The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
NEW DELHI, SEPT 15, 2022
Energy giant NTPC Ltd on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Sports Development Funds (NSDF) and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) for the development of archery in India.
Union Power Minister RK Singh and Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports Anurag Singh Thakur were present during the MoU signing ceremony. Shri NTPC Ltd CMD Gurdeep Singh, Director (HR) DK Patel, and senior officials were present on the occasion
NTPC has been supporting the Archery sport in partnership with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Archery Association of India (AAI) with an aim to provide world class facilities with international exposure & platform to the talented pool of Archers of India.
Under its CSR initiative, NTPC has committed Rs. 115 crore in 5 years for development of Archery Sports. Out of total 115 crore, Rs. 15 crore will be incurred as a one-time expenditure towards preparations of field targets, setting up of training centres and equipment like bow & arrow.
Further remaining Rs. 100 crore will be incurred as recurring expenditure in 5 years (Rs. 20 crore per year) towards the development of Archery from the grassroot level, training of identified talents, training of elite talents, development of high-performing coaches, procurement of FOP equipment, development sports & science lab compatible for Archery, Scholarships/ prize money for high performers, advance training/ competitive exposure/ foreign training & exposure to Sub-Jr./ Jr. Archers of Recurve and Compound Archers including Para Archers, etc.
NTPC has already been supporting Archery sports through an existing MoU. NTPC has supported Archery sports at National and International level since 2018. The agreement further extended up to the next Olympics in 2024. NTPC extends the support for organizing all National Archery Championships for Sub-Jr., Jr. and Sr. categories for both Men & Women groups, National Ranking Archery Tournaments (NRAT), coaching facility, equipment, playing kits, among others.
With NTPC’s support, Indian Archers are participating in all International Tournaments like Asian Championships, World Cups, Circuit Championships, and performing well in all International tournaments and bringing laurels for India by winning medals at world level.
Archers won many International medals during this period and performed excellently in Tokyo Olympics and reached the Quarter Final which is considered to be India’s best performance in Archery to date. Indian archers showcased an exemplary performance in Tokyo Paralympics-2021 where Shri Harvinder Singh won Bronze Medal. In 2021, India was honored with 2 world records and Indian archers won a total 49 International Medals (20 Gold, 20 Silver and 9 Bronze) in all major International Tournaments including Paralympics.
NTPC’s CSR portfolio covers all facets of developmental aspects encompassing equity and inclusiveness as fundamentals of CSR execution. NTPC management believes that CSR is a commitment beyond compliance. In recognition of its efforts towards improving lives, NTPC has been conferred many awards and accolades at different forums.
CSR has been synonymous with NTPC’s core business of power generation. The Company’s spirit of caring and sharing is embedded in its mission statement. NTPC has been consistently spending more than 2% of its average net profit of the company as mandated by the government of India for betterment of the society.
The focus areas of NTPC’s CSR activities are Health, Sanitation, Safe Drinking Water and Education. However, the company also takes up activities in the areas of Capacity Building of the youth, Women Empowerment, Social Infrastructure Development, livelihood creation through support for implementation of innovative agriculture & livestock development, support to Physically Challenged Person (PCPs), and for the activities contributing towards Environment Sustainability.
NTPC CSR efforts are focused in the immediate vicinity of its stations where the Company’s operations are situated, ensuring that the majority of the CSR funds are spent on activities addressing the needs of the local community. However, considering inclusive growth & environment sustainability, some of the activities are also taken up in different parts of the country to supplement governmental efforts.
During the year, about 450 villages and more than 400 schools have been benefited by NTPC’s various CSR initiatives at different locations. NTPC’s CSR initiatives have touched the lives of around 14 lakhs people generally residing at remote locations in various parts of the country in one or the other way.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, NTPC has contributed about Rs. 410 crore to PM’s CARE fund and has also established Covid-care facilities for communities. The support was also given to District/ State Administration for Ambulances, Oxygen Concentrators, Ventilators, PPE kits to health professionals, Sanitizers, Surgical/ face Masks, Infrared Thermometers, etc. for the local communities.
NTPC has been a leader in augmenting health infrastructure in different Government hospitals as well. It has lent its support to hospitals of repute like AIIMS Patna, Bhubaneswar, King George Hospital Lucknow to establish burn units and other infrastructure augmentation.
Under its flagship program named, Girl Empowerment Mission (GEM), many girl children are benefited in their overall development. Till date, GEM initiative has helped to groom and encourage 5000 girls at several locations towards enhancing their dreams. The program has created an aspiration among little school girls to think big and achieve greater heights.
NTPC has scaled its CSR initiatives to cater to different focus areas like Livelihood generation, Skill development, Education, Agriculture& Farming, Water & Sanitation etc. The Municipal Solid Waste Treatment Plant of Karsada, Varanasi is one of the finest examples towards environmental sustainability. The project also proved the mantle of NTPC in project management. Due to this intervention Varanasi ranked 27th in 2020 under “Swachh SarvekshanRankings” conducted by the Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India. The city has also been ranked as the cleanest city along the river Ganga.
In pursuance to develop skills among youth of India, NTPC has also undertaken Skill Development program for youth including youth of Leh & Ladakh and J&K region through National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) & NSDF in order to make them self-employable, supporting “Skill India Mission” of Government of India (GoI). NTPC is also supporting the Government of India initiative to upgrade Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) to improve the quality of skilled workforce.
Further, NTPC has also extended its CSR support to Uttarakhand for undertaking reconstruction and restoration of Government Schools & Health centers which were devastated by unexpected natural calamity faced by the state recently.
