BALCO conferred with the prestigious CSR Journal award

Balconagar, March 21, 2022:////  Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO), India’s iconic Aluminium producer, BALCO has been awarded with the prestigious CSR Journal Excellence Award in the category of ‘Agriculture and Rural Development’ for the Project Mor Jal Mor Maati. This is BALCO’s flagship program in the domain of sustainable livelihood. The project is aimed at benefitting farmers by edifying them about modern agricultural techniques along with supporting them by providing resources. More than 1000 farmers are associated with the project, covering over 800 acres of land by enhancing their production and diversifying their source of income.

The CSR Journal Excellence Award was conferred by Honorable Governor of Maharashtra, Mr. Bhagat Singh Koshyari,in a ceremony held at Mumbai, for innovative interventions in the area of agriculture. The CSR Journal is a digital and print news publication which covers developments in the domain of Corporate Social Responsibility. The 4th edition of CSR Journal Excellence Awards 2021 acknowledged the corporates and NGOs for their innovativeness and best practices in CSR.

Speaking about the CSR initiatives of BALCO, Mr. Abhijit Pati, CEO and Director, BALCO, said, “BALCO is committed to extending every possible support to the local communities through our community development programs. Our Project Mor Jal Mor Maati is playing an important role in transforming the lives of farmers by helping them take advantage of modern agricultural techniques. The project entailstwo pronged benefits of diversifying farmers’ sources of income and enabling them to strengthen the food security in their families, the region and nation at large.”

Dr S Shrivastava, Regional Head, Action for Food Production (AFPRO), said, “AFPRO has been associated with BALCO for effective management of natural resources and its allied sector interventions for socio-economic development of the farming community and environment as well. The positive impact on the society is the result of BALCO’s vision and strong support to farmers during the implementation process. AFPRO team is grateful for the dedicated efforts of BALCOtowards the socio-economic development of local communities.”

BALCO is taking long strides in bringing about holistic development of the region which is testified through various accolades such as ICC Social impact award, SABERA Award 2021 and Greentech CSR India Award 2021.

Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO) is India’s iconic aluminium producer. It is owned 49% by the Government of India and 51% by Vedanta Limited. BALCO is part of Vedanta’s Aluminium Business, a division of Vedanta Limited, which is India’s largest manufacturer of aluminium. BALCO operates a 0.57 million tonne per annum aluminium smelter in Korba, Chhattisgarh. It is also a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. With its world-class smelter and power plants, the company fulfills its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.

About Vedanta Limited:

Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading Oil & Gas and Metals company with significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, and Aluminium & Power across India, South Africa and Namibia. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing significantly to nation building. Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety, and environment. Vedanta has put in place a comprehensive framework to be the ESG leader in the natural resources sector. Vedanta is committed to reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050 or sooner and has pledged $5 billion over the next 10 years to accelerate the transition to net zero operations. Giving back is in the DNA of Vedanta, which is focused on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company’s flagship social impact program, Nand Ghars, have been set up as model anganwadis focused on eradicating child malnutrition, providing education, healthcare, and empowering women with skill development. Under the aegis of the Anil Agarwal Foundation, the umbrella entity for Vedanta’s social initiatives, the Vedanta group has pledged Rs 5000 crore over the next five years on social impact programmes with a thrust on nutrition, women & child development, healthcare, animal welfare, and grass-root level sports. Vedanta and the group companies company have been featured in Dow Jones Sustainability Index 2020, and was conferred Frost & Sullivan Sustainability Awards 2020, CII Environmental Best Practices Award 2020, CSR Health Impact Award 2020, CII National Award 2020 for Excellence in Water Management, CII Digital Transformation Award 2020, ICSI National Award 2020 for excellence in Corporate Governance, People First HR Excellence Award 2020, ‘Company with Great Managers 2020’ by People Business and certified as a Great Place to Work 2021. Vedanta’s flagship Nand Ghar Project was identified as best CSR project by Government of Rajasthan. Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit www.vedantalimited.com

About Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO):

Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) is a subsidiary of Vedanta Limited, operating a 0.57 million tonne per annum aluminium smelter in Korba, Chhattisgarh. It is part of Vedanta’s Aluminium Business, a division of Vedanta Limited, which is India’s largest producer of Aluminium, producing almost half of India’s Aluminium i.e., 1.96 million tonnes in FY21. Vedanta Aluminium is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. With its world-class Aluminium Smelters, Alumina Refinery and Power Plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow. For more information, please log on to http://www.balcoindia.com/

 बालकोनगर, 24 मार्च  //// वेदांता समूह की कंपनी भारत एल्यूमिनियम कंपनी लिमिटेड (बालको) को ‘कृषि और ग्रामीण विकास’ के क्षेत्र में फ्लैगशिप सामुदायिक विकास परियोजना ‘मोर माटी मोर जल’ के उत्कृष्ट क्रियान्वयन के लिए ‘द सीएसआर जर्नल एक्सीलेंस अवार्ड’ से नवाजा गया। महाराष्ट्र के राज्यपाल श्री भगत सिंह कोश्यारी द्वारा मुंबई में आयोजित समारोह में बालको को पुरस्कार दिया गया। सीएसआर जर्नल एक्सीलेंस अवार्ड्स-2021 के चौथे संस्करण में देश भर के अनेक औद्योगिक संगठनों ने हिस्सा लिया। सामुदायिक विकास के क्षेत्र में प्रतिवर्ष यह पुरस्कार द सीएसआर जर्नल की ओर से दिया जाता है।

‘मोर माटी मोर जल’ परियोजना का उद्देश्य किसानों को आधुनिक कृषि के क्षेत्र में मजबूत बनाना और उनके लिए संसाधनों की उपलब्धता सुनिश्चित करना है। इससे लगभग 850 एकड़ भूमि में सिंचाई सुविधाओं और फसल उत्पादन में बढ़ोत्तरी हुई है। परियोजना से लगभग 1000 किसान लाभान्वित हो रहे हैं।

बालको के मुख्य कार्यकारी अधिकारी एवं निदेशक श्री अभिजीत पति ने इस उपलब्धि के लिए बालको परिवार को शुभकामनाएं दी। उन्होंने कहा कि कृषि और ग्रामीण विकास क्षेत्र में बालको महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभा रहा है। बालको प्रशिक्षित किसानों ने जैविक खेती, कृषि नवाचार और नवीन तकनीकों की मदद से विभिन्न फसलों का उत्पादन बढ़ाने में सफलता पाई है। बालको की कृषि प्रोत्साहन परियोजना ‘मोर जल मोर माटी’ से किसानों को लाभ मिल रहा है। श्री पति ने कहा कि किसानों की हरसंभव मदद के लिए बालको कटिबद्ध है।

स्वयं सेवी संगठन एक्शन फॉर फूड प्रोडक्शन (एएफपीआरओ) के क्षेत्रीय प्रमुख डॉ. एस श्रीवास्तव ने कहा कि प्राकृतिक संसाधनों के प्रभावी प्रबंधन तथा किसानों की सामाजिक-आर्थिक प्रगति के लिए बालको और एएफपीआरओ मिलकर काम कर रहे हैं। किसान इस परियोजना के जरिए मृदा एवं जल प्रबंधन और आधुनिक कृषि तकनीकों के प्रयोग से परिचित हो रहे हैं। किसानों की मदद की दिशा में बालको की परियोजना प्रशंसनीय है।

सामुदायिक उत्तरदायित्व कार्यक्रम के बेहतरीन क्रियान्वयन के लिए बालको ने आईसीसी सोशल इम्पैक्ट अवार्ड, सबेरा अवार्ड 2021 और ग्रीनटेक सीएसआर इंडिया अवार्ड 2021 हासिल किए हैं।