The Ramco Cements, Alathiyur works was awarded “Commendation for Significant Achievement in CSR” by the Confederation of Indian Industries, in the CII-ITC Sustainability Awards 2020 in a virtual awards held last week to award nine companies that for the honour of excellence and commendation. Among other awardees, Ramco’s work in developing village infrastructure was found commendable. The sustainability initiatives included preventive health care measure like installation of RO Water Units in four villages, setting up 70 individual SMART toilets as part of the Community Total Sanitation Programme. Ramco Cements also supported upgradation of equipment and infrastructure facilities in a government-run Primary Health Centre in a village. In 2019-20, the company planted 42,500 saplings in the project area, desilted three ponds, and increased the water storage capacity from 32,900 cu m to 55,300 cu m. The company also undertook water infrastructure projects including recharging water through rainwater harvesting, utilisation of wastewater for plantations, building smart toilets, and drinking water projects to provide safe drinking water through reverse osmosis (RO) units. The event was chaired by Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of States for Finance and Corporate Affairs, in the presence of Chandrajit Banerjee, Director-General of CII, Sanjiv Puri, Chairman and Managing Director of ITC, and others. The CII-ITC Sustainability Awards were instituted in 2006 to recognise and felicitate companies that try to adopt a sustainable approach in their activities and are, in their own way, contributing to society. Contenders for these awards were: Ramco Cements Capgemini NTPC Tata Chemicals DP World Bharat Forge Cairn Oil & Gas Nayagara Energy Sterlite Technologies Bharat Aluminium HDFC Ergo Schneider Electric Tetra Pak United Breweries THDC JM Financial Avaada EnergySource: Company news release