The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has rolled out a new CSR Connect initiative to bridge the gap between the corporate sector and the North-East’s socio-economic development, through impactful programmes in partnership with the government.
This initiative was launched by Sukanta Majumdar, Minister of State, Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region, Government of India.
With participation from the North-East State governments and Central ministries, over 100 NGOs were connected with over 80 corporates for cooperation and partnerships.
In his address, Majumdar highlighted that the ₹10,000-crore UNNATI scheme introduced for the North-East will bring in investments into the region.
The Central ministries are spending 10 per cent of their Gross Budgetary Support in the north-eastern region not only through their ongoing schemes, but also through dedicated schemes for the region. This shows the focus towards the region, he added.
The Centre’s focus on increasing the bilateral cooperation with Bangladesh has opened up lot of avenues for industry to do business in the region by using the Chittagong port. Industry should take advantage of this trade corridor, as it holds a pivotal position as a gateway to Southeast Asia, he noted.
Mobilise resources
Chanchal Kumar, Secretary, Ministry for Development of North-Eastern Region, Government of India, said that there is a need to mobilise additional resources for the region and infusion of private funding is likely to hasten the development of the region.
The CSR contribution in the region is limited and needs to be addressed at the policy level. He added that State government should develop a repository of investible projects for each State to attract CSR investments.
R Mukundan, Vice-President, CII and Managing Director, Tata Chemicals Ltd, said that over the last 10 years, the journey of CSR moved from 2 percentage compliance-oriented approach to increased focus on transparency and an impact orientation.
