Gau seva enters India Inc’s CSR stable, companies spending big money on cow upkeep

MUMBAI: Vinit Agrawal, managing director of Delwis Healthcare, divides his time between earnings spreadsheets, boardroom meetings and visits to Anandvan Pathmeda, a gaushala home to 122,000 cows that’s about a five-hour drive from Ahmedabad. The pharmaceutical company has tripled its spending on gaushala maintenance in the last three years. “We are interested in any kind of gau seva. Our primary objective is to save the cows from butchers and slaughter houses,” said Agrawal, whose company’s gaushala maintenance project at Anandvan is said to protect the highest number of cows under one roof. When Agrawal founded Delwis six years ago, he included gaushala maintenance as part of the pharmaceutical company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandate.

The Ahmedabad-based Delwis is not alone. At least half a dozen companies, including Tata Power, Fullerton India Credit Co. and Alembic Pharmaceuticals, among others, are spending a portion of their CSR spend on gaushala maintenance or cow upkeep. While the main objective is cow protection for companies like Delwis, for others it’s livelihood support of rural population through cattle welfare.

The Companies Act 2013 mandates firms that have a net worth of Rs 500 crore, turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or net profit of Rs 5 crore to spend at least 2% of average net profit for the preceding three financial years on CSR activities. Gaushalas and cattle welfare come under the broader umbrellas of animal welfare, livelihood and rural development activities covered under Schedule VII of the Act. Delwis currently spends 25% of its total CSR expenditure on gaushala maintenance, up from 10% three years ago. “We don’t mind going up to 50% in the next couple of years,” Agrawal said.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals included cattle welfare as part of its CSR work in 2015. The company organises medical camps for cattle in 15 villages near its plant at Halol in the Panchmanal district of Gujarat.

“Alembic is focusing on improving the livelihood of local farmers through cattle welfare. We started with two camps a year and doubled it to four,” said Vidhi Shah, senior programme manager, Alembic CSR Foundation, Vadodara.

In the last two years, the company has provided medication to 450 cows and buffaloes and plans to further scale up the programme going ahead.

Tata Power, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd (CGPL), provides replicable models for establishing fodder supply centres and building gaushalas in the Kutch region to help strengthen livelihood options. The company has undertaken other infrastructure work in gaushalas including constructing drinking waterlines for cattle troughs, construction of overhead tanks for cattle, weighbridges and fodder storage yards.

“Successful commissioning of the programme has resulted in a big rise in livestock, and increase in the income of the cattle owners. The initiative has encouraged more people to engage in the business of animal husbandry,” acompany spokesperson said.

PARA VETS
Fullerton India runs cattle care camps as part of its CSR initiative. In the last two-three years, the company has conducted 460 cattle care camps for cows and buffaloes, benefitting about 56,000 farmers. In 2016, the company spent about 8% of its total CSR budget on cattle welfare, double of what it was a year ago.

The company also has ‘para vets’ or ‘Gopals’ who educate farmers about better, healthier cattle. “The main objective of our cattle welfare initiative is to enhance livelihood of communities by improving cattle productivity,” said Rakesh Makkar, executive vice-president, Fullerton India.

“There are several companies that are spending on cattle welfare as part of CSR now,” said the founder of one of the leading CSR and sustainability management platforms, who did not wish to be named. “Sometimes there are companies — particularly in foods and dairy business — for whom cattle welfare is a business interest. It helps farmers get more income by improving cow productivity while also improving supply chain.”

For Agrawal of Delwis, the primary objective remains gauseva but he doesn’t completely rule out the broadening of that vision. “Cow products have proven scientifically good,” he said. “Right now it is not linked to our business but who knows we might come up with a business case and related products.”