Five Oil and Gas Companies in India That Take CSR Seriously

The Oil and Gas industry is one of the core industries that play a major role in influencing the economic trends and development of a country. The industry has played a very significant role in the socio-economic development of the country since independence. Additionally, the oil and gas companies have contributed to the community development in the country through various CSR initiatives. Let us look at five oil and gas companies in India that take CSR seriously.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited

Pursuing its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Vision -“Be a Model Corporate Entity with Social Responsibility committed to Energizing Lives through Sustainable Development”, BPCL is committed to the communities around its business and far beyond, through its CSR initiatives. Through its CSR program, the Company touches the lives of millions of citizens and seeks to make a positive difference in their lives. The Company has actively participated in various national priorities/ programs and is not limited to its five (5) core thrust areas viz. Health and Sanitation, Skill Development, Education, Water Conservation and Community Development. Out of the CSR budget of Rs. 161.91 crore for the year 2020-21, BPCL spent Rs. 144.90 crores during the year.

BPCL has persisted with its commitment towards enhancing the employability and entrepreneurship for youth in the hydrocarbon sector as well as in other sectors through the Skill Development Institute (SDI) at Kochi, Kerala. Since its inception, 756 students have been trained under the company’s CSR program and a batch of 123 students is undergoing training currently.

BPCL, in line with its thrust area of Education, continued its efforts to impart quality education through enhancement of learning levels of the students as well as through provision of infrastructure for creation of conducive learning environment. The Company undertook construction of school buildings in Betul, Madhya Pradesh and Malshiras (near Pune) in Maharashtra.

“Transformation of Aspirational Districts Program”, launched by NITI Aayog focuses mainly on improvement in the levels of Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development and Basic Infrastructure in the identified districts in the country. BPCL, in line with the program, is working with rural communities in order to improve the living standards of the communities in these lowest ranked districts as well as Non-Aspirational Districts, thus ensuring inclusive growth for all.

With renewed efforts, BPCL participated in the “Swachh Bharat Mission” of the Government of India and undertook more than 79,000 activities during the Swachhata Pakhwada by reaching out to around 62 lakh people.

Indian Oil Corporation

Indian Oil has been actively engaged in a gamut of social welfare/upliftment activities across the nation. It spent Rs. 460.37 crores on its CSR initiatives in the last financial year. Its key CSR thrust areas include ‘Safe drinking water and protection of water resources’, ‘Healthcare and sanitation’, ‘Education and employment-enhancing vocational skills’, ‘Empowerment of women and socially/economically backward groups’, etc. Over 123 lakh people have benefitted from the company’s CSR initiatives in FY 20-21. The company was also accorded with the National CSR award under the Women and Child Development Category by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India (ONGC)

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited believes in the guiding business philosophy of growth with equity and justice which is reflected in its CSR policy. The company has spent Rs. 553 crores during the FY21, making it 5^th consecutive year that its CSR expenditure surpassed 500 crores.

In the last one year, when the pandemic ravaged major parts of our country, ONGC, in addition to providing those vital volumes of oil and gas that supported domestic economy recovery efforts, also doubled down on its CSR efforts, focusing largely on Healthcare. Specific to COVID-19, the company contributed a sum of Rs. 300 crores to the PM Cares Fund and undertook CSR projects worth almost Rs. 30 crores, thereby benefitting over 44 lakh people across the country during FY’21.

Oil India

CSR of Oil India Limited (OIL) is governed by its social vision, its policies on CSR and Sustainable Development, the DPE Guidelines, 2013, on CSR & Sustainability for CPSEs; and the Companies Act, 2013. The CSR initiatives are implemented primarily in the operational areas of the Company in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.

Started way back in the early 1980s, the mobile healthcare project “Sparsha” covers OIL operational areas of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, parts of Charaideo, Sibsagar districts in Assam and parts of Arunachal Pradesh. Project ‘Arogya’, is an initiative with an umbrella focus on the reduction of Maternal Mortality Rate and Infant Mortality rates in and around OIL’s operational areas of Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts in the state of Assam. Health camps provide pre-natal and post-natal check-up facilities and community health awareness generation.

OIL India Super 30 which started in July 2010, is an 11-month residential coaching programme for IIT-JEE and other engineering entrance exams, for meritorious students living below the poverty line. There are 6 OIL Super 30 centres at Guwahati, Jorhat, Nowgaon and Dibrugarh in Assam and Jodhpur in Rajasthan and Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh. This year, 83 students from OIL India Super 30 secured a rank in the JEE (Advanced) 2020 exams for securing admissions into IITs and other reputed institutions.

OIL with the partnership of the State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD), Assam, started Project Rupantar in 2003, which is a sustainable livelihood generation project based on the self-help group (SHGs) and joint liability group (JLG) model in the agro-based sector. It has a central focus to assist SHGs for the development of agro-based industries like bamboo cultivation, floriculture, fishery, sericulture, organic farming, and other allied activities, thereby helping the unemployed youths to find alternate employment providing scope for entrepreneurship. The primary objective of the Agriculture Project under OIL India Rural Development Society (OIRDS) is to introduce modern methods of cultivation to generate large scale production.

Under Project Swabalamban, OIL provides skill-based placement oriented training to youth from its operational areas, by focussing on various employable skills in trades like sewing machine operator, electrician, patient care assistant etc.

Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited

Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) a Group company of Indian Oil Corporation is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation headquartered in Chennai, India. The company for its CSR policy aims to strive for an Educated, Healthy, Economically Developed and Environmentally Protected community around the Refineries. The company spent 196.51 lakhs towards community development activities in FY 2020-21.

The company’s CSR initiatives included an initiative in Nagapattinam near the Cauvery Basin Refinery, which includes rural development initiative i.e adoption of 3 villages in the Nagapattinam district to benefit 1700 families to improve their social, environmental and economic gaps. Further, the company has spent more than 60% of its annual CSR expenditure towards the common theme (school education, healthcare & nutrition) for undertaking CSR activities during the year.

The Institute of Public Enterprises, Hyderabad had conferred CPCL with an award for “Best Practices in CSR Awards 2020” in the category of award for rural development for its CSR initiative of Village Adoption / Development project in Nagapattinam District. The company had also been declared Winner under the sector Oil Refining for the Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Social Responsibility.