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Greenathon A NDTV Initiative

By:-

Gaurav Kumar Dani (2011078)

Abhishek Srivastava(2011064)

Karthik S (2011082)

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STUDY OF THE CSR INITIATIVE BY NEW DELHI TELEVISION LIMITED

GREENATHON

Submitted To:

Sharmila Veloso and Raghuveer Vernekar

In partial fulfillment of course requirement in

Management Communication

By:

Gaurav Kumar Dani (2011078)

Abhishek Srivastava(2011064)

Karthik S (2011082)

PGP 1 Goa Institute of Management

September 14, 2011

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MEMORANDUM

DATE : September 14, 2011

TO : Sharmila Veloso and Raghuveer Vernekar,Faculty Management communication.

FROM : Gaurav Kumar Dani, Abhishek Srivastava, Karthik S

SUBJECT : STUDY OF CSR INITIATIVES BY NDTV

As requested, we present a report on a CSR Initiative conducted by New Delhi Television.

Companies generally undertake projects as part of their corporate social responsibility initiative

to volunteer help for the society. Greenathon has been one such initiative by New Delhi

Television Ltd. It is aimed at spreading awareness about judicial use of energy and raising funds

to light up villages using solar energy.

We intend to present a study of Greenathons impact in villages across India since its inception.

The report shall briefly cover a both a descriptive and analytical overview of the progress made

over the period of three years, from its inception to the year 2011.

We wish to emphasize that the report only presents a one dimensional overview of the

initiative from perspective of a regular consumer. We shall only use the official website and

annual report to derive relevant source of information.

For any clarification needed, kindly feel free to get in touch with us.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

MEMORANDUM .............................................................................................................................. iii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... vi

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ............................................................................................. 1

BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................. 2

METHOD .......................................................................................................................................... 2

GREENATHON ................................................................................................................................. 3

Company Profile .......................................................................................................................... 3

Partners ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Success Stories ............................................................................................................................ 3

Brand Ambassadors..................................................................................................................... 7

FACTS /FIGURES .............................................................................................................................. 9

CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................. 11

BIBLOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................... 11

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v

LIST OF FIGURES

Figures

1 - Revenues Raised ........................................................................................................................ 9

2 - Villages lit by Greenathon 1 ..................................................................................................... 10

3 - Villages lit by Greenathon 2 ..................................................................................................... 10

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Environmental conservation has come up as one of the major concerns in the world today. It is

the effort from NDTV (Greenathon) to spread awareness about the environment through the

means of a telethon that drew our attention towards this initiative. Concurrently, utilizing the

networks reach to raise funds for lighting up villages is another reason why we wanted to

approach this subject.

Greenathon, an initiative by New Delhi Television Ltd. is aimed at spreading awareness about

judicial use of energy and raising funds to light up villages using solar energy. In addition we

also shall also bring to forefront the advantages of successfully using CSR for revenue

generation purposes. With a peep into companys CSR activities we shall learn how a company

happens to integrate its social responsibilities with its mainline business and uses its brand

image to help those in need of it.

The report shall cover in brief, both a descriptive and analytical overview of the progress made

over the period of three years, from its inception to the year 2011. We shall also touch upon

the brand recognition that NDTV has earned by virtue of this initiative.

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G r e e n a t h o n A N D T V I n i t i a t i v e | 1

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Corporate social responsibility or CSR as it is widely recognized is a form of corporate self-

regulation integrated into a business model. The goal of CSR is to assume responsibility for the

company's actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment,

consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere.

Furthermore, CSR-focused initiatives encourage community growth and development

voluntarily eliminating practices that harm the public sphere, regardless of legality. CSR neednt

be imposed into the mainstream company activities and can be turned into a business

proposition as well. NDTVs CSR initiatives have been precisely focused on these lines as well.

With Greenathon it partners with its huge audience spread to fund its programs and encourage

judicious renewable and non-renewable resources in a manner which causes minimum loss to

the environment.

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BACKGROUND

Launched in April 2008, the NDTV-Toyota Green campaign was Indias first ever-nationwide

campaign to save the environment. The campaign is aimed at creating awareness about

environmental issues by involving the people of our country to make a difference. The

campaign was supported by Dr. R.K Pachauri and Indias Minister for Environment, Jairam

Ramesh.

NDTV organized Indias first Telethon in 2009 THE GREENATHON. A telethon is a fundraising

event broadcast on television that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to

raise money for a charitable, political, or other allegedly worthy cause.

As part of this environment campaign, NDTV organized Indias first Telethon in 2009 THE

GREENATHON, a fund-raising event that brings in people to donate money to support TERIs

initiative Lighting a Billion Lives which aims at providing solar power to villages without

electricity.

The Greenathon, a 24 hour live telethon for the environment simulcast across the NDTV

network, is a combination of musical extravaganza, live chats with celebrities, simultaneous

green activities across India, reports on environment and green pledges by celebrities,

politicians and the common man.

In Year 1, Greenathon 1 raised funds enough to light up 56 villages (NDTV, 2008-09). In year 2 it

raised a sum of Rs.2.5 crore (NDTV, 2009-10) which was able to support around 115 villages. In

year 3 it generated little over Rs.11 Crore (NDTV, 2010-11), enough to support 580 villages.

METHOD

We shall only use the official website and annual reports to derive relevant source of

information. References shall be briefed about in the last section.

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GREENATHON

Company Profile

New Delhi Television Ltd better known by the acronym NDTV is a commercial TV broadcasting

television network that was founded by Dr. Prannoy Roy way back in 1988.Since then it has

established itself as one the premium media empires. Under its portfolio it broadcasts channels

NDTV India, NDTV 24x7, NDTV Hindu, NDTV Good Times and NDTV Profit. Of these NDTV 24x7

has the unique distinction of being awarded as the best TV news channel for three times in a

row in the years 2005, 2006 and 2007.Other news channels too are widely received and

appreciated in their consumer segments. In the CSR space its initiatives and associations such as

Jeene Ki asha, Marks for Sports, Greenathon, Support My School, Save Our Tiger,

Save Indias Coastline are widely acknowledged.

Partners

NDTV is sponsored by Toyota in this noble cause. The donations collected are received in name

of TERI (TERI), The Energy and Resources Institute. It is headed by Dr. R.K. Pachauri and is

responsible for providing logistics support in implementation of the solar power in villages.

Success Stories

Over 1.6 billion people in the world lack access to electricity; roughly 25 per cent are in India

alone. For these people, life comes to a standstill after dusk. Inadequate lighting is not only an

impediment to progress and development opportunities, but also has a direct impact on the

health, environment, and safety of millions of people, as they are forced to light their homes

with kerosene lamps, dung cakes, firewood, and crop residue after sunset. Lighting a Billion

Lives (LaBL)

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Since Inception in 2008, the NDTV-Toyota Green campaign is Indias first countrywide campaign

to save the environment and incorporated the countrys first telethon The Greenathon. This

mega 24-hour event raised funds to support The Energy and Resource Institutes (TERI) Lighting

a Billion Lives campaign, which works towards providing solar power to villages without

electricity.

Greenathon 1 adopted 56 villages in 2009 and Greenathon 2 adopted 111 villages in 2010 that

were without electricity. Solar recharging stations were set up and village personnel were

trained to maintain the solar lamps that are issued to village households, to light their lives, as

part of Nobel prize-winning climate scientist Dr RK Pachauri's The Energy and Research Institute

(TERI) initiative to 'Light a Billion Lives'. This year over 580 villages have been adopted and will

have solar power installed. Villages located all over India are to be the beneficiaries of this

environmental project.

With Bollywood celebrities, music, debates, and fundraising events involving the rich, poor and

everybody else in between, this is one of Indias biggest charity events. In their first two years,

the campaign raised over Rs.4.3 crore, a whopping sum by most standards. The project has

provided over 35000 lanterns to families across India and has even helped 500 families in

Myanmar.

Each solar lantern saves

40-60 liters of kerosene/year 100 Billion Rupees burned each year in kerosene and wick lamps.

Things are starting to look greener for India.

The solar lamps have replaced the kerosene ones, which cause health problems with their

fumes and which also blow out in storms. Children have benefited from solar lamps as they can

study in the evening, and all of them reported an increase of 25-30 % in their grades. Women

can cook meals by lamplight instead of during daylight hours, and the lamps help men to patrol

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and guard their fields at night. In other words there has been a step change in their lives with

the introduction of solar light.

India has a long way to go to become fully developed, but it is showing how it is possible to

leapfrog old polluting power technologies and move directly into advanced electricity

generation using low-carbon renewable sources. Over 1.6 billion people in the world lack

access to electricity; roughly 25 per cent are in India alone. For these people, life comes to a

standstill after dusk. Inadequate lighting is not only an impediment to progress and

development opportunities, but also has a direct impact on the health, environment, and safety

of millions of people, as they are forced to light their homes with kerosene lamps, dung cakes,

firewood, and crop residue after sunset. Lighting a Billion Lives (LaBL)

Since Inception in 2008, the NDTV-Toyota Green campaign is Indias first countrywide campaign

to save the environment and incorporated the countrys first telethon The Greenathon. This

mega 24-hour event raised funds to support The Energy and Resource Institutes (TERI) Lighting

a Billion Lives campaign, which works towards providing solar power to villages without

electricity.

Greenathon 1 adopted 56 villages in 2009 and Greenathon 2 adopted 111 villages in 2010 that

were without electricity. Solar recharging stations were set up and village personnel were

trained to maintain the solar lamps that are issued to village households, to light their lives, as

part of Nobel prize-winning climate scientist Dr RK Pachauri's The Energy and Research Institute

(TERI) initiative to 'Light a Billion Lives'. This year over 580 villages have been adopted and will

have solar power installed. Villages located all over India are to be the beneficiaries of this

environmental project.

With Bollywood celebrities, music, debates, and fundraising events involving the rich, poor andeverybody else in between, this is one of Indias biggest charity events. In their first two years,

the campaign raised over Rs.4.3 crore, a whopping sum by most standards. The project has

provided over 35000 lanterns to families across India and has even helped 500 families in

Myanmar.

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Each solar lantern saves

40-60 liters of kerosene/year 100 Billion Rupees burned each year in kerosene and wick lamps.

Things are starting to look greener for India.

The solar lamps have replaced the kerosene ones, which cause health problems with their

fumes and which also blow out in storms. Children have benefited from solar lamps as they can

study in the evening, and all of them reported an increase of 25-30 % in their grades. Women

can cook meals by lamplight instead of during daylight hours, and the lamps help men to patrol

and guard their fields at night. In other words there has been a step change in their lives with

the introduction of solar light.

India has a long way to go to become fully developed, but it is showing how it is possible to

leapfrog old polluting power technologies and move directly into advanced electricity

generation using low-carbon renewable sources.

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Brand Ambassadors

The NDTV Greenathon has also been story of the celebrities taking social initiatives and , in not

only promoting and arranging funds by various events but even coming out in the field to adopt

and fund the schemes in the villages.

Greenathon, in the following years has received an overwhelming response from Bollywood

stars, Chief Ministers from different states of India, corporates and aam aadamihelping raise

Rs. 3.92 crores and lighting up 157 villages across India. Greenthaon 2 saw many

environmentally conscious people not only from India but across the world come forward to

take the green pledge and adopt villages for TERIs Lighting a Billion Lives initiative (TERI).

Bollywood celebrities extended their full support to the green cause by taking a pledge to do

their bit for a cleaner planet. Actor Shahrukh Khan who adopted 5 villages last year reaffirmed

his commitment to the environment by adopting 8 more villages this year and becoming one of

the highest donors; followed by Hrithik Roshan who adopted 5 villages; and Ranbir Kapoor who

adopted two villages. Kareena Kapoor too adopted Prampur, Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh

which is close to her heart. Actor Arshad Warsi did his bit to save the environment by taking up

the village of Khadimal in Maharashtra that was in darkness till date. Dia Mirza who hails from

Andhra Pradesh decided to adopt the village of Kokkirai Lanka in her state. Deepika Padukone

adopted the village of Ambegaon in Maharashtra. Also stepping forward were Abhishek

Bachchan, Shekhar Kapoor and Riteish Deshmukh who adopted a village each. Priyanka Chopra,

also the campaign ambassador, announced her decision to adopt 2 villages as the Greenathon

concluded.

Chief Ministers across the country joined hands and pledged for a greener India. Delhi CM

Sheila urged the citizens to adopt a tree each; while Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan

pledged to plant 5 crore saplings in the stat. As part of the state's massive forestation

programme, Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik pledged to cover an area of 1 million hectares with

trees; whereas Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vowed to restore the Dal lake

and Nagin lake to their pristine glory. Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda vouched for solar

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power for a greener and cleaner future and Karnataka CM B S Yeddyurappa guaranteed

sustainable development towards a greener and cleaner state.

Leading corporates also showed their solidarity towards the cause with Voltas adopting 7

villages followed by Gitanjali Gems, CII and N Jayakumar of Prime Securities sponsoring 5

villages each; Nokia adopting 4 villages; Fortis Healthcare, Jaypee Infratech and Galaxy Toyota

adopting 2 villages each. COMVIVA, Toyota and SRF also decided to adopt a village each,

amongst others.

Artists also showed their support for the green cause. Paresh Maity created a stunning painting

for the green cause on the sets of Greenathon itself which was auctioned with the paintings of

Subodh Gupta and Anjolie Ela Menon. The proceeds from its sale will be used for the noble

cause of spreading environmental awareness. Cartoonist Sudhir Tailang also made a caricature

promoting the green cause that will be put to auction to raise money for TERIs LABL.

Clean up drives at the Elliott Beach in Chennai, Dal Lake in Srinagar and Gomti River in Lucknow;

Tree plantation and sapling give away drives in Bangalore and Hyderabad were the other major

highlights of this countrywide campaign.

As India played host to World Environment Day this year, for the first time, the NDTV-Toyotas

Greenathon 3 enthusiastically participated in the movement, by involving millions of people

from across the globe in building an environment conscious society. Concerned citizens from all

walks of life joined the movement and took the green pledge to adopt villages by donating for

TERIs Lighting a Billion Lives that aims at solar powering villages across the country.

In its third edition, the NDTV-Toyota Greenathon was bigger and greener this year as it

expanded its reach internationally, with Greenathon hubs in Tokyo, Los Angeles, Toronto,

London and Sydney. It received an overwhelming response and garnered support from all

corners of the world, including the countrys leading corporate houses, top Bollywood stars,

musicians, environmentalists, NGOs and educational institutions. Union Bank of India came

forward to donate, what would be one of largest donations, Rs.2 crores and adopted 100

villages.

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FACTS /FIGURES

FIGURE 1-Revenues Raised

As is evident through the statistics above there has been an exponential increase in donations

raised (FIGURE 1) over a period of three years. Subsequent has been the increase in number of

villages (NDTV, 2011) (FIGURE 1) which has been brought under the ambit of solar power. As is

also evident from the previous section the brand recognition associated with this event has

allowed a public private partnership model to develop and proper for a nobel cause.

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FIGURE 2 - Villages lit by Greenathon 1

FIGURE 3 - Villages lit by Greenathon 2

FIGURE 2 and FIGURE 3 depict an extract from (Villages of Greenathon 1) and (NDTV Villages

From Greenathon2 ) respectively. Same can be referred from the mentioned citations.

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CONCLUSION

An explorative study into Greenathon gives a vital insight into how NDTV brings about change in

the lives of the people. It uses its reach to its advantage and provides a platform for the well-off

to join and contribute. It acts as a cue for other companies to take cognizance of these

initiatives and work out effective implementations of their respective CSR initiatives.

BIBLOGRAPHY

NDTV. (2008-09).Annual Report 2008-09. New Delhi: NDTV.



NDTV. (2011, January). NDTV Greenathon. Retrieved from Success Stories:

http://green.ndtv.com/PhotoDetail.aspx?Page=3&ID=10420#talk

NDTV Greenathon. (n.d.). Retrieved from ndtv.com: http://green.ndtv.com/

NDTV Villages From Greenathon2 . (n.d.). Grreenathon 2. Retrieved from

http://green.ndtv.com/villages2.aspx

TERI. (n.d.). Teri - Lighting a billion lives. Retrieved from Teri: www.teri.com

Villages of Greenathon 1. (n.d.). Villages of Greenathon 1. Retrieved from Greenathon1 Villages:

http://green.ndtv.com/villages1.aspx

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