Corporate sustainability instead of corporate social responsibility (CSR) seems to be the new mantra for corporates. At a meet on CSR organised by ASSOCHAM on Thursday, a lot of corporates agreed that businesses need to shift from philanthropic models to models that help both the society and the business. Ashesh Ambasta, the vice president and head of the ITC’s social investment program, while speaking at the event, said that, “We need to move from CSR to corporate sustainability.”

Talking about ITC’s social investment projects, he said that the company is converting wasteland into arable land by growing trees on it since the company needs trees for their pulp. Ambasta also talked about the link between empowering women and producing agarbatis, which the ITC manufactures. He said that while producing organic spices, they also encourage women to become a part of self-help groups.

Ola Jo Tandre, the acting vice president group CR of Telenor, also talked about moving from philanthropy to business-integrated corporate responsibility. “We need to create value for society but also competitive edge for our company,” he said.

Jayakumar, the country director of World Vision NGO said that corporates should have a social obligation in nation building. “They should utilise their lobbying power in the government to benefit the poor,” he added. He said that they have various corporate partnerships in different parts of the country.

“There is a need to bring the strengths of corporates to poverty issues,” Jayakumar added.