Schneider Electric, a leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, announced that it had been honored by the government of India as part of the National CSR Award, 2018. Schneider Electric received an Honourable Mention for its contribution to the national priority of environment and sustainable development including solar energy. The Award ceremony was graced by the presence of the Honourable President of India Shri. Ram Nath Kovind, Honorable Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri. Anurag Singh Thakur at the Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The award was given at the glittering ceremony by the Honourable Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs.
Through its Energy for Development programme, Schneider Electric is providing clean and reliable electricity to households and community in remote villages without access to electricity and with limited access to electricity. This has helped to foster livelihood activities which could be supported through solar power, in off grid areas in India. Through these interventions at the grassroots level Schneider Electric has addressed additional development challenges for access to water for irrigation, drinking and sanitation, access to education, access to health and livelihood activities. Until now, Schneider Electric has provided reliable, clean and safe electricity to 36,000 households in 600 villages positively impacting the lives of more than 180,000 beneficiaries under its CSR programme in India.
Expressing his excitement at the acknowledgement by the government of India Anil Chaudhry, MD and Zone President India Schneider Electric India, shared “We are deeply honoured and feel proud to be among those enterprises driving change in society. With our deep belief in creating shared value and sustainable growth for our world, we have been focussed on being a partner in India’s growth story. We remain committed to working on supporting an ecosystem that is green and self-renewing. This award is an acknowledgement and reminder that we continue on this journey and that we are on the right track.”
Finding bold ideas to create a sustainable growth model for the ecosystem
Schneider Electric takes a collaborative approach to sustainability in alignment with the UN Sustainability Development Goals. As part of its inclusive growth agenda, Schneider Electrics works towards providing clean, safe and reliable energy even to the most remote areas of India without impacting the climate, under its Access to Electricity program.
Schneider Electric acknowledges that socio economic development of villages requires access to education, health, water and livelihood activities for which access to electricity is a fundamental requirement. Under its Access to Electricity program, Schneider Electric offers independent home lighting system or decentralized solar energy solutions to meet the complete energy need of villages without access to electricity .
Venkat Garimella, VP, Strategy and CSR Schneider Electric India talking on the side-lines of the award ceremony said, “Be it governance, our business or our products, our commitment to sustainability inspires all that we do. At this juncture of global economic development, it is critical for businesses to support equitable development and we are happy that we have succeeded in creating some scalable models for sustainable growth. This award is a shot in the arm for us.”
