The Indian economy continues to remain resilient driven by its strong domestic growth drivers as well as the increasing global interest in India as an investment destination and place to do business. The country’s underlying growth momentum is marked by an enhanced focus on sustainable, long-term development, which inspires organisations across the country to embrace sustainability as a key business imperative. At ICICI Bank, we have aligned our approach to the nation’s sustainable growth agenda.

Led by our strong focus on customer-centricity and innovation, we enhanced our products and services during fiscal 2024 to enrich customer experience in a secure and safe digital environment. We strengthened and automated our systems and processes to deliver on the evolving needs and aspirations of customers. We also fortified our rural and inclusive banking strategy to effectively serve the needs of India’s underprivileged communities with special focus on spreading financial literacy and awareness. We laid emphasis on nurturing an enabling environment for our workforce to grow individually and collectively.

In fiscal 2024, we further raised the bar of our performance on ESG metrics by enhancing investments and interventions across some of the key parameters addressing sustainable development goals. We have set ourselves the goal of becoming carbon neutral in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by fiscal 2032. Our endeavour to measure and monitor water consumption at our own premises has led to our per capita per day consumption being lower than the national average indicated by National Building Code. The Bank is adopting responsible practices for embracing circularity related to waste management, disposal and encouraging recycling through authorised vendors.

Through our philanthropic arm, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth (ICICI Foundation), we planted over 1.1 million trees in the year. ICICI Foundation’s endeavours on conserving forest ecology and bio-diversity has led it to undertake projects in 53 forests and wildlife sanctuaries across the country. The Foundation’s focus on water conservation efforts has created an annual water harvesting potential of over 25.8 billion litres from rainwater in the country.

Our social and community outreach programmes witnessed a significant enhancement through the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives during the year. In fiscal 2024, ICICI Bank allocated ₹ 5.19 billion for CSR activities, compared to ₹4.63 billion in fiscal 2023.

We worked consistently to guide a meaningful change in the lives of India’s underprivileged communities and till date, have made a positive impact to over 12.8 million individuals by providing affordable and accessible healthcare, creating rural livelihoods and driving societal development through ICICI Foundation.

During fiscal 2024, we expanded the ambit of our healthcare programmes to cover cancer care in 35 hospitals across India. We also progressed well on facilitating the development of three new institutions for Tata Memorial Centre, for which we had committed ₹ 12 billion last year. Our cardiac care, eye care, trauma and emergency care, and blood collection and transportation initiatives are already supporting millions of needy people around the country. One of the key interventions during fiscal 2024 was in the country’s northeastern states which traditionally lack proper healthcare amenities on account of its difficult terrain. Our initiatives in the region covered tuberculosis (TB) treatment, cancer care, dialysis, blood collection and making basic facilities easily available to the people.

Under our Livelihood Programme, we brought income generation and enhancement opportunities to the doorstep of millions of people in rural India. It has been ICICI Bank’s sustained endeavour to support women’s self-help groups (micro-enterprises, farmers’ groups and others), empowering them to enhance productivity and income.

As a responsible organisation striving for inclusive growth, in addition to providing financial services, we continued to support the development and welfare of people in remote border villages of the country. We believe that working in partnership with the defence and paramilitary forces on initiatives such as water management and development of infrastructure such as roads and bridges in the remote hilly villages, we can lend assistance to bring such areas into the mainstream of the country’s socio-economic development framework.

Through our fifth ESG Report, we seek to share our progress with our stakeholders. This report, based on the guidelines of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), stands testimony to our vision of sustainability stated in our ESG policy and our commitment towards achieving our long-term ESG goals. It demonstrates our efforts to gradually and effectively embed in our business strategy the management of ESG and climate change related financial risks faced by the Bank, while continuously looking for relevant opportunities to support a just transition to a low carbon economy.

We are confident that with your sustained support, we shall continue to make a meaningful difference in the lives of many more individuals in the years ahead. Together, we will create more inclusive value for all our stakeholders and the nation at large.

With best wishes,