At Vedanta Resources plc, we believe in sustainable development and are committed to effective management of health, safety, environment and community development as an integral part of our business.

Social Investment

We run several education schemes, including:

  • 10 schools for formal education to over 7,500 children
  • 53 balwadis (preschool centers) for over 2,500 children
  • The Sterlite Maitri Mangal Post Graduate Girls College, a residential higher education center, which caters to 746 tribal girls, and a further 500 though distance learning in rural Rajasthan

Our health care initiatives include:

  • The operation of eight hospitals, providing health care to 750,000 people
  • Outreach services through Mobile Health Units, that serve over a million people
  • A mid-day meal program, feeding over 150,000 primary school children daily
  • Providing free ARVs are provided to all those who identify HIV positive, as well as counseling and testing.

We are committed to creating conditions for sustainable livelihood through:

  • A micro enterprise scheme, in which we provide opportunities for over 8,000 women to supplement their family incomes
  • Our agriculture project, which as enhanced its 1,300 participants’ incomes by 70% by teaching them to optimize land and water resources, training them in progressive farming techniques, and providing them with organic manure and better quality seeds

The impact of this investment has been remarkable, and we now have:

  • Literacy and education initiatives catering to 10,000 children and adults
  • Health care services being provided to 1,000,000 people
  • 1,100 acres of land brought under cultivation through micro irrigation
  • Half a million vocational training hours invested in 10,000 women and youth
  • 11,000 families brought above the poverty line

Environmental Performance

  • Against a target of 5% reduction over 2005-06, in specific energy consumption Vedanta’s subsidiaries HZL, BALCO and Sterlite achieved reductions of 12, 21 and 20% respectively.
  • Against a target of 10% reduction in specific water consumption levels we achieved reduction of 10, 30 and 43% at HZL, BALCO and CMT respectively.
  • At all our operating sites, we have increased the green-belt coverage by planting over 270,000 trees and over 1 million Jatropha saplings

Safety Performance

  • At the beginning of the year, we set a target of reducing the LTIFR by 20% at all our operations. We are pleased to report that our operations showed a reduction of 35% during the year.
  • Occupational experts have been employed at all mines and smelters for regular occupational health examinations of all employees and workplaces.
  • The ongoing program to reinforce safety was supplemented with the following initiatives:
  1. Training the entire workforce to recognize and manage workplace risks
  2. Improving the visibility of leadership
  3. Actively involving employees in safety management
  4. Reporting near miss incidents