HDFC Bank Releases its 1st Integrated Report

by Suman Gupta

Mumbai: HDFC Bank has released its first ever Integrated Report. It has disclosed that the Bank has impacted over 5 crore lives through its social initiative Parivartan as on March 31, 2019. An Integrated Report gives a holistic picture of the value created for not just shareholders but all its stakeholders including customers, employees, and society at large.

“We join a select club of corporates in India, who have adopted Integrated Reporting,” said Ms. Shyamala Gopinath, Chairperson, HDFC Bank. “This is a global best practice but not yet mandatory in India. It is heartening to see the Bank continuing to strive to adopt highest standards of disclosure and reporting. All our stakeholders and not just shareholders will now be able to see the value we have created for them in one place. Especially through Parivartan which works at the very foundation of human life to bring about positive change.”

Key Takeaways from the Report

#Parivartan, Execution, and Governance are the top 3 value creators for the Bank and its stakeholders. 

Governance

• Competent Board with Expertise across Industry, Function and Sector

• Proactive Adoption of Best Governance Practices

• Participation of Independent Directors in Decision Making

Execution

• Dynamic/Flexible Business Model

• Process Discipline

• Separation of Business and Risk Function

A little more on Parivartan, HDFC Bank’s umbrella for all its social initiatives. In the year ended March 31, 2019 the expenditure on CSR was Rs 443. 8 crore, 20 per cent more than the previous year making the Bank one of the largest such spenders.

“Parivartan is our way of making a difference in the lives of millions of people across the country,” said Ms. Ashima Bhat, Group Head-CSR, Business Finance & Strategy Administration and Infrastructure of HDFC Bank. “We are trying to bring about holistic, sustainable, long-term impact in their lives helping them as well as the nation progress. We take this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to all our stakeholders.”

The chart below gives a bird’s eye view of the impact created through this initiative:

With over 96 lakh beneficiaries – all women – Sustainable Livelihood Initiative (SLI) has been the single biggest contributor to impacting over 5 crore Indians. This is equivalent to 3.84 crore individuals (96 *4 per family). Under SLI, women are given occupational skills training, financial literacy, and credit counselling in addition to credit through Self-Help Groups or Joint Liability Groups.

With 15 lakh teachers and a potential 1.6 crore students, ‘Teaching–the–Teacher’ programme has been the second-biggest contributor. The rest came from the Holistic Rural Development Programme, Healthcare & Hygiene, and Skills Training & Livelihood Enhancement Initiative (excluding SLI beneficiaries).

Integrated Reporting: A word of explanation about an Integrated Report. It is in line with the guidelines issued by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and measures the value created on the basis of six capitals: Financial, Manufacturing, Intellectual, Human, Social & Relationship and Natural. In India, SEBI has said that Integrated Reporting may be adopted on a voluntary basis by the top 500 companies which are required to prepare Business Responsibility Reports.

HDFC Bank had embarked on its Integrated Reporting Journey in the year ended March 31, 2018 by identifying and defining its capitals. This year, the Bank has taken the logical next step by coming out with a standalone Integrated Report.

For further details please click below:https://www.hdfcbank.com/htdocs/common/pdf/corporate/INTEGRATED-REPORT-FINAL.pdf