11 National Convention Report by Global Compact Network India

1. th
12 March 2016, ITC Maratha, Mumbai
Sustainable
Development Goals:
Broadening the Horizon for India's Growth
and Transformation

2. th
The 11 GCNI National Convention
Key Dignitaries
Curtain Raiser Address by Lalit Kumar
Gupta, MD and CEO, Essar Oil Limited
Address by Shri Subhash Desai, Guest
of Honour, Cabinet Minister for
Industries, Government of Maharashtra
Inaugural Address by Shri Prakash
Javadekar, Honourable Chief Guest,
Minister of State (Independent
Charge), Environment, Forests and
Climate Change, Government of India.
Welcome Address by Dinesh Kumar
Sarraf, Chairman & Managing Director,
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
Limited
Opening Address by Lise Kingo,
Executive Director, UNGC, New York
Special Address by Dr. Uddesh Kohli,
Senior Adviser, UNGC, New York
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05
08
09
11
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Content
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21
24
27
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Address by Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, DG
& CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate
Affairs (IICA), Government of India.
Vote of Thanks by Pooran Chandra
Pandey, Executive Director, UN GCNI.
High Level Business Panel on SDGs:
Broadening the Horizon for India's
growth and transformation.
Thematic Session I : Green Transformation -
Protecting the Planet through Stakeholder
Collaboration and Policy Intervention
Thematic Session II : Community
Welfare - Ensuring Better Health and
Better Quality of Life for the Citizens
Thematic Session III: Growth &
Prosperity - Driving the Overall Economic
Growth and Development in India
Valedictory Remarks
Mr. P K Mohanty, Chief Secretary,
Government of Kerala.
Mr. J. M. Mauskar, Former Special
Secretary, Ministry of Environment &
Forests.
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The National Convention is a
flagship event of Global Compact
Network India (GCNI), first
organised in 2004. It is the
largest platform conceptualised
by GCNI to bring together
opportunities for learning and
sharing between its member
companies and organisations.
A one of its kind initiative, the
Convention brings forth diverse
companies and dignitaries on
one platform to critically discuss
the themes of Corporate
Leadership. The prime focus of
the National Convention is to
showcase the respective
ideologies, methodologies and
most importantly, case studies
depicting the wide
implementation of sustainable
innovations and leadership taken
up by the various companies and
organisations in India.
The National Convention is the
actualisation of the GCNI
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The 11 GCNI National Convention
mandate to create platform for
demonstrating substantive
efforts made by the business
community towards realising the
vision of sustainable
development in India.
th
On 25 September, 2015,
countries across the world
adopted a set of 17 goals, the
Sustainable Development Goals,
to end poverty, protect the
planet, and ensure prosperity for
all, as part of a new sustainable
development agenda. Each goal
has specific targets to be
achieved over the next 15 years.
th
The 11 GCNI National
Convention was held on
Saturday, March 12, 2016 from
09:00 to 18:00 at ITC Maratha,
Mumbai. The theme of the
conference - Broadening the
Horizon for India's Growth and
Transformation, was streamlined
with the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). This
theme is broad in coverage and
promotes inclusive development
across all sectors. The base was
created by the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and
now SDGs are supposed to be
taking it to the next level by
broadening the development
agenda. This theme served as a
guiding framework for key
stakeholders such as
Government and the Corporates
to define their next steps for
promoting inclusive and
sustainable growth in India. It
also paved the way for unlocking
new avenues and opportunities
that can result in a holistic
transformation of India. The aim
of the conference was to
deliberate on the broader
objectives of SDGs and discuss
the way forward for
implementation for India. The
discussion was organised under
the sub-themes of people, planet
and prosperity.

4. The schedule for the day looked like this:
Time Event
9:00 - 9:30
9:30 - 10:30
11:00 - 13:00
14:00 - 15:00
15:00 - 16:00
16:00 - 17:00
17:00 - 17:30
Registration
Inaugural Session
High Level Business Panel on Sustainable Development Goals
Thematic Session- I - Green Transformation
Closing Plenary & Valedictory Remarks
Thematic Session- II - Community Welfare
Thematic Session- III - Growth & Prosperity
Note: A Point of View document created by Accenture on SDGs was also launched at the convention.

5. Key Dignitaries
Mr. Dinesh Kumar Sarraf - President GCNI & CMD, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd
Mr. Lalit Kumar Gupta - MD and CEO, Essar Oil Ltd.
Ms. Lise Kingo - Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact, New York
Dr. Uddesh Kohli - Senior Adviser, United Nations Global Compact, New York
Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee - DG & CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA)
Mr. Pooran Chandra Pandey - Executive Director, UN Global Compact Network India
Mr. P K Mohanty - Chief Secretary, Government of Kerala
Mr. J M Mauskar - Former Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests
Mr. A B Ravi - Editor - Special Projects, CNBC TV18
Mr. Satyajit Ganguly - Managing Director, ONGC Tripura Power Company Ltd.
Mr. Sandip Sen - Global CEO, Aegis Ltd.
Mr. Rajiv Agarwal - Managing Director & CEO, Essar Ports
Mr. Parag Satpute - Managing Director, Sandvik Asia Pvt. Ltd.
Mr. Vishvesh Prabhakar - Managing Director, Sustainability, Accenture Strategy, India
Mr. Anurag Goel - Former Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India
Mr. Vinod Pandey - Head - Government and External Affairs, Sustainability Communications,
CSR, BMW Group India
Mr. M Venkatesh - Director - Refinery, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd.
Mr. Narinder Thakur - General Manager (Corporate Administration, HSE & CSR)
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.
Mr. Anirban Ghosh - Vice President- Group Sustainability, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
Dr. Stephen MacMahon - Principal Director, The George Institute for Global Health, Professor of Medicine
at Sydney and Oxford University
Dr. Catherine Bernand - Director, Service and Research Institute on Family and Children (SERFAC)
Dr. Swaroop Sampat - Celebrity, Educationist and Social Activist
Mr. Sandeep Roy Choudhury - Partner, Value Network Venture Advisory Services LLP
Mr. Saharsh David - Head CSR, Sandvik Asia Pvt. Ltd.
Mr. Deepak Arora - CEO, Essar Foundation
Ms. Urvashi Devidayal - Head of Programs - South Asia, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Ms. Nishtha Satyam - Head, Strategic Partnerships, Policy Impact and Public Relations, UN Women
Dr. Hameed Nuru - Representative and Country Director, WFP India
Dr. Ajit Parulekar - Director, Goa Institute of Management
The event saw participation from top 50 domestic corporate leaders along
with key political leaders. Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State
(Independent Charge), Environment, Forests and Climate Change, was the
Chief Guest for the event, while Shri Subhash Desai, Cabinet Minister for
Industries, Government of Maharashtra, was the Guest of Honour. Other
eminent personalities present at the event were:
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6. Hon'ble Union Minister of
State (Independent Charge)
for Environment, Forests &
Climate Change, Shri Prakash
Javadekar; Hon'ble Minister
of Industries Maharashtra,
Shri Subhash Desai; D K
Sarraf, Chairman & Managing
Director, ONGC; Lise Kingo,
Executive Director, United
Nations Global Compact,
New York; Dr. Bhaskar
Chatterjee, DG & CEO,
Indian Institute of Corporate
Affairs (IICA), Government of
India; Dr. Uddesh Kohli,
Senior Adviser, United
Nations Global Compact;
Pooran Chandra Pandey,
Executive Director, UN Global
Compact Network India;
dignitaries; friends from
media; ladies and gentlemen
- good morning and a very
warm welcome to all of you.
Friends,we are aware, that world
leaders in 2000 committed to
fight extreme poverty in its many
dimensions by formulating an
inspiring framework of goals
called the Millennium
Development Goals - MDGs, as
we are familiar. The MDGs have
saved the lives of millions and
improved the conditions of many
more by putting people and their
immediate needs at the
forefront. The MDGs reshaped
decision-making in developed
and developing countries alike,
and putting all countries together
firmly on track towards a more
prosperous, sustainable and
th
equitable world. On 25
September 2015, 193 countries
gathered together at the UN
summit on the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) to
adopt an ambitious, new
development agenda. The
concept of SDGs was conceived
with the objective to produce a
Lalit Kumar Gupta,
MD and CEO, Essar Oil Limited
set of universally acceptable
goals that balances the three
dimensions of sustainable
development i.e. environmental,
social and economic. At the
Sustainable Development
Summit, UN member states
adopted the '2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development', that
includes a set of 17 SDGs
replacing the Millennium
Development Goals from 2015.
The core of all SDGs can be
summed up into 3 larger goals to
be achieved by 2030, i.e. to end
poverty, fight inequality and
injustice, and tackle climate
change, by addressing the 5-
Ps:People, Planet, Prosperity,
Peace and Partnership. These
SDGs provide measurable and
time bound definition to the
broader goals that the MDGs
stood for. SDGs have also
brought out the aspect of
partnership a lot more
definitively, and early out.
Curtain Raiser Address by Lalit Kumar Gupta,
MD and CEO, Essar Oil Limited
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7. There is now a remarkable
conversation of vision underlining
the priorities of
SDGs and those of the present
government in India. As
highlighted in the Point of View
document on SDGs, Government
of India has clearly laid down
defined programmes
corresponding to each of the 17
SDGs. The Government's
principle, in the words of the
Hon'ble Prime Minister:“sabka
saath sabka vikaas”, is the sum
and substance of these SDGs.
The present government lays
greater emphasis than ever
before, on the principle that the
first claim on development
belongs to the poor. The
government is calling for
improved sanitation, health,
education, financial inclusion,
security and dignity for all,
especially women. Just to give an
example, the PM gave a call to
the affluent to give up the LPG
subsidy. Responding to this,
more than 8 million people gave
it up, generating a reduction of
INR 4,000 crores in subsidies.
Due to this, the Government is
able to provide 50 million free
LPG connections to women
below poverty line, in the next
three years. So this is something
that is very unique. Another big
thing is affordable sustainable
energy for which GoI has set a
target of deploying 20 GW of grid
connected solar power by 2022.
So friends, the present
Government in India is highly
focused on the SDGs. Pradhan
Mantri Bima Yojna, Pradhan
Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna, are a
few of the schemes that talk of
inclusive growth, which is going
to be the game changer in the
time to come. Thus, over the
next 15 years, both national, as
well as the global development
agenda will be preoccupied with
the ambitious challenge of
achieving 17 SDGs and 169
targets. In 2022, midway of the
2030 SDGs deadline, India would
be celebrating 75 years of its
independence which is when the
static objective of providing
health nutrition and education
for all is expected to be
accomplished.
The estimated cost of
implementing the SDGs in
India by 2030 is about USD
14 Trillion, according to a
study by the Technology
and Action for Rural
Advancement. This clearly
implies that the
government cannot entirely
undertake this tough task
alone. The role of
corporates therefore, in
joining hands as partners in
this process assumes
greater importance now.
The provisions of CSR
should now pave the way
for greater clarity and a
focused, collaborative
action plan. Several Indian
business houses are
already doing excellent
work on many issues under
these SDGs.
The convention comes at the
right time as the industry is
proactively looking for real
groundwork and achieving visible
impacts. Today's deliberations
should positively catalyse this
process and provide the road
map to take the journey forward.
Industry level collaboration must
be looked at for boosting more
rigorous sustained action on
pertinent issues like health care,
sanitation, skill building, and
quality education, at all levels.
Let us also bear in mind that this
deliberation is not solely about
guiding CSR towards larger goals
of development but also about
transforming approaches more
intensively and making them
inward looking, thus focusing on
non-negotiable and sustainable
internal processes.
A holistic approach towards
demonstrating responsible
behaviour and community action
is the way forward. Genuine
collaboration with the larger
vision towards contributing to
the ambitious, yet achievable
goals is what is imperative. So
friends, this is the right time that
we join hands in a collaborative
way making this ecosystem a
better place to live. I am
reminded of a very simple yet
powerful message of Swami
Vivekananda, “be and make”.
Each one of us can make a huge
difference if we start taking
responsibilities - responsibility to
contribute, and responsibility to
help others to contribute.
Thank You and Jai Hind.
(Post this, a short audio-visual
was played to explain the SDGs.)
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8. Shri Desai started his speech by
talking about the extreme
drought conditions that
Maharashtra faces. He
mentioned that majority of the
state today is suffering due to
inadequate and untimely rains,
hailstorms, and drought. This, he
said, is a result of climate
change. To combat the same, he
mentioned about the initiatives
taken by Mr. Devendra Fadnavis,
Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
The initiative called Chalayukta
Shivaar, which aims at making
sustainable programs in
watershed conservation.
“Whatever water is received
from the heavens, each drop of
it should be conserved and must
be allowed to be used at the
time of distress”, said Shri Desai.
He appealed to the corporate
world to divert all efforts through
CSR towards watershed
management schemes. The CM
and his colleagues repeatedly
visit adversely affected areas and
are considering the methods to
overcome this crisis. Many
corporates have already joined
these initiatives and several
Shri Subhash Desai, Guest of Honour, Cabinet Minister for Industries, Government of Maharashtra
He brought attention to the
efforts that the Maharashtra
government is taking to improve
the 'ease of doing business',
such as:
The number of approvals
needed have been reduced
from 76 to 37.
Inspector Raj has been ruled
out - no inspector can visit a
factory without permission
from the higher authority.
Agricultural to industrial land
conversion has been
simplified. Collector has to
now either approve, or reject
within 15 days.
Adequate arrangements
have been made for
infrastructure development,
land, and power.
He summarised by saying that at
the same time the government is
also concerned about the society
and CSR and hence requests for
continuous cooperation and
support in this area.
projects are now being
developed in different parts of
rural Maharashtra. He claimed
surety that in June when the
rains start, all of these efforts
would be yielding results.
Shri Desai further pointed out
that CSR is in a “new phase
where contributing 2 percent of
the annual profit is made
mandatory for projects and
schemes”. About a hundred
years back, Mumbai was a group
of seven islands that were joined
by reclaiming sea land. Even at
that time there were
businessmen who thought of
social well-being. Nana Shankar
Seth took the initiative to build
the first Indian railway line
between Mumbai and Thane. He
also took many initiatives in
health, education, etc. Similarly,
many other industrialists - Tatas,
Birlas, etc., did a large amount of
work towards development when
there was no formal concept like
CSR. As the Minister for
Industries, he appealed to all to
come forward and concentrate
efforts in this area.
Address by Shri Subhash Desai,
Guest of Honour, Cabinet Minister for Industries,
Government of Maharashtra
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9. “Although India is responsible for
only three percent of the global
carbon emissions, it is ready to
combat climate change, and the
government's commitment to
sustainable development is full
and final”, said Union
Environment Minister, Shri
Prakash Javadekar while
inaugurating the event.
Stating that climate change was
"a reality", he noted that the
global temperature has risen by
one degree owing to 150 years
of uncontrolled carbon emission
by the developed world without
bothering about the
environmental impact.
Shri Prakash Javadekar, Honourable Chief Guest, Minister of State
(Independent Charge), Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India
“While the cumulative
contribution of the US, Europe,
Canada is 30 percent, other
developed world accounted for
50 percent, China 10 percent,
whereas India is responsible for
only three percent of carbon
emissions”, said Shri Javadekar.
“Though India is not part of the
problem, it wants to be part of
the solution, as it is well aware
of its responsibilities, and is
committed to United Nations
Goals on Sustainable
Development", said Shri
Javadekar.
Elaborating on Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's vision on
climate change, he said the
government's commitment is
reflected in every program being
pursued by the country in this
regard.
Shri Javadekar also listed out the
ambitious 175 GW renewable
energy program covering solar,
wind, hydropower and nuclear
energy, and other proactive
measures taken by the
Government, to discourage use
of fossil fuels to reduce carbon
footprint, as a major step in
promoting environment-friendly
development.
Inaugural Address by Shri Prakash Javadekar,
Honourable Chief Guest, Minister of State
(Independent Charge), Environment,
Forests and Climate Change, Government of India
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10. 10
“Technology is now
available for
replantation of
grown trees through
mechanised
uprooting and
transplantation at
the alternative site.
Delhi Metro is a
standing example in
this regard, where
for every one tree
cut, five more trees
were planted",added
Shri Javadekar.
“The Union Budget 2016 - 17
has levied a green cess of USD 6
(INR 400) per ton of coal. This is
perhaps the highest levied in the
world, as even the US taxes coal
at around USD 1. If the
developed world were to follow
India's example and levy higher
taxes on coal, billions of dollars
would accrue to pursue clean
energy programmes", he said.
Referring to the Pradhan Mantri
Ujjwala Yojana, under which five
crore rural poor households will
be given free cooking
connections, he said that not
only would the programme
prevent 5,000 new homes every
day, from cutting down trees for
firewood, it would also provide
health benefits to the women
who cook in these households.
He added that the country will
move to Bharat-VI emission
norms to control vehicular
pollution, and also listed policies
on waste management and
massive tree plantation drive
through Compensation
Afforestation Fund Bill 2015, as
measures to attain sustainable
development.
Emphasising that environmental
clearance would not be a
roadblock for development, Shri
Javadekar said that in the last 20
months, his ministry has given
eco-clearance for 900 projects
worth around INR 600,000 crores
investments, and that a 10-year
average time for eco-clearance of
600 days has now been brought
down to 190 days, which is
further planned to be reduced to
100 days.
Dwelling on the controversy over
Mumbai Metro Car Shed at Aarey
colony, he suggested
sustainability practices as a viable
solution to address the issue.
(From left to right: Shri Prakash Javadekar, Dr. Uddesh Kohli, Lise Kingo, Shri Subhash Desai,
Dinesh Kumar Sarraf, Lalit Kumar Gupta, Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee and Pooran C. Pandey)

11. Mr. Sarraf started his speech by
welcoming all the guests and
extending a special thanks to the
Union Environment Minister who
had taken an early morning flight
at a short notice to inaugurate
the convention. He mentioned
that the environment minister
has been guiding the department
very well.
Mr. Sarraf highlighted the sheer
grandeur of the event by
bringing attention to the
following facts:
The convention on SDGs is
the first dedicated program at
this scale anywhere in the
world.
More than 50 CEOs of
member and non-member
companies attended the
event.
Ms. Kingo's gracious
presence; and Live streaming
of the event along with
television coverage.
He further spoke about the
COP21 summit at Paris, and how
it unleashed a new chapter of
hope for seven billion people
around the world. The climate
change conference
acknowledges the importance
of sustainable lifestyles and
sustainable consumption
patterns. Recent months have
been quite eventful, since SDGs
were launched, and COP21 was
conducted in Paris. These events
have shaped the history of
mankind. The SDGs have created
new pathways for protection of
people, planet and prosperity
through a multi-stakeholder
approach. All stakeholders -
government, society and
business, are now gearing up to
take leadership roles in ensuring
the three pillars are integrated at
all levels of actions and
performances. The role of
business will continue to be very
vital in achieving the SDGs, said
Mr. Sarraf.
In his opinion, GCNI will be the
enabler, aggregator, and fast
tracker of these global goals.
Going forward, these SDGs will
determine the success of every
nation.
“This conference comes at an
opportune time when nations are
coming together to collaborate.
This will create tremendous
pressure on the society to act”.
Mr. Sarraf added that India is
uniquely positioned to adopt the
goals. There are certain
challenges though, such as the
need to continuously identify
innovative ways to tackle
poverty, hunger, ecological
imbalances, and resource
shortages. This will call for the
need of a holistic framework that
stakeholders can leverage to
shape, and drive their growth
agenda. That framework is
provided by the SDGs.
He opines that it is important for
all to embrace SDGs as we move
ahead on the growth curve, and
releasing first of its kind PoV
document on SDGs, which is the
first step in creating awareness
and understanding. He ended his
speech by expressing gratitude
to everyone who could make it
to the event.
Post this, the guests were
felicitated and the Point of View
document that Accenture created
on the SDGs was launched.
Welcome Address by Dinesh Kumar Sarraf,
Chairman & Managing Director,
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited
Dinesh Kumar Sarraf, Chairman & Managing Director,
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited
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12. Ms. Kingo mentioned, “We
should all, as Global Compact
members and participants, be
proud of the role we have
together been able to play in the
world when it comes to driving
climate change agenda”. She
commended Javadekar for his
energy at COP21 Paris, and
expressed happiness “to see
India playing such a leading
role”.
“The convention was organised
because of the known critical
role that business will play in the
transformation to a sustainable
future. SDGs open up enormous
opportunity to be a force for
good. SDGs can be a light house
that guide the way for all of us
to help improve the world” said
Ms. Kingo, while talking about
the significance of the
convention.
She remarked that the India
network has been mobilising
businesses for years, way before
succeed against the rising
demands from markets,
investors, employees and
consumers. Companies that do
business responsibly will be the
leaders tomorrow”.
She highlighted two of the tools
that UNGC is working on to
facilitate SDGs.
SDG Compass will help
companies align their
strategy with the global
goals, measure and manage
their contribution to realising
the goals.
SDG Industry Matrix is filled
with inspirational examples
on how companies from
various sectors are already
taking actions.
Lise also brought attention to the
multi-year local network SDG
action plan launched by UNGC,
designed to assist all local
networks around the world, in
developing and executing
relevant SDG implementation
strategies, and linking these with
national plans of action. “Given
India's huge population, the
steps that India takes will make
a huge contribution in achieving
the SDGs globally”, she added.
UNGC is undertaking a global
search for local SDG pioneers
who are making global goals
their local business. These
pioneers were showcased at New
York, in the UNGC Leaders'
summit in June, to inspire further
action. The job now, she said, is
to move from adaptation to
action.
SDGs were adopted, to the
extent of even seeking inputs
from stakeholders into what the
SDGs should be. This PoV is an
important step in making a
business case for SDGs in India
and demonstrating how
businesses can help unlock their
inherent value. She added that
if all companies took
fundamental steps like
respecting employee rights, not
polluting, and refusing
corruption, important strides
towards the global goals could
be made.
She mentioned that there are
many opportunities for
companies to tackle global
challenges, whether related to
food and water crisis, or conflict
and inequality. More companies
need to transform their business
models, given the changing
scenario. “We are entering an
era where sustainable business is
the new normal. Those who fail
to recognise this won't be able to
Lise Kingo, Executive Director, UNGC, New York
Opening Address by Lise Kingo,
Executive Director, UNGC, New York
12

13. everyone wants”. He mentioned that today there
are close to a hundred networks globally, and
“GCNI has organised the Asia Pacific Centre, and
the Centre of Excellence for Responsible Business
to help organisations in various countries of the
region in spreading knowledge of The Ten
Principles of Global Compact and sustainable
development”.
He quoted Prime Minister's statement on March 3,
2016 in the parliament that asked for MPs to sit for
an extra day, to discuss India's role in
accomplishing sustainable development goals
finalised by the UN. This, he said, shows the PM's
commitment to the organised.
He concluded the address with the hope that more
publications such as the one launched with
Accenture on SDGs, would be brought out to help
people understand the SDGs better.
Dr. Uddesh Kohli, Senior Adviser, UNGC, New York
Dr. Kohli began his speech by reminiscing about a
similar morning on Dec 20, 2000, when a meeting
of top 20 Indian CEOs was hosted by Mr. Keshav
Mahindra and Dr. Deepak Parekh, at Taj Chambers,
Mumbai. This meeting was held after about five
months from the global launch. CEOs of both public
and private sector attended that event and they
discussed about global compact and if it should be
launched in India. It was then decided to be
launched in India since it would encourage
corporate citizenship.
That meeting was followed by similar meetings in
Delhi, and other metro cities where several
companies signed up for Global Compact, which
later led to the formation of a legal framework.
Dr. Kohli opines that a company signatory to Global
Compact is viewed as a company having
responsible business practices. “It's an image that
Special Address by Dr. Uddesh Kohli,
Senior Adviser, UNGC, New York
13

14. Dr. Chatterjee brought attention
to the daunting charter that the
UN has posed across the globe.
He mentioned that India does
not recall very happily of its
experiences with MDGs starting
in 2000,“Our performance in all
the eight goals was modest at
best, in most of them we
struggled. It's now a completely
new opportunity, though even
more difficult”.
Dr. Chatterjee further added,
“Today is a call for action. We
need to put our heads together,
and get footsteps together, to
work on this. Irrespective of
what we do, how we chart our
way forward, at the centrality of
all thinking must be the poor,
marginalised, and deprived. Civil
societies, governments, must
remember the raison d'etre for
all seventeen goals to ensure a
better quality of life for those
who could not make it”.
He pointed out to the directional
change in the thinking of the UN
- from connecting with
governments to now reaching
out to the private sector,
harnessing their energy,
innovation, strategic inputs,
capabilities, and capacities.
Talking about responsible
businesses, he said that India
has both an appeal and a
regulatory mechanism. This is
exemplified by measures such as
SEBI's mandate to top 500
companies to submit their
business responsibility reports
regularly.
Talking about the role of the civil
society in the entire picture, he
said that:
Today is the time to set up,
be activists, be vigilantes,
and hold people to
accountability.
Be active partners, hold
hands with corporate and
government.
Work on the round with
communities, and participate
in deliveries.
To conclude his address, he
pointed out that monitoring the
eight MDGs was in itself, a
humongous task, and “now that
there are 17, questions have now
arisen, such as who is going to
track the path quarterly? And
who will be the conscience of the
nation?”This he said, calls for the
need to build a mechanism
where there is someone to
coordinate; and this is where
partnerships come into play.
Address by Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee,
DG & CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA),
Government of India
Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, DG & CEO,
Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), Government of India
14

15. Mr. Pandey summarised his
speech in three key points:
The UN is changing
massively.
Roles that businesses are
taking on themselves are
fantastic. Companies are not
only following the rule of the
game but are publicly
committing as well.
Gender equality exists at
both local and global level,
supported by the fact that
there are more female
employees than male
employees in UNGC offices.
Post this, he thanked all his
colleagues and friends on the
dais for contributing to the
convention in their own way.
Pooran Chandra Pandey, Executive Director, UN Global Compact Network India
Mr. Dinesh K Sarraf – “for his
simplicity and modesty, and
an eye for detail”.
Mr. Lalit K Gupta – “for his
unconditional support and
for being available at any
time”.
Ms. Lise Kingo – “for bringing
in her private sector
experience to UN”.
Dr. Kohli – “for being there
since the launch of UNGC in
India. He monitors the GCNI
very closely”.
Dr. Bhaskar – “for guiding the
GCNI all through. He has
never said no to any event
and champions the values of
UNGC”.
The two ministers –“for
being involved in the
convention and sharing their
thoughts and views”.
Accenture – “for supporting
GCNI and creating the point
of view”.
CNBC - to spread the
message across.
Committee members,
volunteers, team members,
attendees- for managing the
event.
He concluded by saying that the
th
17 goal is the best one to look
at –“in individual capacities for
all of us, it would have been very
difficult to pull this off”.
Vote of Thanks by
Pooran Chandra Pandey, Executive Director,
UN Global Compact Network India
15

16. 16
The panel discussion on SDGs
was moderated by AB Ravi from
CNBC TV 18, and was aired on
the channel on Mar 26, 2016.
The panel comprised of:
Lise Kingo - Executive
Director, United Nations
Global Compact, New York
Parag Satpute - Managing
Director, Sandvik Asia Pvt
Ltd.
Rajiv Agarwal - MD and CEO,
Essar Ports
Vishvesh Prabhakar -
Managing Director,
Sustainability, Accenture
Strategy, India
Sandip Sen - Global CEO,
Aegis Ltd.
Satyajit Ganguly - Managing
Director, ONGC Tripura
Power Company Ltd.
The moderator started with the
preamble: “What is the business
of business? It is to make
quarterly profits, take care of
(From left to right: Parag Satpute, Rajiv Agarwal, Lise Kingo, AB Ravi, Vishvesh Prabhakar, Sandip Sen & Satyajit Ganguly)
stakeholders – shareholders,
customers, and employees, in
that order”. Historically, he
remarked, social issues were
never the problem of the
corporates. They were largely
left to the government to take
care of. The scenario is rapidly
changing now, thanks to
initiatives from UNGC. This has
sensitised companies to do
business responsibly. India is the
first country to make CSR
mandatory. Most corporates have
a dedicated department that
looks into much more than
funding a good cause. The
question, he said, is how to
integrate people, planet, and
prosperity. The moderator
mentioned about the MDGs that
were launched in the year 2000,
and went on for 15 years. Now
that the focus has shifted to
SDGs, he sought to understand
the fundamental differences
between the two, the
achievements of the MDGs and,
what the UN proposed to achieve
under SDGs.
To this, Ms. Kingo elaborated
that there is a big difference
from when the MDGs were
created back in the year 2000, to
the new SDGS that have just
been adopted. One major
difference being that very few
people knew when the MDGs
came out several years ago. The
MDGs are completely different
from the new global goals, she
said. Multi-stakeholder processes
had been going on for three
years before they were adopted
in September last year. A lot has
been done to create stakeholder
awareness and involvement
signalling that something new
would happen. Looking at the
large sample of companies that
are signatories of global
compact, more than 70 percent
knew that SDGs were coming
and more than 40 percent said
that they are willing to include
SDGs in their business strategy.
Hence, the awareness level
around the goals is completely
different this time.
A.B Ravi mentioned about the
CEO study on sustainability that
Accenture conducted jointly with
the UN and asked Vishvesh
Prabhakar to throw light on the
High Level Business Panel on Sustainable Development Goals:
Broadening the Horizon for India’s growth and transformation

17. key findings. The study covered
more than 1,000 CEO surveys
across 100 countries. The key
insights that came out of the
study were:
More than 90 percent of the
CEOs surveyed indicated that
sustainability is crucial to the
future success of their
businesses. However, only 40
percent of the CEOs were
able to articulate the
business benefits of
sustainability. And these were
the companies that have
reached the trust sweet
spot, i.e. an area where the
business benefits and the
societal benefits converge.
CEOs are looking for support
from government, civil
society to take forward the
sustainability agenda. The
support specifically sought
from the government is
around policies and creation
of an enabling environment
and the support sought from
civil societies is in terms of
forging partnerships to drive
on ground implementation.
The moderator further asked if
the size of the organisation
mattered for this, and given that
quarterly pressures drive the
corporates, if sustainability was a
part of the vision of the
company.
Vishvesh mentioned that many
organisations that have been
transformational leaders, looked
at sustainability from the lens of
cost reduction, revenue
enhancement, brand
enhancement, and risk
mitigation. This was how
sustainability and business
agenda converged. Small
companies are already cognizant
of this fact, and their efforts
despite not being as publicised
as those of a large company,
were considerable as they too
source, and work responsibly.
The moderator then asked the
corporate panelists to list the top
sustainability activities of their
companies.
A B Ravi
Editor, Special Projects, CNBC TV18
Vishvesh Prabhakar
Managing Director, Sustainability,
Accenture Strategy, India
Talking about the role that
technology might play, Vishvesh
added that research shows
demand for resources would
reach three times the available
supply at the current pace. To
implement SDGs, total
investment required would be
USD 4.5 Trillion/year. A deficit of
USD 3.1 Trillion exists right now.
Hence, technology is at the heart
in helping navigate this deficit.
He presented the examples of
direct delivery of subsidies to
bank accounts under the
Aadhaar scheme, and the use of
LEDs to reduce electricity
consumption, as useful steps in
this direction.
17

18. He mentioned that his company
uses best in class technology to
drive efficiency. The technology
also helps reduce pollution to
40ppm against environmental
standard of 150ppm. They also
have a power surplus and are
now planning of exporting power
to Bangladesh.The technology
leads to reduction in Carbon
Dioxide emmisions by feeding
clean power into the grid. And,
also ensure that their is no
displacement of people or any
degradation of land.
They have BPOs in Tier-III & V
towns. His company generates
employment at places where it is
tough for the youth to get jobs.
They provide extensive training
and in the process have
transformed lives. They also
vouch for gender equality and,
right now women constitute 47
percent of their total employees.
Since the costs of doing business
and attrition were less, hence it
is tied with business
opportunities.
Essar Ports has developed
backward places, and has
created infrastructure - schools,
hospitals, power plants, roads,
etc. in the areas where they
operate. He said that they work
in a way that they do not harm
the environment. They've
planted millions of mangroves,
provided free passage to
fishermen, and encouraged local
employment, which has led to an
increase in the income levels. All
of this, he said, was aligned with
their vision of business.
Sandip Sen,
Global CEO,
Aegis Ltd.
Satyajit Ganguly,
Managing Director,
ONGC Tripura Power Company Ltd.
Rajiv Agarwal,
Managing Director & CEO,
Essar Ports
He mentioned that his company strategy is based on three
pillars – social, environmental, and economic. They make
cutting tools out of Tungsten Carbide that is depleting.
They've developed technology to recycle the tools to
preserve the element. The recycling process takes 40
percent less energy to produce the tools, which leads to
lesser emissions. They are also working on a technology to
develop cars where the only emission would be water.
Parag listed the following as the three big challenges that
India faces in implementing SDGs: which are: Prioritisation
of focus, having the data to assess & measure the impact
and ownership.
Parag Satpute,
Managing Director, Sandvik Asia Pvt Ltd
18

19. 19
AB Ravi mentioned that today
there are seventeen goals, while
when Kofi Anan set up the
UNGC, the thematic area had
been Human Rights, Labour,
Environment, and Anti-
corruption. “Business as per UN
should work against corruption in
all its forms including extortion
and bribery”. He questioned if it
is practically possible to do so.
Satyajit Ganguly mentioned
about the existence of systems,
processes, and procedures in the
country that are very clear about
corruption and how it can be
controlled. Also, Information
Technology had given the
opportunity to carry out online
vendor specification and online
bidding, which removes
corruption to a great extent.
Rajiv Agarwal was also of the
opinion that IT is going to be the
biggest game changer. It would
open up everything, and lead to
transparency. Sandip pointed out
that e-governance for land
registrations, birth certificate,
etc. would further help in
reducing corruption.
AB Ravi then turned the focus to
the falling air quality index in
China, Japan, and India,
specifically Delhi. He sought
measures to tackle the issue and
questioned who were to take the
lead – corporate or the
government?
Vishvesh suggested that this
would need a multi-stakeholder
approach. “How should we
change our culture and
behaviour, recognising that we
are borrowing from the future?
This then needs to be
incentivised or de-incentivised.
Government's role is in creating
policies that create incentives for
say, using public transportation,
for creating infrastructure for
citizens to change their
behaviour. The issue is complex
but solvable. Technology will play
an important role in this.
Application based systems which
make commute very friendly,
allow citizens to share their
vehicles in a safe manner with
people who they might not even
know. It is a question of
recognising that we have to
solve this together”.
AB Ravi then took the discussion
to labour and reminded the
panel of what happened at
Maruti Suzuki and asked for
solutions to avert such incidents.
Sandip Sen pointed out that his
organisation provides education,
recognition, rewards, and cares
about the well-being of its
employees. He said that a
company's reputation is based
on how well its people are
treated, so it has to be taken
into consideration. Rajiv
mentioned that there is a huge
change in the concept of labour.
The tug of war between labour
and management has reduced
considerably and that with high
levels of mechanisation, even
people at the lowest level are
skilled.
Talking about Human Rights, the
moderator questioned if
businesses can be a champion of
safe childhood. Parag Satpute
pointed out that his organisation
has a code of conduct for its
suppliers that ensures by
conducting regular audits and
training sessions that child
labour is not practiced in their
operations. .
(From Left to Right: Rajiv Agarwal, Lise Kingo and AB Ravi)

20. AB Ravi asked Lise on how the
UN plans to create awareness
about SDGs in India besides
holding these type of events and
if there are any plans of
educating people at the college
level. Kingo acknowledged that it
would be a huge task to do so.
What can instead be done is to
translate SDGs and make them
easy to understand by weaving
simple stories that people can
relate to.
There is a big difference from
when the MDGs were created
back in the year 2000, to the
new SDGS that have just been
adopted. One major difference
being that very few people knew
when the MDGs came out
several years ago. The MDGs are
completely different from the
new global goals, she said. Multi-
stakeholder processes had been
going on for three years before
they were adopted in September
last year. A lot has been done to
create stakeholder awareness
(From left to right: Parag Satpute, Rajiv Agarwal, Lise Kingo, AB Ravi, Vishvesh Prabhakar, Sandip Sen & Satyajit Ganguly)
Lise Kingo,
Executive Director, UNGC, New York
and involvement signalling that
something new would happen.
Looking at the large sample of
companies that are signatories of
global compact, more than 70
percent knew that SDGs were
coming and more than 40
percent said that they are willing
to include SDGs in their business
strategy. Hence, the awareness
level around the goals is
completely different this time.
India currently ranks number two
on the sustainability agenda. To
reach the position of number
one, Lise mentioned that, India
needs to create a powerful and a
measurable SDG plan.
Post this discussion, the panel
answered questions that were
posed to them by the audience.
20

21. The moderator for this discussion was Anurag Goel,
Former Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs,
Government of India. He is also an ex-member of
the Competition Commission of India and currently
runs a think-tank named Shaping Tomorrow. The
panelists included:
Vinod Pandey - Head - Government and
External Affairs, Sustainability Communications,
CSR, BMW Group India.
Green Transformation - Protecting the Planet
through Stakeholder Collaboration and
Policy Intervention
(From left to right: Vinod Pandey, Anirban Ghosh, Anurag Goel, M Venkatesh and Narinder Thakur)
M Venkatesh - Director - Refinery, Mangalore
Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited.
Narinder Thakur - General Manager (Corporate
Administration, HSE & CSR), Bharat Heavy
Electricals Limited.
Anirban Ghosh - Vice President - Group
Sustainability, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited.
Thematic Session I:

22. 22
The moderator started with his
experience of how Assam was
the first Indian state to launch
and adopt SDGs. Owing to
technology explosion and
disruptive innovation, the next
fifteen years would not be
similar to the last fifteen years of
the MDGs. In the words of Travis
Kalanick, Co-founder and CEO of
Uber, “Those who make magic
can see the future”. The focus
should be on back-casting and
not on forecasting. “We know
what we want in 2030, and
hence we should work
backwards from there”, said the
moderator.
Anurag Goel,
Former Secretary,
Ministry of Corporate Affairs,
Government of India
Venkatesh mentioned that the
industry has accepted the
challenge of supplying high
quality diesel. In terms of
meeting the SDGs, the incentive
comes from higher efficiency,
and becoming responsible in
terms of CO emissions. The2
timeline for BS6 norms has set
the clock ticking. That adds to
improvement in quality of fuel
and downstream emissions
impact too. He also added that a
unique approach needs to be
adopted and a structural
realignment is needed to bring
sustainability across the value
chain.
Vinod Pandey explained the
BMW Group's holistic approach
to sustainable mobility that is
driven across the value chain.
Individual mobility, along with
mass mobility will continue to
play an important role.
Automotive Industry is
witnessing structural re-
alignment with focus on low
carbon development and
environmental sustainability.
Electric mobility will strongly
influence the future mobility
landscape. BMW Group launched
BMW i to offer visionary electric
cars and mobility services, with
new understanding of premium,
strongly defined by sustainability.
The Government needs to play
an enabling role through policy
support for demand creation,
charging infrastructure
development etc. Government
has launched “FAME” scheme,
however, BMW strongly
recommends “significantly
reduced customs duty” on
imported electric and plug-in
hybrid electric cars, for an initial
period of three years to drive the
first wave of adoption.
Vinod Pandey,
Head - Government and External
Affairs, Sustainability Communications
CSR, BMW Group India
M Venkatesh,
Director - Refinery,
Mangalore Refinery and
Petrochemicals Limited
(From left to right: Vinod Pandey, Anirban Ghosh, Anurag Goel,
M Venkatesh and Narinder Thakur)

23. 23
Anirban Ghosh spoke about
policy intervention. In his
opinion, the root cause of these
issues is the ever-increasing
population. In India, 60 percent
of the population is expected to
live in urban areas in the next
30-40 years.
The first challenge will be
to provide accommodation
to them. 70 percent of
India's buildings are yet to
be built, while 40 percent
of all the emissions come
from buildings around the
world. Hence the way
buildings are made needs to
be changed; Green buildings
need to be focused on.
The second challenge will
be to provide transportation.
Adoption for electric cars
needs to be increased. Today
people don't buy electric cars
because of their lower value
proposition.
Third challenge will be
landfills. Currently 73 - 83
percent of waste is not
Anirban Ghosh,
Vice President- Group Sustainability,
Mahindra & Mahindra Limited
actually waste – 59 percent is
biodegradable food, which is
energy. Hence policy
intervention is needed to
develop an ecosystem for
waste management.
Fourth challenge is
water scarcity. In rural
India, 80 percent of the
water is used in agriculture.
Micro - irrigation reduces
water consumption by 30-40
percent. Government needs
to enable the
The moderator mentioned that
innovations like the concept of
virtual offices, 3-D printing etc,
will radically change the way we
do things.
Narinder Thakur also discussed
about working on a technology
that desalinates water and is
useful especially for power plant
applications. The panel also
answered questions that were
posed to them by the audience.
Narinder Thakur talked about the
migration of BHEL to super
critical, environment friendly
technology. BHEL performs
desulphurisation so that less
Sulphur is emitted into the
atmosphere. This technology is
built in every piece of the
equipment they manufacture.
They promote biodiversity in the
areas they operate in, for
instance, BHEL has established
the Pollution Control Research
Institute in Haridwar. For the
Clean Ganga mission, they've
partnered with Defence Research
and Development Organisation
(DRDO) and FICCI to install bio-
digesters based toilet on the
banks of Ganges from Rishikesh
adoption of
micro-irrigation across
regions.
Narinder Thakur,
General Manager (Corporate
Administration - HSE & CSR) BHEL
to Haridwar, wherein faeces will
be converted into methane and
water by using anaerobic
process. BHEL has introduced
compressed leaf plates in
townships and has banned the
use of thermocol plates. This also
provides livelihood to the tribal
community who manufacture the
plates.
BHEL's contributions towards
Corporate Social Responsibility till
date include adoption of villages,
organising free medical
camps/supporting charitable
dispensaries, schools for the
underprivileged and handicapped
children, providing aid during
disasters/natural calamities,
providing employment to
handicapped and Ex-serviceman,
rainwater harvesting, plantation
of millions of trees, energy saving
and conservation of natural
resources through environmental
management.
Post this, the panel discussed
about the future of green fuels
for transportation, specifically the
technology.

24. Community Welfare - Ensuring
Better Health and Better Quality
of Life for the Citizens
Dr. Swaroop Sampat - Celebrity, Educationist and Social Activist
Dr. Catherine Bernand - Director, Service and Research Institute on Family and Children (SERFAC)
Sandeep Roy Choudhury - Partner, Value Network VentureAdvisory Services LLP
Saharsh David - Head CSR, Sandvik Asia Pvt. Ltd
An audio-visual was shown to introduce the topic of discussion.
The moderator for this discussion was Dr. Stephen MacMahon, Principal Director,
George Institute for Global Health, Professor of Medicine at Sydney,
and Oxford University.The panel comprised of:
(From left to right: Dr. Swaroop Sampat, Dr. Catherine Bernand, Dr. Stephen MacMahon,
Sandeep Roy Choudhury and Saharsh David)
Thematic Session – II

25. 25
The moderator started by
acknowledging the fact that
health and wellness are two of
the most complex and difficult
issues that countries face in
terms of improvement and
meeting SDGs.
From his experience in the
health domain, Dr. MacMahon
detailed upon the current
challenges that India faces and
how they relate to the likelihood
of achieving the SDGs. He said
that India has experienced
enormous health gains but still
more needs to be done.
Life Expectancy - Over the
last 15 years, India has seen
an increase in life expectancy
by 8 years. The major driver
for the same has been
reduction in death during
childhood. India has seen a
50 percent reduction in
childhood deaths in the same
15 years period. The death
rate today stands at 48 per
thousand life births while the
SDG targets 25 per thousand.
The jump seems eminently
possible.
Maternal Mortality -
India has seen a 65 percent
reduction in the last 15
years. The current rate is 174
per hundred thousand while
the SDG goal is 70.
Infectious Diseases - India
has seen a 50 percent
reduction in death from
Tuberculosis (TB). Despite
that, India still has the
maximum cases of deaths by
TB. Last year, more than 2
million new cases of TB
were identified. The SDG
target is 0, which will be
tough to achieve.
Chronic Diseases - This is
the leading cause of deaths
in India. There has been a
50-60 percent increase in
deaths from heart diseases in
the last 15 years. The SDGs
however target a 30 percent
decrease.
Injury and Trauma - Over
the last 15 years, there has
been a 50 percent increase
while the SDG is a 50 percent
reduction in injury and
trauma. Achieving this poses
as an enormous challenge.
Today India has twice as
many deaths from heart
diseases as the rest of the
world does.
The age in which people
suffer from heart diseases in
India has declined by 10
years, while for rest of the
world the age has increased.
Chronic diseases in last two
decades in India cost it
USD 700 Billion. The estimate
for the next two decades is
USD 6 Trillion.
Dr. Stephen MacMahon,
Principal Director, George
Institute for Global Health,
Professor of Medicine at Sydney,
and Oxford University
Dr. MacMahon then asked Dr.
Bernand on how she sees the
family being a critical contributor
to improvements in health and
welfare of the population in the
coming decades. Dr. Bernand
acknowledged the essential role
that family is to play for not just
welfare but also for well-being of
the society and the community.
She mentioned how futuristic the
Service and Research Institute
on Family and Children (SERFAC)
which she founded in 1986 is.
They foresee problems
before the problem starts.
They are proactive in terms
of trying to influence the
problem before the problem
is deep seated.
When the problem comes,
they take action to minimise
both the impact and the
consequences.
Dr. Bernand feels that health has
to go beyond mere physical
prevention of diseases or curing
to the healing of the person.
Today many diseases are
diagnosed as psychosomatic
because of the high stress levels.
Here the role of family becomes
important in supporting the
individual, caring for, and
nurturing the well-being of the
members.
Dr. Catherine Bernand - Director,
Service and Research Institute on
Family and Children (SERFAC)

26. 26
The discussion then went on to
the role of education in
improving the health and well-
being of the community. Dr.
Sampat summarised the entire
concept in three key words
'Education, Life Skills &
Imagination'. She said, “unless
you find things unendurable, you
are not going to try to find a
solution to them”.
She quoted her experience of
working with an adivasi girl in
Maharashtra, asking her about
social imagination. The girl's
reply was that it is how the
society should be. Dr. Sampat
mentioned that during her PhD
days, one in seven hundred
people suffered from mental
health problems, which has now
shot up to one in three. Hence
mental health is going to be an
issue for, and to sustain
development. One of the ways to
achieve mental health is through
life skills enhancement. She
mentioned how effectively it has
worked with Anganwadi kids in
her experience.
The discussion then moved to
the role that CSR could play in
improving health over the next
15 years.
Dr. Swaroop Sampat
Celebrity, Educationist and Social Activist
Mr. David started with how his
company's CSR policy directly
impacts the key areas of SDGs.
He said that corporates should
direct their 2 percent CSR
(making a reference to the 2
percent CSR rule in India) to
areas that are mentioned in the
SDGs. He mentioned his
company's health program in
Chiplun on Anemia. The
company decided to make an
impact on improving the services
from PHCs, ensuring better
testing methods, and ensuring
behaviour change. Sandvik has
also started tech-enabled
ambulances in places where they
operate and access to health
services is bad. They're also a
big contributor to the Swachh
Bharat Abhiyaan, adopting
villages where they operate and
making them open-defecation
free. During the process they
also enabled behaviour change
among villagers towards basic
hygiene.
Sandvik also realised challenges
such as access to health, testing
costs, lack of a support system,
and lack of identification of clear
indicators for a healthy village,
while executing the above
initiatives.
The discussion then went on to
harnessing resources from the
private sector to pay for the
improvement in health and well-
being of the nation. Mr.
Choudhury mentioned about
issues around economic well-
being, food security, water
access, and sanitation that
hamper the health of the
populace. For food security, he
said that storage is a problem
and this is where the corporates
can play a huge role. He
suggested that instead of
running programmes in silos, the
tech companies should partner
with the government and provide
them support in their existing
programmes.
He also stated that the
corporates should direct their 2
percent CSR profit to the areas
that are mentioned in the SDGs.
Post this the moderator
summarised the discussion and
invited the audience to ask
questions to the panelists. The
question asked by audience
added more depth to discussion
to ensure better health and
better quality of life
for the citizens.
Sandeep Roy Choudhury
Partner, Value Network Venture
Advisory Services LLP

27. An audio-visual was played to introduce the theme
of the summary session. The moderator for this
discussion was Ms. Urvashi Devidayal - Head of
Programs - South Asia, Thomson Reuters
Foundation. The panel comprised of:-
Dr. Ajit Parulekar - Director, Goa Institute of
Management
Mr. Deepak Arora - CEO, Essar Foundation
Dr. Hameed Nuru - Representative and Country
Director, WFP India
Ms. Nishtha Satyam - Head, Strategic
Partnerships, Policy Impact and Public Relations,
UN Women
th
India ranks 99 on the Global Prosperity Index, out
of 142 nations. Clearly, GDP is not the correct
indicator of health and prosperity of a nation.
Prosperity means affordable healthcare,
employment, democratic systems, decent living
standards, and reduced inequality.
(From left to right: Nishtha Satyam, Dr. Hameed Nuru, Urvashi Devidayal, Deepak Arora and Dr. Ajit Parulekar)
Growth & Prosperity:
Driving the Overall Economic Growth
and Development in India
Thematic Session – III

28. 28
The discussion started with
Nishtha explaining the need to
invest in women. She quoted
some eye-openers - “An extra
year of secondary school for girls
can increase their future
earnings by 10-20 percent. Girls
who manage to complete
secondary schooling are about 6
times less likely to marry as
children than those with no
education. Countries that invest
in girls and their education have
lower infant death, lower rates of
HIV, and better child nutrition.”
As per Nishtha, corporates and
governments take a very silver
bullet approach to investing in
women. The investments should
be targeted in dismantling the
patriarchal system. The
investments should be in public
health, violence against women,
making them more aware of
their rights, their entitlement and
contribution to the society.
Urvashi quoted that “75 percent
of unpaid work is done by
women. But when women work,
they spend 90 percent of their
Nishtha Satyam,
Head, Strategic Partnerships,
Policy Impact and Public Relations,
UN Women
He pointed out the fact that the
cost of hunger in any country is
between 3-5 percent of the GDP.
The government has brought in
more than 2 million people into
the formal banking sector. Policy
changes such as cash based
transfers, rather than FCI, should
be undertaken.
Dr. Hameed Nuru,
Representative and Country Director,
WFP India
earnings on their family.”
The discussion then went on to
the issue of hunger. Dr. Nuru
stated “India ranks 80 out of 104
nations on the global hunger
index. The number of people
eligible for food safety nets is
800 million. India is no longer a
poor country, it is a middle-
income country. But still we have
the bottom of the bottom that is
being neglected. People talk
about better education, better
health, all of which will come
only if people get to eat food at
least once a day. Being a surplus
food producer, India has the
potential and the capacity to
invest in food production.
National Food Security Act, ICDS
system, Mid-Day Meals, Targeted
Distribution System, everything
is in place to achieve the goal of
zero hunger.” In his words, “All
the ingredients to make cake are
here in India, why are we still
making biscuits”.
Deepak Arora
CEO, Essar Foundation
Deepak mentioned that the Essar
Group has always been
conscious of the fact that the
society needs to be sustainable;
everyone around needs to be
respected. Since most of their
operations are in remote tribal
areas, no matter what, the
company tries to live in harmony
with the community.
The company is working in eight
states and 12 districts of India to
strive relentlessly in evolving
relationships with communities,
while taking the remoteness of
locations, challenging
circumstances and adverse local
conditions in their stride. Till now
the company have impacted
more than a million lives
positively across 500 villages in
eight states of India in
collaboration with key
stakeholders, especially the local
administration and institutions to
facilitate development in
education, livelihood, women
empowerment and health.

29. 29
Ajit Parulekar,
Director, Goa Institute of Management
Urvashi pointed out “Ending
hunger is a moral challenge and
we all need to take action on
that”. Good education is what
every Indian aspires for.
“Everyone looks at only the
academic side. Having smart
children is not the need, we
need skilled workforce”. To this
Ajit brought into discussion the
UN Principles for Responsible
Management. Some of the
management schools have
banked on the low hanging fruits
– pursued courses on ethics and
corporate governance.
The students at the management
schools come from competitive
environment, metros, and Tier-I
towns. They are not socially
sensitised and hence need to be
shown the reality. Leading
schools have sensitivity
programs; many schools have
engagements with governments,
NGOs, Corporate CSR programs,
etc.
The mission is to transform
management education,
research and thought leadership
globally by providing the
Principles for Responsible
Management Education
framework, developing learning
communities and promoting
awareness about the United
Nations Sustainable
Development Goals. Their
principles are inspired by
internationally accepted values,
such as the United Nations
Global Compact Principles, and
provide an engagement structure
for academic institutions to
advance social responsibility
through incorporating universal
values into curriculam and
research. They seek to establish
a process of continuous
improvement among institutions
of management education in
order to develop a new
generation of business leaders
capable of managing the
complex challenges faced by
business and society in the 21st
century.
Post this discussion, the panel
answered questions that were
posed to them by the audience.
Urvashi Devidayal,
Head of Programs - South Asia,
Thomson Reuters Foundation
(From left to right: Nishtha Satyam, Dr Hameed Nuru, Urvashi Devidayal, Deepak Arora and Ajit Parulekar)

30. Mr. Mohanty mentioned that Kerala, even before
formation, has been looking at sustainability as the
most important factor. “Travancore Maharaja was
known for the emphasis he used to put on
education and health. He was a big advocate of
sustainability. Munnar has a cardamom hill reserve,
courtesy Maharaja of Travancore, who was of the
opinion that trees must be protected, even in
forests''.
He pointed out that in Kerala, adequate and
enhanced budgets are provided to the local
governments to take active measures for
sustainable living. Kerala's elaborate social security
measures are another feather in the hat.
High population density, close settlements in low
lands, and increasing movement to the services
sector has caused rapid urbanisation in Kerala. This
shift calls for greater investment in transportation,
housing, water and waste management.
Talking about the primary environmental issues in
Kerala, he said the root cause lies in deforestation,
mining, paddy land conversion, disruption of
backwater ecosystems, and the ever-increasing air
pollution.
Department of environment and climate change has
launched a few state level initiatives in this
direction. With this he concluded his speech.
Valedictory Remarks
Mr. P K Mohanty,
Chief Secretary,
Government of Kerala
Mr. J. M. Mauskar,
Former Special Secretary,
Ministry of Environment & Forests
Mr. Mauskar talked about how, from the first five-year
plan, India has been trying to do what SDGs today talk
about, with climate change being the only missing
element.
“Overtime, our population has become skewed towards
the youth. With young population, comes their
impatience, which policy makers, corporates, NGOs have
to take into consideration. India is such a diverse country
that whatever is true about India, the opposite is also
true. Even though poverty is going down, economic
inequality is increasing. All this makes the concept of
climate change complicated. The natural variability of
climate in India is huge. All of this makes sustainability
complicated”, opined Mr. Mauskar.
He mentioned that during the Paris agreement, all the
countries were required to give their Intended Nationally
Determined Contributions (INDCs). India had pledged
that:
The emission intensity of GDP will be reduced by 33
percent.
40 percent of power will come from non-fossil fuel
energy resources.
Additional forest cover will be created to mitigate the
ill effects of 3 Billion tons of carbon by 2030.
In Mr. Mauskar's opinion, “the states are not sufficiently
involved. No development paradigm can succeed without
the states on board”.
30

31. th
12 March 2016,
ITC Maratha, Mumbai
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Global Compact Network India
Pooran Chandra Pandey, Executive Director
Deep Chandra Papnoi, Senior Programme Coordinator
Tamanna Girdhar, Programme Associate
Accenture Strategy, India (Knowledge Partner)
Vishvesh Prabhakar
Managing Director, Sustainability, Accenture Strategy, India
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Principal, Sustainability, Accenture Strategy, India
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Principal, Sustainability, Accenture Strategy, India
Winsley Peter
Engagement Manager, Accenture Strategy, India
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Engagement Manager, Accenture Strategy, India
Palak Kapoor
Consultant, Accenture Strategy, India
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