SUSTAINABILITYImpacting Lives, Creating Value

India’s largest paper manufacturer is also a major Asian regional pulp and paper player with its recent acquisition of Sabah Forest Industries (SFI) in Malaysia. A flagship of the US$ 3 bn Avantha Group, BILT operates seven manufacturing plants in India and Malaysia. At BILT and at its subsidiary, SFI, sustainability is closely linked to the sustainable development of the communities it works with and the environment in which it operates.

CSR Policy"While BILT is responsible for continuously enhancing shareholders’ wealth, it is also committed to its other stakeholders to conduct its business in a responsible manner that creates a sustained positive impact on society.”

BILT believes that Corporate Social Responsibility is the commitment that

it makes to its stakeholders to conduct its business in a manner that creates

an overall positive impact on economy, society and environment in which it

operates. The company has initiated a multi-pronged approach to CSR

within the organization. A policy outlines BILT's commitment to its

stakeholders. Activities and initiatives are planned specific to the needs of

the target stakeholders. The objective is to see that each business decision

takes into account its social and environmental impacts and plans an

intervention to address them. At BILT , Corporate Social Responsibility is an

integral part of the business processes of the company.

COMMUNITIES Making a difference

BILT’s manufacturing units are located in some of the remotest areas, and surrounding communities have traditionally been the most marginalised stakeholders. In some of these locations, BILT provides the only known source of industrial employment. In these areas, there is widespread poverty, low development indicators on education and health, and very few avenues for income generation.

Realising that sporadic inputs are inadequate to address issues brought about by decades of marginalisation, BILT has developed a long-term community development programme in partnership with local NGOs. Specific engagement strategies have been drawn up to empower these communities, and help them enter the mainstream of society. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes are focussed on livelihood creation, education, health, and natural resources management.

BILT has an on-going partnership with 13 NGOs operating at seven of its manufacturing sites. BILT reaches out to more than 250,000 people living in 270 villages and 20 urban slums. Annual stakeholder dialogues serve as an effective toolto incorporate feedback from communities and modify the strategy of involvement.

BILT’s livelihood interventions provide platforms for entrepreneurship, and are built around existing resources like land, or executed through capacity and skill building exercises. In addition, services like basic curative health care, community based education classes and libraries, veterinary services and agriculture inputs are provided at a small cost.

Livelihood Creation & Income Augmentation

Education is an extremely important component of any development programme and BILT lays special emphasis on education initiatives. With a focused goal, best summed up in the motto, “Each child in school and learning well”, BILT has reaches out to over 100,000 underprivileged children annually.

Education for the Underprivileged

Women and children, who have traditionally been neglected and excluded from the development process, have been brought into the centre stage of the decision-making process by BILT. More than 80% of BILT’s CSR projects focus on the development of women and children. As a result, more than 15,000 women have been empowered through the Self Help Group (SHG) movement. These SHGs manage micro finance programmes that disburse loans up to Rs. 30,000 (US$ 750) and manage a total fund of Rs. 50 mn (US$ 1.25 mn) in transactions. BILT has established more than 400 such SHGs around the country.

More than 2,000 youth and women have been trained in various skills and helped with loans to start their own micro-enterprises at the village level. Around 3,000 farmers are now able to realise the full potential from their land through better and more abundant crop. Training a dedicated group of service providers at the village level has ensured that skills ranging from agriculture and livestock management to healthcare and education are available at the doorstep. So far, over 600 youth have been trained by BILT. In the last five years, BILT’s focussed livelihood interventions have brought 7,500 families out of abject poverty.

Community Mobilisation & Women Empowerment

Community-Based Health Intervention

BILT’s collaborative health intervention programme involves both awareness and prevention. Given the remoteness of BILT’s manufacturing locations, BILT helps augment government medical services at the grass-roots through village health workers. These volunteers are trained to provide basic preventive and curative healthcare in each village, and act as a critical link to the secondary healthcare systems of the government. BILT also organises regular training programmes for them to update their knowledge and skills.

BILT’s education initiatives have evolved from being typical sponsored activities to adding value, including community involvement and ownership.The programmes are designed to not only encourage children to join school, but to also retain their interest in education. A prime example is BILT’s computer literacy programme, which impar ts computer education to children in remote and far flung areas. This programme, which has covered 5,000 children to date, has been successful in improving school attendance across age groups.

HIV/AIDS Prevention BILT has established an HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention programme that covers employees, their families, community members, and, more importantly, high-risk truckers and transporters who work with BILT and the surrounding communities. Around 300 BILT employees and over 500 community volunteers are actively involved in spreading awareness about the disease. An Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) centre set up at Ballarpur, Maharashtra provides care and treatment to persons living with HIV.

The centre is equipped with a state-of-the-art laboratory and is run by qualified medical practitioners and counselors. It is one of the first centre to be set up under the Public Private Partnership model. Encouraged by the success of its ART centre at Ballarpur, BILT is working towards establishing a similar centre in the state of Orissa.The HIV/AIDS programme has impacted over 60,000 people, and is nationally andinternationally recognised as a pioneering effort at tackling the threat of HIV/AIDS at the community level.

SUPPLY CHAIN A Symbiotic Relationship

Suppliers are an important part of the value chain. They are a part of the CSR programmes of the company. The focus is on working with existing suppliers an d on e xpand i ng t h e supply chain to include local communities.

As India's largest paper manufacturer, BILT has been involved in farm forestry operations

since 1990. Over the last two years BILT has encouragd marginal and small farmers from

the periphery of the manufacturing units to partner with BILT as raw material suppliers.

These farmers grow pulpwood species on unutilised, degraded lands, with BILT providing

them with clones , technical guidance and financial assistance in the form of long term loans.

A Joint Liability Group model, backed with a strong engagement plan, has enabled farmers

to raise successful plantations and augment their income. Over 600 farmers have been

covered under this programme, with plantations spread over 1,100 acres of degraded land.

Additionally, youth groups in the periphery have been organised into service co-operatives

and are now making a livelihood as suppliers and service providers to the company. Across

the units, nearly 400 small suppliers have been reached through supplier sensitisation

programmes on health, substance abuse and HIV/AIDS. Special Health Clinics have been

established at each unit to cater to the needs of transporters and truckers. Over 3,000

truckers have attended these clinics for advice and medication.

Expanding Supply Chain

ENVIRONMENT Preserving Natural Resources

Responsiveness towards a cleaner and safer environment is an important commitment. Beyond mere compliance, several initiatives are set to manage environmental impact in the long term.

Sustainable Forest Management

Besides being involved in farm forestry operations in India, BILT and its Malaysian

subsidiary Sabah Forest Industries (SFI) manage nearly 300,000 hectares of forests –

including a large tract of industrial plantation – in Malaysia. Sustainable forest

management practices include reduced impact logging techniques to help protect the

soil and saplings, thus ensuring natural regeneration. Biodiversity-rich areas are

demarcated as protected forests and left untouched. Critical water catchment areas

are set aside for clean freshwater supply.

SFI has achieved a recovery rate of 96% for each cubic meter of log delivered to the

mills. This translates into near zero wastage of resources. Trimmings and waste are

used for pulping. Fine saw dust, barks and splinters and are burnt to produce steam

for generating power. Residual ashes are mixed with effluents to produce compost to

raise seedlings. Micro management of the entire process ensures continuous

production of timber, while maintaining ecological balance.

Certain areas have been demarcated for community forestry, with 1,600 hectares

planted to date. Additionally, trial plantings of medicinal trees, have been initiated

with seedlings collected from the forest concession area. Areas in the virgin forests

are maintained as eco tourism sites.

Community water cooperatives are responsible for sustainably managing these resources once created. Sustainable management includes water sharing which has ensured equitable distribution and helped reduce wastage.

Water is a scarce and precious resource and BILT realises the growing importance of conserving this resource to the fullest extent possible. Water conservation remains a focus area of the manufacturing process. Programmes have been put in place both at the factory level as well as with communities to conserve, preserve, recharge and reuse water. With the involvement of the communities BILT has initiated several projects for managing water , some of them include rehabilitation of canals, creation of water bodies like ponds and check dams and rain water harvesting.

Water Management

EMPLOYEES Strength in numbers

Employee participation is an

important part of developing

r e spons i b l e c i t i z en sh ip .

Employees are encouraged to

spend time volunteering on

issues that are of interest to

them. Every en t ry leve l

employee spends a week

volunteering with the CSR

projects of the company.

In India employee volunteers are associated with health and safety issues at the workplace and at the community level. They actively participate in the Government programmes like pulse polio and tuberculosis eradication, and help conduct health check up camps. They also work with rural youth groups on an ongoing basis. This includes training and support activities like helping them access government contracts by guiding them in filling out tenders etc. Besides educating the less privileged, employee volunteers also spread awareness on HIV/AIDS and de-addiction among peers. They involve colleagues in group discussions, and also amplify messages through skits and songs. In Malaysia employees participate in activities like cleanliness drives, raising funds for disabled children and teaching children from the vicinity . Regular training programmes are conducted by volunteers with the youth living in nearby villages and in forest areas on personality development, first aid, forestry etc.

Employee Volunteer Programme

BEYOND BUSINESS Contributing to MDG`s

As a conscious Corporate Citizen BILT believes that it is vital to contribute to some of the critical issues facing the societies in which it operates. C o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h government ensures a scale to achieve the desired impact.

Universal Primary Education

Combating HIV/ AIDS

Universalisation of primary education remains one of the foremost goals of BILT's CSR

programme. The company has partnered with a prominent national level NGO and

has been relentlessly working towards furthering education in Government schools,

arresting the dropout rate and mainstreaming children. Nationwide, this programme

impacts over 1,00,000 children annually.

The threat of an HIV/AIDS epidemic looms large, and BILT believes that awareness

and care and support to infected persons provide a key to countering this threat. BILT

has a well-established and widely recognised antiretroviral treatment (ART) centre,

operating in the Public-Private Partnership model. Spurred by the success of this

centre, BILT is now coming up with another ART centre in Orissa, India.

Sabah Forest Industries in Malaysia has set up one of

the first rehabilitation centre for children with

disabilities in the district. The centre enrolls children

with all disabilities and provides them with

education and rehabilitation facilities. This centre

has been set up in collaboration with Sabah state

government to cater to the needs of the entire

district.

Rehabilitation Centre for the Disabled

Notable among them are :

·The Energy Resource Institute (TERI) award for CSR and for HIV/AIDS prevention

·The Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) award for CSR

·The Business for Social Responsibility CSR Award

·AFCSR award for Poverty Alleviation

·Intel-AIM CSR award

As a corporate committed to sustainability BILT believes in evaluating its impacts on

stakeholders. Ongoing dialogues with stakeholders provide valuable insights and

help to fine tune the activities in accordance with stakeholder expectations. Bilt also

evaluates it impacts within the context of the larger development agenda of the

countries in which it operates. Bilt has benchmarked its community development

initiatives within the context of the Millennium Development Goals set by the UN.

The Sabah Forest Industries is working towards getting a forest certification for

sustainable forest management. BILT has received several awards and citations for

its CSR projects.

For more information, contact:

Corporate Social ResponsibilityBallarpur Industries LimitedFirst India Place, Tower - CMehrauli - Gurgaon Road

Gurgaon Haryana - 122002

ygurjar@bilt.com

www.avanthagroup.com

www.bilt.com