Corporate social responsibility initiatives are getting increasingly trendy. Big corporates, including Hindustan Unilever, ITC Ltd and Godrej Group, are turning to rural India to build better communities. PepsiCo India, on it part, has got constructed 13 check dams and 100 recharge wells in Paithan in Maharashtra after it implemented similar community water projects in Palakkad, Neelamangala, Mamandur and Sangareddy.
On the company?s water project in Paithan, which was started last year, Sanjeev Chadha, chairman of PepsiCo India, said, “This project is estimated to directly benefit nearly 12,000 members through improved access to water, additional crops, increase in yield of rainfed crops and the opportunity of a second cultivation cycle during Rabi season.?
After implementing its water projects in Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra, PepsiCo India is taking its CSR programme to Haryana next year. ?We are also checking out franchises for this community initiative. In fact, we have initiated many projects to provide water to villagers across the country,? he added.
“Community water projects recharge one billion litres of water and benefits 35,000 people across multiple states. Sustainability and community ownership are at the heart of our approach. It?s a Pepsi family initiative,” he explained
As part of its CSR strategy, PepsiCo employees work with the local panchayat or municipality and engage the community in planning and executing the project right from inception. ?One of the key elements of sustainability is that the local panchayat and community members, strongly represented by women, participate in the projects,? said Chadha.
Last week, PepsiCo held its annual global meet in India for the first time. The three-day board of directors? meeting revealed India?s importance in PepsiCo?s future. “The parent company will be investing a lot more in India,? said Chadha. In June, PepsiCo announced investments of Rs 1,000 crore ($220 million) in its beverages business in India. This investment is part of the company’s total $500-million investment allocated for India over three years.