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The Global

Business Case
Competition:
India

Case E: CSR Activities


The Cleaner Uppers

Cari Clement
Julio Cortes
Desmand Sapien
Hannah Turner
Executive Summary
As the second most populous country in the world, Indias challenges are different from
other nations. The large population climb has created a new influx of difficulties for the
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government and the communities supporting the population increase. The governmental
budget allows for the development city of infrastructure to support the growing number
inhabitants as well as rural agricultural developments to provide food for the people of
the nation.

While some aspects have been prioritized, others have been categorized as less
important and receive less funding from the government. This has created tremendous
issues in both urban and rural settings. Inadequate processing and management of
waste has lead the country to accumulate implausible levels of garbage and trash. Poor
sanitation infrastructure has generated hygiene troubles across the cities and towns.

Jindal Power and Steel Ltd. is a key player in the economy of India. JPSL is the third
largest producer of steel in the nation. JPSL is also in the business of mining, oil and
gas as well as infrastructure development and power generation for India. Aside from
being a large conglomerate generating billions of dollars in revenue, JPSL is also a
supporter of the community with several corporate social responsibility programs (CSR).
JPSL is looking for new innovative ways to give back to the community and some of the
possible fields that need desperate help are discussed in this study.

Background:
India, one of the most exotic places in the world. The country has multiple terrains, the
wild jungles, hot deserts, beautiful oceans, and the famous Himalayas. You cant forget
about the majestic wildlife we grew up watching on National Geographic series such as
the giant elephants, fierce tigers, and quick leopards. The food available is equally, if not
more diverse than its terrains and wildlife. If you go to the markets you can find some of
the most delicious fruits such as mangoes, litchi, coconuts and many more native to the
land of India. The plethora of spices you can choose from is enormous, from spicy
chilies, saffron, cumin, and cinnamon to name a few. India is beautifully diverse, and it
overflows to its people as well.

The land of India is equally as diverse as it people and its food. The people in India are
diverse, with twelve official languages in India (Harrison,1968). Schools and Languages
in India), and many religions such as Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists. No part of
India is the same, the people in Kerala (south India) speak Malayalam and cook Indian
food differently from that of north India, in New Delhi the dominant language spoken is
Hindi and the food is different of that in the south.

Culture in India is diverse as many of the people there have been brought up having
diversity in every aspect of their life whether it be language, food, religion, or the
geographic area. Although there is a lot of diversity, we can still get an overall feel of the

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culture by using Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions. Graph 1 compares the culture


dimensions of India, to the cultural dimensions of the United States to get a better
understanding of their culture.

Graph 1

There are four main cultural differences between India and the United States, however,
lets focus on individualism and long term orientation. India has a score of 48, compared
to 91 for the United States, this makes India more both collectivist with individualistic
tendencies as well. The people of India pride themselves on being a close-knit society,
with strong family values, but do have individualist tendencies in religion, and politics.
India scored a 51 within long term orientation, compared to 26 in the United States,
which makes them more long term oriented. The score of 51 is not high in long term
orientation, so the Indian people do think about the future, but also think about the here
and now.

Population in India has been growing exponentially over the past several decades. In
the 1960s, the population was slightly less than 500 million. Since then, the population
has grown to 1.3 billion by 2017, a total of 57 years. At the current rate of population
growth, they are expected to increase their population from 1.3 billion by approximately
31% to 1.7 billion by the year 2050 (Adlakha, A., & United States. Bureau of the

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Census. (1996). Population Trends : India)[1] [2] . The current growth rate they will be
able to increase its population by 400 million, a little more than the current population of
the United States (324 Million 2017). The statistics are alarming, not only because of
the expected population growth, but because of all the repercussions that are tied with
such a substantial growth.

Graph 2

Currently India is the number two most populous country in the world, with China being
number one (1.4 Billion), however by 2022 (5 years) Indias population will be greater
than that of China's (Gladstone, 2015) Indias rapid population growth does not come
without concerns. In fact Robert S. McNamara, former president of the World Bank
stated about the overall global population increase "To put it simply: the greatest single
obstacle to the economic and social advancement of the majority of peoples in the
underdeveloped world is rampant population growth .... The threat of unmanageable
population pressures is very much like the threat of nuclear war."
The obstacles being faced currently in India are economic issues, increased demand for
both space and resources, and environmental issues (Bauer, 1998). Currently India is
experiencing several of these growing pains. The top two most populous cities in India
are New Delhi with 11 million, and Mumbai with 12.5 million, compared to 6.5 million in
all of the DFW Metroplex. These 2 cities, as well as many other large cities, are
currently suffering from immense pollution, due to large number of waste in the area, as

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well as overcrowding. What is India doing to decrease the current and future growing
pains from the population increase?

Jindal Power & Steel and the Economy of India


Perhaps the fastest growing and most lucrative industry in modern India is the steel
industry. Across the country, the production of steel is regulated by a longstanding
organization known as The Indian Ministry of Steel, which exists as a branch or
extension of government in India. Nearly every aspect of steel production in India is
governed by this group, who works tirelessly to regulate everything from the pricing of
steel to importation and exportation policies and regulations (Ministry of Steel, 2017).
According to The Ministry of Steel, almost 91 million tonnes of steel were produced in
2015-2016 in India alone, making India the second largest steel producer in the world,
only to fall behind China (Ministry of Steel, 2017).

A key player in Indias steel production is Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL), a leading
power and steel company that is currently the third largest producer of steel in the world
(Jindal Power, n.d.). The company, which was first created to be Pipe Unit Jindal India
Limited, was formed in the year 1969 by a man named O. P. Jindal in Hisar, India
(Jindal Power, n.d.). Originally entering the power market, JSPL is now broadening their
scope to also be involved in the mining, oil and gas, and infrastructure industries of
India, as well. Today, JSPL exists as a small part of large conglomerate known as the
Jindal Group Conglomerate (Jindal Power, n.d.).

From small to large-sized, there are dozens of steel production companies in India,
which is part of what makes the industry so critical to the countrys economic success -
a large portion of Indias GDP comes from steel alone. According to the Ministry of
Steel, companies such as SAIL, TISCO and RINL have a combined capacity of around
half of the countrys total steel production and companies such as ESSAR, ISPAT and
JVS account for about another fifth (Ministry of Steel, 2017). With so many players
involved in the steel market in India, who produce roughly the same product mix, it is
highly important for organizations to differentiate themselves through branding, more
specifically by including community involvement or CSR in their business strategies.
Jindal Steel & Power Limited differentiates itself from other steel producers in the
industry because of it ethics and values - mainly by a strong focus on sustainability, a
topic that will be discussed in greater detail later on.

The steel industry may be enormous already, but recently the government of India has
been pushing to increase the countrys production of steel even more, possibly in an
effort to compete with China and become the largest steel producer in the world. This
year, released by the government is a 2017 National Steel Policy. The goal of this
policy is to help production reach a target of 300 million metric tons per year by the year
2030 (Darabshaw, 2017). The current production level is at about 122 million metric
tons per year, meaning in order to reach the goal, India will need to more than double
current production in a little over a decade (Darabshaw, 2017).

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The Ministry of Steel claims that the policy was created for several reasons, but one
reason is to combat a multitude of issues that are currently limiting the production
capacity of steel such as the current high input costs that are creating entry barriers for
smaller businesses. An obvious major overtone of the entire policy, however, is that all
of these goals need to be achieved with an environmentally friendly approach. Being
environmentally conscious is absolutely critical for India and detrimental for the country
to be able to also reach their corresponding global efficiency benchmarks later down the
road (Ministry of Steel, 2017).

In addition to the emphasis being placed on the environment in the National Steel
Policy, the government of India also passed a law mandating Corporate Social
Responsibility in the business sector. In April of 2014, India became the first country in
the world to require businesses with more than 10 billion rupees in annual revenue to
donate 2% of their net profit back into improving quality of life in the community (Balch,
2016). There are several areas that businesses can they can invest the 2% in including
poverty programs and gender equality initiatives.
Graph 3

Unfortunately though, the success of any law depends on its enforcement. At the time
the law was passed, many critics were concerned that making CSR mandatory would
cause businesses to find ways to cheat the system or, at the very least, try to put the
least amount of effort possible into the process. At the same time, many of Indias
government officials claim that no matter how large businesses decide to invest the
mandated money, the law would allow desperately needed funds to come forward and
be dispersed throughout the country for the purpose of CSR (Balch, 2016).

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Jindal Steel & Power Ltd.s Current CSR Activities


Jindal currently has a very wide range of CSR programs from health, education,
infrastructure, to livelihood and livestock. Jindal Steel & Power was also awarded Best
CSR Practice Award in 2014 by Think Media Inc. Their health programs include 453
rural mobile health camps and 52 specialized health camps organized, 49 village level
health volunteers in 38 villages to support and facilitate health services, and 33,019
patients from all age groups treated. These health programs provide vaccinations,
dental care, and treatment for malnourished children as well as many other services.

Jindal education programs provide scholarships to children of widows, library and


computer centers, desks and benches for 1,215 students, and 100 community teachers
in 47 schools. Their infrastructure development programs are aimed at improving the
quality of life, especially in more rural areas by providing funding for roads, government
and community buildings, and improvements to local markets by providing sheds for
vendors. The livelihood programs do things such as help farmers boost rice productivity,
teach sewing and masonry skills to women, form and support womens self help groups,
as well as providing training in various skills for youth and rural villagers. They also have
a livestock program that provides veterinary care to animals and neuters street dogs.
(Source: http://www.jindalpower.com/community-development.html)

Possible Areas of Focus for Future CSR Projects


India holds almost one fifth of the worlds population making it the second most
populous nation in the world, following China. With a yearly population growth rate of
1.2%, India is expected to surpass the population of China by 2022 (Gladstone, 2015).
Although India generates the 7th largest nominal total gross domestic product in the
world, its vast population only allows for a per capita distribution of $1,965 making it an
underprivileged developing nation.

Large population spikes over the past decades and scarce resources have
created trouble in countless portions of India in almost every aspect. Low governmental
budgets prioritize the development of infrastructure to support the ever-growing number
of inhabitants in the urban sectors and subsidize agricultural growth in the rural regions
(Khemani, 2010). Services such as sanitation, waste management, and access to clean
water have become of secondary importance. Inadequate prioritization of these
essential services has placed India in an unpropitious situation; the country is drowning
in waste that is contaminating the environment and promoting diseases.

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Waste Management & Disposal

The rapidly growing population has put additional stress on the waste
management system. Cities often find themselves unable to provide proper waste
management services to their communities including waste collection and waste
disposal. Residents usually dont have a collection point near their homes and the few
existing locations are typically overflowing with garbage. Discouraged residents often do
not bother and just throw the trash in the streets, open fields and even lakes or rivers.
The uncollected waste remains until rain washes it away or animals feast on it. Even
then, the waste concentrates and pollutes water reservoirs and frequently seeps deep
into the aquifers creating irreversible contamination of water sources.

Indian citizens have lived in this circumstances for so long, that it has become
widely accepted by society. People are often indifferent and resistant to changes that
will benefit the community as well as the environment. Local municipalities have
focused on removing the abundant waste from communities and dumping it in landfills
as it has proven to be fastest and easiest way to deal with the situation. Unfortunately,
collecting and dumping is creating larger problem for communities as most of their
landfills are overflowing with trash.Unsustainable waste management practices such as
not promoting segregation of garbage, or not collecting segregated waste separately
has just made the matters worse.

Categorizing and sorting garbage is essential for waste management, otherwise,


reusable, recyclable and combustible waste is literally wasted. Not all garbage belongs
in landfills, biodegradable material can sometimes be used as compost for gardening
and even growing crops. Broken down plastic bottles and other plastic products can be
used in road construction. Recycled aluminum and scrap metals are known to be easily
repurposed and help minimize the need for mining scarce natural resources. Some
garbage can even be burnt to generate electricity.

Graph 4

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Clean Drinking Water & Sanitation

Despite the efforts of the the Indian government and communities over the past 30
years to provide clean water and sanitation to more citizens, more than half a billion
people do not have access today. Although tremendous progress has been made, and
now more than 200 million more people have access, the rate is low by international
standards. What is even lower is the amount of money invested by the government. A
shocking $5 per capita are devoted to clean water and sanitation services per year
(Planning, 2010).

Another problematic situation that arises once the population have access to water is
service continuity. In most of India, the demand for water is so large that water cannot
be supplied to all the population at once. Currently only two cities in India provide a
constant water supply for their residents - Trivandrum and Kota. All other cities in the
country have an average water supply time of approximately four hours per day.
Residents then attempt to collect as much water as possible in large buckets or big
pots.

Sanitation sewers have the opposite problem from dry drinking water pipes. The scary
amounts of human waste are not supported by the existing infrastructure. Overflow of
raw sewage at draining points is common. In large cities like Delhi, the existing
infrastructure can only handle 50% of drinking water produced (World 2010). Unreliable
sanitation ducts often force people to defecate outdoors. India has the largest number of
population that defecates in the open. More than 665 million people defecate in open
spaces such as beaches, fields and often the streets (Betwa 2010).

Pollution

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Contamination in India is not a small problem at all. In fact, nearly 1.1 million lives were
claimed directly by pollution in 2016 (Rielly 2017). According to the World Health
Organization, out of the 168 major cities in India, none meet safe air standards.
Although, India does not have high emissions of greenhouse gases per capita, it is the
third most polluting country in the world, after China and the U.S.

The main sources of air pollution are the burning of wood and biomass for cooking and
other heating needs. Over 100 million households rely solely on wood for preparing
meals at least three times per day. Another major source of contamination is the burning
of traditional fossil fuels to generate electricity contributing heavily to pollution by
releasing large amounts of carbon monoxide into the air. Decomposing biodegradable
materials also emit large amounts of methane - a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent
than carbon

Indias pollution is not only restricted to the air. Poor waste management as previously
discussed, has had a severe impact in the environment. Waste leaches into the
groundwater surrounding garbage disposal sites. This further compounds health issues
faced by many Indians whose drinking water has become contaminated due to this type
of pollution.

Conclusion
India is well on its way to becoming the most populated country on Earth in the near
future. Supporting one fifth of the world's population with a minimal per capita budget is
not an easy task. As population numbers increase, the needs of the people become
more prominent and overwhelming for the local communities and government. Through
corporate social responsibility programs, Jindal Power & Steel Limited is doing its part
to give back to the community. Various programs are already benefitting thousands of
Indians across the nation providing access to healthcare, education and more. As JPSL
grows in the future, so will the opportunities to give back to the community. It is now up
to the newer generation to take up on the challenge and develop innovative and
revolutionary ways to help those in need and ensure the countrys and the companys
success.

References

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AN OVERVIEW OF STEEL SECTOR. MINISTRY OF STEEL Government of India. National


Informatics Centre, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from:
http://steel.gov.in/overview.htm

About Us. Jindal Power, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from:
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Balch, O. (5 Apr. 2016). Indian Law Requires Companies to Give 2% of Profits to Charity. Is It
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Banerjee, P. (9 Feb. 2016). Gone to Waste: How India is Drowning in Garbage.


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Bauer, P. T., (1998). Population growth: Disaster or blessing? Independent Review, 3(1),
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Gladstone, R. (29 July 2015). India Will Be Most Populous Country Sooner Than
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Hashimoto, Yukiko. (2016). Waste Management in Urban India and Role of Social
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Haugen, D. (17 Oct. 2013). Is Burning Garbage Green? In Sweden Theres Little
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theres-little-debate/

Khemani, S. (1 Sept. 2010).Political Economy of Infrastructure Spending in India World


Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 5423. Available at SSRN:
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Planning Commission of India. "Health and Family Welfare and AYUSH : 11th Five Year Plan"
(PDF). Retrieved 10 April 2017., p. 78

Planning Commission (India):DRAFT REPORT OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE ON URBAN


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Reilly, M. (14 Feb. 2017). India Now Has The Worlds Worst Air Pollution. MIT
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pollution/

Sharma, B. (15 Oct. 2009). 665 million Indians still defecate in open: UN. Rediff news.
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