AMCHAM’s 9th CSR Conference themed ‘From Responsibility to Strategy: CSR for Viksit Bharat’ was held on September 23rd at the Le Meridian, New Delhi. The conference brought together corporate leaders, government officials, NGOs, and policy makers to discuss transforming India’s ₹35,000 crore annual CSR mandate from a compliance obligation into a strategic national mission for achieving Viksit Bharat by 2047. In the inaugural session Wg Cdr Rajiv Anand, Senior Director, AMCHAM, welcomed participants, members and government officials. He shared about the CSR Gallery Walk, a physical photo exhibition at the event that showcased the CSR work of AMCHAM members. The exhibit was a glimpse of initiatives on skilling youth for the workforce, rural healthcare services, driving positive societal impact in agriculture through tech, medical technologies improving healthcare delivery, women’s empowerment, strengthening tuberculosis response across India, awareness building about critical environmental challenges and providing affordable cancer care, among others. Mr. Harish Krishnan, Chairman – CSR Committee, AMCHAM and Managing Director & Chief Policy Officer, Cisco India & ASEAN, set the scene for the conference while referencing the pillars of Viksit Bharat. He described the benefit of engaging strategically to create meaningful impact in the communities around us. He emphasized technology as a powerful enabler of transparency and efficiency in CSR. He shared a brief on the four thematic sessions at the conference addressing critical development challenges and the role of strategic CSR in creating systemic change.

In her special address on strategic CSR as a national mission, Dr. Garima Dadhich, Head – School of Business Environment, Centre for Responsible Business Advisory, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, emphasized that strategic CSR is an ecosystem effort requiring practical commitments from all stakeholders, including CEOs and board members, CSR Heads, CFOs, NGOs and public sector. Dr. Dadhich warned against scale without systems which is wasteful and generosity without measurement which is simply luck. She called for CSR to align with India’s Panchamrit Climate commitments, UN SDGs, and Atmanirbhar Bharat. In his special address on government partnership framework, Mr. Lav Agarwal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, highlighted the transformative potential of India’s ₹35,000 crore annual CSR spend and identified the epidemic of pilots problem — fragmented projects that fail to scale. He spotlighted how critical it is that CSR initiatives must engage with government during project design phase, not just towards the end of the project. Mr. Agarwal made specific appeal for the Adopt-an-Anganwadi initiative with a focus on areas with high malnutrition rates. He also stressed the need to focus on backward geographies and marginalized groups so that development goes to people who need it most. In his closing remarks, Mr. Rajesh Varghese, Co-Chairman – CSR Committee, AMCHAM and Country Director for India, PYXERA Global, thanked speakers for their valuable remarks. He encouraged members to think and achieve at scale and emphasized the power of partnerships.

Session 1: Health Equity: CSR’s Role in Public Health, Resilience and Access was moderated by Mr. L.M. Singh, Managing Director India and Global Head, Partnerships and Innovative Finance, Vital Strategies with Dr. Anil Kumar, Principal Advisor, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, Dr. K. Madan Gopal, Advisor – Public Health Administration, National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC), Government of India, Mr. Rohit Sharma, Senior Legal Counsel, India and South Asia, BD (Becton, Dickinson, and Company) and Mr. Ishmeet Singh, Sr. VP and CEO, Digital Bharat Collaborative, Piramal Swasthya Management & Research Institute (a part of the Piramal Foundation). The session tackled the complex challenge of scaling digital health solutions across India’s vast and fragmented healthcare system. Drawing from real-world experiences in states like Assam, the discussion revealed how CSR can bridge critical gaps between innovative technology and last-mile implementation, particularly in strengthening the capacity of frontline workers like ASHAs who serve as the backbone of rural healthcare delivery. Key recommendations: CSR should support environmental health data analysis requiring high-end computing systems, a need to focus on neglected diseases like leprosy (100,000 cases annually) which receive minimal CSR funding despite causing lifelong disability, any CSR-funded solution must be replicable at a national level to justify investment and public health solutions must be uniquely Indian, not copied from Western models.

Session 2: Redefining Agriculture Through Digital Innovation was moderated by Mr. Dwijo Goswami, Associate Partner, McKinsey & Company with Ms. Nidhi Bhasin, CEO, Digital Green – India and Ms. Manju Dhasmana, Senior Director, Corporate Social Responsibility, Microsoft India. The session explored how AI and digital innovation are reshaping opportunities for India’s 150 million smallholder farmers, focusing on building resilience, profitability, and sustainability. Speakers delved into case studies and scaling goals of initiatives while sharing about the trust-building process. Key challenges addressed included: 86% of farmers are smallholders with high risk aversion, 30-40% yield gap compared to global benchmarks and the need for solutions addressing 70% rural population where jobs are concentrated in 30% urban areas. The Q&A segment with the audience addressed farmer payment willingness and youth aspiration which highlighted the need to work with agriculture universities and introduce smart agriculture in schools.

Session 3: State of Work: Skilling & Livelihoods featured speakers Mr. Jayant Rastogi, CEO, Magic Bus India Foundation and Ms. Shriya Sethi, Operating Partner, The Convergence Foundation with moderation by Mr. Ishvinder Singh, Head – India & SAARC, Cisco Networking Academy. The session examined how digital transformation is reshaping India’s workforce landscape, focusing on future-ready skills and employability in the AI era. They highlighted India’s workforce challenges: 12 million youth enter job market annually vs. 7 million jobs created historically, 50% of graduates considered unemployable, female labor force participation critically low (30-35%) and how AI was expected to eliminate traditional entry-level jobs, accelerating change cycles. The session brought to light the need for critical life skills, continuous earning capabilities, work integrated learning programs and using technology for scale. Key recommendations shared included: a three-pillar approach of government (scale) + private sector (demand/funding) + development Sector (community trust/expertise), focus on life skills curriculum integrated across education and training, re-examine all pre-AI era curriculum and frameworks and address 70% rural India with specific solutions.

Session 4: Enabling an Environment for Strategic CSR Giving was moderated by Mr. Yash Ranga, Impact Strategist Director, Strategy & Innovation, PYXERA Global with Mr. Bibhuti Ranjan Pradhan, Executive Director (CD & CSR), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Mr. Asim Khan, Head CSR, Cadence Design Systems, Mr. Anand Vishwakarma, Executive Director, ChildFund India, and Ms. Geetanjali Gaur, Social Impact (CSR) Leader, Kyndryl India. India has one of the world’s largest CSR mandates, with crores being invested each year. Yet critical questions remain — where is this money going, what is the real impact, and what often remains invisible to companies? The discussion explored the realities on the ground, challenges in decision-making, and opportunities for innovation — bridging the gap between strategy, implementation, and impact through voices of CSR leaders, NGOs, innovators, and beneficiaries. Speakers shared candidly about strategic investment framework, community-centered approaches, legal framework limitations, geographic imbalances such as in the north east states and opportunities in R&D, among others. Key takeaways included: CSR must balance risk-taking with accountability, strategic partnerships require patience and long-term vision, community voices must be integrated by design — not as afterthought and success requires alignment between corporate strategy, community needs, and government policy.

In the way forward segment, Mr. Rajesh Varghese, Co-Chairman – CSR Committee, AMCHAM and Ms. Rohini Kamath, Program Manager, India Cash Grant Program, Cisco shared conference highlights and the future 3-year vision. Based on the conference, AMCHAM would: 1) explore a formal matchmaking mechanism between strategic corporate funders and high-impact implementing partners, 2) focus on consortium building following Digital Green’s model of bringing multiple funders together for multi-year engagements and 3) transform AMCHAM’s CSR Committee to be more action-oriented. The conference demonstrated that while challenges exist in scaling impact, there is significant potential for CSR to serve as a catalyst for systemic change when approached strategically and collaboratively.

Ms. Elizabeth Jose, Director, AMCHAM closed the conference by thanking the esteemed speakers, engaging audience and valuable partners that made the conference possible: Platinum Partner: Cisco, Silver Partners: Digital Green and Viatris, and Community Partner: ChildFund India. Mr. Rajesh Varghese enthusiastically emceed the event. More than 130 people participated in the full day conference.