Role of CSR at GAIL

Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) was established in the year 1984 as a Central Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. With the passage of time, GAIL has earned recognition as India’s one of the most trusted brands, achieving the Maharatna status in 2013, with MORE THAN 4000 employees and a business worth USD 8 billion. The company believes that economic growth is not the only concern and consequently, GAIL has welcomed the role of CSR in business ethics.

GAIL has a well-designed policy for ‘corporate social responsibility’ with the objective “to ensure the increase in commitment at all levels in the organization, continuously operating its economic, social and environmental aspects while feeling the interest of all stakeholders”.

The major CSR projects of GAIL are:

• Spread the Warmth: This is a unique campaign for providing care and support to Delhi’s homeless and disadvantaged community. GAIL employees have actively participated by coming forward to donate cloth, wool and other essential winter items.
• GAIL Bright: This project aims at expanding the accessibility of education to socially and economically disenfranchised communities. GAIL has significantly contributed to the construction of school infrastructure, provision of IT facilities, libraries, science laboratories, schools, equipment and stationery, to encourage spirit among the students. In 2016, the company has provided financial assistance to Junior college building of Kosigi and Kodangal Mandals of Mahbubnagar, Telangana.
• GAIL Utkarsh: This project aims at eliminating hurdles in the path of higher education. Focused mentoring and coaching is provided to the economically disempowered students so that, they can come out with flying colours in the competitive engineering entrance exams. In the year 2014-15, 100 students were identified through a proper selection process, out of which 94 have achieved success in the main examination of IIT and final results are expected.In 2016, GAIL provided scholarships to the beneficiaries of the Utkarsh project as an aid to pursue their higher education. Scholarships were given to 346 meritorious students from different schools located around all GAIL workstations. Financial assistance was also provided for the purchase and distribution of furniture, teaching materials, computers, projectors, water coolers etc. in government schools of selected districts of Telangana, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
• Swaccha Bharat Abhiyan: The monument of the Archaeological Survey of India, the old fort and the Safdarjung Tomb, has been adopted by GAIL as part of the Swaccha Bharat Abhiyan, for maintenance and cleanliness.
• Project Avant: This project aims to enhance the overall quality of education for the disadvantaged community of children by promoting innovative measures and establishing good evaluation standards.
• GAIL Indian Speedster: GAIL has taken up the charge for preparing talent from grassroots so that, they can participate in various athletic events in the 2020 Olympics.

These projects reflect GAIL’s sincerity towards the idea of an inclusive development. The firm is playing a decisive role in the nation’s development through these CSR initiatives. We can observe that the main spring guiding their philosophy is “value creation” and it is certainly the prime moving force for all stakeholders. GAIL is assisted by a dedicated team of CSR professionals in selection and assessment of meaningful social initiatives with a concrete operational framework, in sync with the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013.