ICICI Foundation’s Initiatives on Environment

As part of the CSR initiatives being carried out through ICICI Foundation, ICICI Bank has extensively supported efforts for environmental protection and improving biodiversity. Projects have been executed in the areas of water conservation, forest conservation and afforestation and protecting biodiversity, which are contributing towards restoring ecological balance in the country.

Supporting Ecological and Wildlife Conservation in Forests

In fiscal 2022, ICICI Foundation had launched ‘Project Vanya Jeevan’ to work towards ecological and environmental conservation and supporting sustainable livelihood of the people living in the periphery of forests. During fiscal 2023, the project has been extended to 42 forests and national parks across the country.

Some of the prominent forests where ICICI Foundation has been working in collaboration with the respective state forest departments are Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve and Bhimashankar Forest in Maharashtra, Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, Bandipur National Park in Karnataka, Simlipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha and Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar.

The interventions in these forests include animal safety and healthcare, making water available for flora and fauna, habitat restoration and conservation, afforestation and prevention of soil erosion. The programmes aim at the protection of carnivores, herbivores and other animals. ICICI Foundation is also assisting the communities in the surrounding villages through livelihood support, water management and initiatives to minimise their dependence on forests.

Miyawaki Plantation

The Miyawaki method, pioneered by the late Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, is a distinctive technique of plantation that mixes saplings from different species of trees that are native to an area. The resultant mixed dense plantation closely resembles a natural forest, which eventually becomes self-sustaining. In fiscal 2023, ICICI Foundation created over 50 Miyawaki forests in 48 villages in 16 districts of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab by planting over 302,500 saplings. Over 90 varieties of saplings, including fruits, flowers and canopies were planted.

Expanding Green Cover

ICICI Foundation continues to invest in initiatives to conserve and nurture the environment. It has been promoting green initiatives, including avenue plantation, which involves planting trees on both sides of roads. Since inception of this initiative in fiscal 2022, ICICI Foundation has planted nearly 50,000 trees of 13 varieties across 72 kilometres in Raichur district, Karnataka and Annamayya district in Rayalaseema region, Andhra Pradesh.

Water Conservation Efforts

ICICI Foundation engages with local authorities and administration to undertake projects relating to water conservation and rejuvenation of water bodies. ICICI Foundation’s efforts have created 17.1 billion litres of water harvesting potential annually in the country, much of which are in water scarce areas. Some of the prominent projects are detailed below:

Installation of Solar Power in Rural Schools

The remote hilly district of Ri Bhoi in Meghalaya lacks proper teaching infrastructure. Most schools in this rural area face the problem of infrequent or erratic electricity supply. Irregular power supply adversely affected computer education in these schools while many computers also got damaged as a result of the voltage fluctuation.

In fiscal 2023, ICICI Foundation decided to support rural schools in Meghalaya through installation of solar power facilities. It identified 30 schools in the two blocks of Umling and Umsing in Ri Bhoi district. The installation of solar power is helping the schools run their computer classes without disruption. The schools are able to operate essential electrical equipment such as lights, fans, computers, projectors and charging stations for devices without interruption. This has helped improve the quality of education and learning outcomes of students through the use of multimedia and digital resources as well as technology-led innovative teaching methods.

The solar-powered schools can extend their study hours beyond daylight, particularly in regions with limited daylight hours or scarce electricity. The excess solar capacity is being used to power the households or community centres. This is enabling community development and improvement in the overall standard of living in the district’s rural areas.

Other benefits of the initiative include:

Making ‘Zero Burning Villages’

Farmers of some states in northern part of the country burn Parali (paddy straw) during October-November every year to clear the fields for sowing of Rabi (winter) crops. This severely affects the air quality and damages health of the soil, which impacts agricultural productivity, as well as the health of people associated with such activities and those around them. It is estimated that the Parali burning typically worsens the air quality by 30% and increases the cost of agriculture by ₹3,000 per acre.

In fiscal 2023, ICICI Foundation decided to intervene with a programme to encourage farmers to end the practice of stubble burning and for the purpose, reached out to more than 120,000 farmers across 853 villages. The programme involved spreading awareness about the detrimental effects of Parali burning and providing alternatives for utilising the crop stubble to enrich the soil as raw material for producing CNG, extracting oil and making high quality cardboards.

During fiscal 2023, this initiative saved 498,285 acres of land from burning, curbing emissions of CO₂ by 1.92 million tonnes and methane by 110,000 tonnes, according to the assessment provided by Punjab Agricultural University. Further, 600 villages were declared ‘zero burning villages’ by Gram Panchayats or District Agriculture Officers of the villages.