGIM (India), building investment strategies and structures, under this philosophy and applying them to Indian capital markets
2011
In 2011 our founders started discussing the possibility of building an investment firm with a capability to provide a focus on India as an stand-alone investment jurisdiction for foreign investors. The founders identified Australia and New Zealand as nascent markets for investing in regional locations, with the potential to accelerate given education and insights which the firm could provide.
2015
By 2015 the group of founders decided to work full-time on this concept to bring it to life. They did this by leaving their existing employment, thus exercising high conviction in the investment region of India as a long-term structural story for investors in Australia and New Zealand. Thus, the firm India Avenue Investment Management was registered and came to life in 2015 in Sydney, Australia.
2016
After building our business for a period of 12 months, our first fund, The India Avenue Equity Fund was launched on 6th September 2016, with strong service provider partners like Equity Trustees (RE), Mainstream (Fund Administrator), KPMG (Fund Auditor) and BNP India (Custodian).
NOW
India Avenue is now a boutique investment business firm, with clients spread across family offices, high net worth individuals, wealth advisers and financial planning firms. Our firm has focused on education and knowledge as a driver of investment behaviour and have taken a long-term approach towards Australian and New Zealand investors contemplating an allocation to India’s growth as part of their portfolios. Our firm has assets in excess of A$50m and the India Avenue Equity Fund is rated “Recommended”* by Lonsec and is available on multiple investment platforms across Australia and New Zealand.