Message from the Chairman

The sustained positivity in the Indian economy provided a favourable environment for companies to sharpen their focus on sustainable development during fiscal 2023. At ICICI Bank, we continued to leverage the existing and emerging business opportunities to foster long-term growth and value creation through investments in innovation, digitalisation and process improvements. Our employee-friendly policies and initiatives supported us to align our workforce to our goal of enriching customer experience and maximising stakeholder’s value. Our collective investments and interventions helped in further propelling our sustainable growth journey. They enabled us to scale up our initiatives in the areas of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG).

Our fourth ESG Report, based on the guidelines of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), reaffirms our unwavering commitment to robust practices and compliance in our ESG programmes. We have strategically strengthened our ESG framework in recent years by institutionalising our ESG commitments through a well-articulated policy. We have also expanded our risk management framework to encompass elements pertaining to ESG and climate change related financial risks.

During fiscal 2023, we continued to advance in our ESG journey by undertaking relevant initiatives aimed at building a sustainable and responsible business. These initiatives encompass embedding frameworks like the Framework for Sustainable Financing, Suppliers’ Code of Conduct and Guidelines for green procurement in our operations. We have prioritised measuring, monitoring and reducing the carbon footprint of the Bank. Moreover, we have augmented our efforts in the areas of energy transition, afforestation, water and waste management.

We also strengthened our digitalisation initiatives to reduce the use of paper and minimise the Bank’s carbon footprint.

Our social agenda is an integral driver of our ESG journey and we further expanded our social outreach during fiscal 2023. Through our philanthropic arm, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth (ICICI Foundation), we aim to create an enduring impact on the society and the environment. Our efforts in providing affordable and accessible healthcare, creating rural livelihoods and supporting societal development have made a difference to nearly 10.9 million lives.

In June 2023, ICICI Bank announced a donation of ₹12 billion towards Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), a premier institution that operates cancer treatment and research centres across the country. The funds will be utilised to set up three new buildings, covering a combined area of 750,000 square feet, and equip them with state-of-the-art machines at TMC’s centres at Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra; Mullanpur, Punjab and Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. ICICI Foundation will oversee the implementation of this initiative, expected to be completed by 2027. These new centres of excellence in oncology treatment will provide advanced and evidence-based therapies to nearly 25,000 new patients a year, doubling the present capacity at these centres, and providing a significant boost to the country’s cancer treatment infrastructure.

Through ICICI Foundation, ICICI Bank extends support to government and charitable institutions by providing ambulances, blood donation and blood transport vehicles, dialysis machines and other health equipment. Over 200 hospitals were benefitted from these initiatives in fiscal 2023. We have been assisting underprivileged individuals with cancer care, bone marrow transplant, cardiac surgeries, eye check-ups and organ transplants.

ICICI Foundation’s Livelihood Programmes aim to create and strengthen local ecosystems to address diverse challenges faced by India’s rural and urban population. We also offer credit and market linkages to farmers, micro entrepreneurs and women self-help groups, empowering them to enhance productivity and income. Our rural growth strategy also emphasises promotion of financial literacy and enabling financial inclusion in unbanked rural areas.

Training and skill development play a crucial role in our social agenda, both in the rural and urban settings. ICICI Academy for Skill Development and the Rural Self Employment Training Institutes are playing a pivotal role to impart vocational training to underprivileged youth, making them employable and helping them with 100% job placement.

In fiscal 2023, we extended our rural social development agenda to the remote border villages of the country in partnership with the defence and paramilitary forces. The programmes support villagers through welfare initiatives in education, healthcare, livelihood support, renewable energy, watershed management, sanitation, waste management, and environment. Infrastructure development in remote areas and disaster relief support are other key intervention areas of the Bank.

Our CSR programmes are focussed on supporting meaningful socio-economic development of India and fostering the inclusive growth of a larger number of Indians. At ICICI Bank, we take pride in actively participating in India’s strong thrust on CSR. In fiscal 2023, ICICI Bank allocated approximately ₹4.63 billion for CSR activities.

In addition to our strong environmental and social orientation, we continued to reinforce our robust corporate governance during the year. ICICI Bank has prioritised adherence to robust standards of governance as a key enabler of our stakeholder value proposition. This approach goes beyond legal and regulatory compliances. ICICI Bank has all the elements of effective governance in place, including independent and diverse Board of Directors, Board Committees, and Codes of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to all employees. The Bank is committed to nurturing and promoting a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion. We also aim to uphold a strong risk and compliance culture at the Bank.

With the continued cooperation of our stakeholders, I am confident that we will achieve new milestones in our ESG journey.

With best wishes,