Message from the Chairman
Our country has seen a strong resurgence after the challenges of the pandemic, led by the success of the nationwide immunisation programme. In fiscal 2022, I am pleased to share that your Bank continued to work towards its purpose of driving business excellence with risk calibrated profitable growth, ensuring a positive work environment, and creating value for its stakeholders. We continued to provide our customers with accelerated digital services and helped them achieve their financial goals. This was made possible by the dedication and hard work of our employees, who remained committed to provide sustained service to our customers amid unprecedented challenges. On our part, we ensured the well-being of our employees, facilitated their vaccination and extended medical support to them and their families during the second wave of the pandemic.
At ICICI Bank, we have always been committed to create a positive impact on society and address the challenges to the environment sensitively. Continuing with this philosophy, we took several steps to further institutionalise good practices related to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) in our business operations. We approved an ESG policy, which will be overseen by the Risk Committee of the Board, and are integrating ESG and climate risk aspects into our risk management framework. We continued to increase the share of renewable energy in our operations and further reduce emissions progressively and impactfully. These initiatives are a testimony to our unwavering commitment to prudent ESG practices and we aim to further sharpen our focus on it, going forward. Encompassing these initiatives, we are pleased to present to you, our third ESG Report. Based on the guidelines of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), this Report gives a comprehensive view of our ESG performance.
Responsible financing has emerged as a key priority for us. We are financing capacity creation in environment friendly sectors like renewable energy, electric vehicles, waste processing and impact sectors like small-scale khadi and handicrafts, with appropriate risk-return assessment. We seek to create a positive impact on the environment and society through such financing. We review new projects and financing proposals at ICICI Bank under a social and environmental management framework. This framework integrates environmental and social risk assessment into the overall credit appraisal process. We have developed comprehensive tools for conducting ESG due diligence checks and assessing ESG risks of our borrowers to help our risk managers take informed decisions. We have also formulated a framework for climate risk management to evaluate the impact of climate change on the Bank.
Led by our purpose-driven approach, we, at ICICI Bank, have also been undertaking CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives to create meaningful social and environmental impact. The majority of the Bank's social investments have been made via ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth. In fiscal 2022, ICICI Bank allocated approximately ₹2.67 billion for CSR activities, which were pivoted on supporting farmers, financial inclusion, skilling initiatives, afforestation, water conservation, rainwater harvesting and community development. We also focus on promoting financial literacy among the rural population, besides offering credit and market linkages to farmers, micro entrepreneurs and women self-help groups.
As a part of our community development projects, we have built infrastructure in remote areas in several states. In Uttarakhand, we have developed infrastructure to provide accessibility to people living in remote locations, while in the cyclone-affected areas of Sunderbans, we restored shelters and supported re-building of livelihoods during the year. We also provided affordable healthcare in partnership with medical institutions across states in the country during fiscal 2022.
Customer centricity, as you are aware, has always been at the core of our business development strategy. It is our constant endeavour to innovate, in order to provide a state-of-the-art digital solution to provide enhanced convenience. Our digital proposition ‘ICICI STACK’ is helping us create intuitive customer journeys, and offers personalised solutions to suit the life-stage and business needs of our customers. In addition, we launched ‘ICICI STACK for Corporates’ and ‘Merchant STACK’ in fiscal 2022. The Bank’s digital platforms have transformed over the years to provide best-in-class seamless digital journeys. They are designed to on-board new customers, offer data-driven personalised solutions, and provide self-service and value-added features.
We are continuously augmenting our cyber security measures and bolstering our IT and digital infrastructure by deploying industry-leading technology and efficient risk management procedures.
We are grateful to our customers, who continue to rely on us for their financial needs. Their trust motivates us to serve them better. We shall continue to work towards fulfilling their expectations and aspirations in the years ahead. I would also like to thank the Board for providing us with strategic direction, and our shareholders for their trust in our capabilities and their unwavering support for all our efforts. I further want to express my gratitude to all the colleagues and their families for their relentless support in the tough environment that prevailed in the past two years.
As we move forward on our growth trajectory, we will remain committed to create sustainable value for all our stakeholders by following prudent ESG practices.
With best wishes,
