Larsen & Toubro to build 5,000 toilets under CSR on PM Narendra Modi's call

NEW DELHI: Joining companies like TCS and Bharti Enterprises that unveiled plans to build toilets after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled an initiative on hygine, infrastructure major Laresn & Toubro said it will construct 5,000 toilets.

"A M Naik, Group Executive Chairman, L&T, announced a major CSR initiative that would add traction to the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' programme recently launched by the PM on Independence Day. Observing that the objectives of L&T's ongoing CSR programme were aligned to the mission... Naik said that the Company would set in motion the process of building 5,000 toilets," L&T said in a statement.

The company alongwith L&T Public Charitable Trust is committed to building India's social infrastructure, the statement said, adding that the investments will cover water supply & distribution, sanitation facilities, health care facilities and skill training institutes.

"As 'Builders to the Nation', L&T will leverage its strong presence in the engineering, construction and infrastructure sectors, to reach out and build social infrastructure for the weaker sections of society," it said. In the last year alone, it has impacted over 8 lakh beneficiaries through various social interventions, it said.

Over two-and-a-half lakh children have benefited from education programmes that focus on enriching learning, while also providing hygienic sanitation facilities in schools, it added.

In addition, over 5 lakhs individuals benefited from L&T's health care programmes and 45 thousand unskilled youth per year were made employable through skill training institutes set up by the company, it said.

L&T's CSR initiatives include providing water and sanitation, improved access to education and quality health care services.

Earlier, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Enterprises' development arm Bharti Foundation had also announced investment of up to Rs 100 crore in constructing toilets in Ludhiana over the next three years.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had pledged Rs 100 crore towards financing hygienic sanitation facilities for girl students across 10,000 schools while Vedanta Group announced to build 10,000 more toilets in addition to 30,000 which they are already building in collaboration of Rajasthan government.