An Initiative of

HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED- A

BRIEFING
The British manufacturer Lever Brothers was founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James.

Their first product was"Sunlight Soap”.

By 1900 "Lifebuoy", "Lux" and "Vim" brands had been added.

In 1930, merged with a Dutch company, Margarine Unie, to form Unilever

Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) was formed in 1933.

The company was renamed in late June 2007 "Hindustan Unilever Limited".
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
B
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 CORPORATE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY
HUL believes CSR should be seen as a core business activity.

In a developing country like India, there is a need to recognize the right of the
underprivileged to participate in economic activity

Corporate Social Responsibility is not philanthropy, it is business.

It’s the business of doing business responsibly

Developing innovations which have a social benefit, as much as they have a profit potential,
is the key to this approach
 PROJECT “SHAKTI”
Shakti is HUL's rural initiative, which targets small villages with population of 2000
people or less.

In general, rural women in India are underprivileged and need a sustainable source
of income.

Shakti provides critically needed additional income to these women and their families, by
equipping and training them to become an extended arm of the company's operation.

Shakti already has about 25,000 women entrepreneurs in its fold.

 HOW IT ALL BEGAN
HUL has been proactively engaged in rural development since 1976.

The principal issue in rural development is to create income-generating

opportunities for the rural population.

These factory-centered activities mainly focus on training farmers, animal

husbandry, generating alternative income, health & hygiene and
infrastructure development.

Such initiatives are successful and sustainable when linked with the company’s
core business

Based on these insights, HUL launched Project Shakti in the year 2001, in keeping with
the purpose of integrating business interests with national interests.
 SHAKTI: THE VISION
HUL envisions the creation of 1,00,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs covering
5,00,000 villages, and touching the lives of 600 million rural people by the
year 2010.
 WHY SHAKTI?
The objective of Project Shakti is to create income-generating capabilities for
underprivileged rural women, by

Provide a sustainable micro enterprise opportunity, and to improve rural

living standards through health and hygiene awareness.

A crucial lesson learnt was that rural upliftment depended not on successful infusion of
credit, but on its guided usage for better investment opportunities

This is where HUL's Project Shakti is playing a role in creating such profitable micro
enterprise opportunities for rural women.
 JOURNEY THUS FAR
The model was piloted in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh in 50 villages in the
year 2000

Most Self Help Groups women view Project Shakti as a powerful business
proposition and are keen participants in it.

To improve the business skills of the SHG women, extensive training

programmes are being held.

Such workshops have already covered a large number of Shakti

Entrepreneurs in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Orissa
A TRUE
STORY
 STATE-WISE ACHIEVEMENTS
ANDHRA PRADESH

Shakti was piloted in Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh in 2001. The

initiative is strongly supported by the Commissionerate for Women
Empowerment and Child Development.
Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India,
Andhra Pradesh has over 4,411 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 22
districts.

KARNATAKA

Shakti was extended to Karnataka in 2002. Here Shakti is

working closely with the Rural Development Department and a
number of NGOs.
Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs
across India, Karnataka has over 3,011 Shakti
Entrepreneurs spread across 26 districts.
GUJARAT

Shakti has been rolled out in North Gujarat and Saurashtra from
2003. Shakti is working closely with the State Government and a
large number of NGOs to rapidly expand the initiative.
Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs
across India, Gujarat has over 1,659 Shakti Entrepreneurs
spread across 23 districts.

MADHYA PRADESH

Shakti was rolled out in Madhya Pradesh in 2003. Here Shakti is

working closely with the Rural Development Department and a
number of NGOs.
Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across
India, Madhya Pradesh has over 2,146 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread
across 41 districts.
CHHATISGARH

Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Chhattisgarh has over 834
Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 15 districts.

MAHARASHTRA
Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Maharashtra has over
3,072 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 32 districts.

ORISSA
Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Orissa has over 2,986
Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 24 districts.
PUNJAB
Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Punjab has over 1,187 Shakti
Entrepreneurs spread across 17 districts.

RAJASTHAN
Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Rajasthan has over 2,186 Shakti
Entrepreneurs spread across 32 districts.

TAMIL NADU
Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Tamil Nadu has over 2,629
Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 28 districts.

UTTAR PRADESH
Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Uttar Pradesh has over 10,130
Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 73 districts.
WEST BENGAL
Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, West Bengal has over
2,689 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 17 districts.

BIHAR
Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Bihar has over 1,647 Shakti
Entrepreneurs spread across 30 districts.

HARYANA
Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Haryana has over 635
Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 19 districts.

JHARKHAND
Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Jharkhand has over 658
Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 17 districts.
 i-SHAKTI
A key factor that has inhibited the development of rural India has been lack of
access to critical information and services.

In order to impact both livelihood opportunities and living standards of rural

communities ‘i-Shakti’ - an IT-based rural information service

The premise of the i-Shakti model is to provide need based demand driven
information and services across a large variety of sectors

The i-Shakti kiosk will be operated by the Shakti Entrepreneur, which

further strengthens the relationship we have already cultivated and builds
new capacity.
During the launch of these kiosks, important village members like the sarpanch,
schoolteacher and doctor are invited to help reinforce relationships with the villagers.

The kiosks offer information chiefly in the form of audio-visuals in the following areas:
•Health and hygiene
•E-governance
•Education
•Agriculture
•Employment
•Legal services
•Veterinary services
 OUTCOME
Unusual venture struck gold in Coimbatore villages

With Loans, Poor South Asian Women Turned

Entrepreneurial.

Hindustan Lever Limited won Bombay Chamber of

Commerce and Industry Civic Award for 2004-05.
RURAL ENTREPRENEURS
THE EPIDEMIC
REFERENCES &
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Internet:

•http://www.hul.co.in
•http://www.ishakti.net
•http://www.hulshakti.com
•http://www.wikipedia.org

Intra-Organization Magazine: Between Us issue no. 17

Past Annual Reports
GROUP MEMBERS:-

ABHIMANYU PARIKH - 61

ADITYA SHAH - 05

TUSHAR BHASIN - 54

RUSSELL MASCARENHAS - 45

NEHA BIRARI - 34