Indo-French CSR Excellence Celebrated at IFCCI's 7th Annual CSR Conclave & Awards

The annual CSR Conclave brought together over 120 CEOs, policymakers, CSR and Sustainability leaders, CSR foundations and NGOs from the Indo-French business community to share best practices while recognising the efforts of the most significant CSR projects.

The theme of the Conclave this year, “Local Frameworks, Global Goals, Digital Pathways”, reflects the growing convergence between India’s pioneering CSR framework and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, creating opportunities to align domestic priorities with global sustainability imperatives. The discussions explored how the future of CSR lies in collaboration rather than competition, while reimagining CSR through the lenses of inclusive growth and global responsibility.

On this occasion, Mr Damien Syed, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of France in India, remarked “The annual CSR Conclave and Awards – a flagship forum for the CSR ecosystem between India and France – is an important pillar of our bilateral engagement. Today’s event illustrates that CSR is a driver of responsible corporate leadership, social equity, sustainability, employee engagement and innovation. I congratulate all the companies and IFCCI members who submitted impactful and well-executed CSR projects across the award categories, and applaud the winners for their exemplary initiatives and encourage all participants to continue striving for deeper, scalable and more sustainable impact. I would like to reaffirm France’s long-term commitment to supporting India and the French business community in advancing inclusive and sustainable development.”

Speaking at the event, Mr. Yohann Samuel. Regional Director – South, IFCCI expressed, “IFCCI is proud to celebrate the remarkable journey of its CSR Department, which in a span of 2 and a half years, is currently supporting 102 high-impact projects across 11 states, reaching over 1,45,000 beneficiaries in India, including nearly 29,000 direct beneficiaries. Through collaborative partnerships, IFCCI continues to strengthen CSR efforts by uniting member companies and delivering end-to-end project management that drives inclusive socio-economic development. The IFCCI CSR Conclave and Awards embody this commitment, bringing together leaders from French and Indian companies to inspire meaningful and scalable change.”

The event also featured a fireside chat moderated by Ms Lise Breuil, Country Director, French Development Agency (India), on “Domestic Roots, Global Goals: Aligning India’s CSR with the SDGs” with Ms Cynthia McCaffrey, UNICEF Representative to India; Ms Anna Roy, Programme Director, NITI Aayog, and Dr Nidhi Pundhir, SVP Global CSR, HCLTech and Director, HCLFoundation as panelists.

Other speakers at the event were:

• Mr Anurag Pratap, CSR Leader, Capgemini India & Chairperson, IFCCI CSR Committee

• Ms Priyam Dhamankar, Legal and Compliance Director, Company Secretary, Servier India & Vice Chairperson, IFCCI CSR Committee

• Dr Kavita Chaudhari, Deputy Director – CSR & ESG, Sanofi & Vice Chairperson, IFCCI CSR Committee

• Ms Manisha Dubey, Head of IDEMIA India Foundation & VP Marketing Communications & Brand, IDEMIA

• Ms Anuradha Suvarna, Chief Sustainability Officer, L'Oréal India

• Mr Huzefa Salim, Executive Director, Dassault Systèmes Foundation

• Ms Chhavi Bajpai, Director, STMicroelectronics Foundation India

• Dr Ketan Deshpande, Founder & Chairman, FUEL (Friends Union for Energising Lives)

• Ms Manasi Diwan. Vice President, Impact Practice, CSRBOX Group and

• Mr Adarsh Trivedi, Assistant Vice President, Government & Technology, CSRBOX Group

Winners – IFCCI CSR Conclave and Awards 2025

Education & Skilling - EDF power solutions India Pvt. Ltd. (Project: Shaping Young Minds with Brighter Lives) and Capgemini Technology Services India Limited (Project: Youth Employability through Digital Academies)

Environment & Climate - Khushiyaan Foundation (Project: Trash to Treasure)

Healthcare and Wellbeing - Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (Project Name: Home Away from Home) and Pernod Ricard India Foundation (Project: UDAAN)

Inclusive Growth and Empowerment - Sonepar India Pvt. Ltd. (Project: GBV Prevention for Women with Intellectual Disabilities through Sports) and Agarwal Packers and Movers Ltd. (Project: APML Nidra Daan Kendra – Restoring Sleep, Saving Lives)

CSR Project of the Year - STMicroelectronics Foundation India (Project: Digital Unify)

Jury Special - Alliance Française de Delhi (Project: Alliance Grand Ball - French as a life changer)

Jury members – IFCCI CSR Conclave & Awards 2025

• Ms Payal S.Kanwar, Director General, IFCCI

• Mr Deepak Bagla, Mission Director, Niti Aayog Atal Innovation Mission, Govt. of India

• Mr Nicolas de Labrusse, Political Counsellor, Embassy of France in India

• Dr Nidhi Pundhir, SVP Global CSR, HCLTech & Director, HCLFoundation

• Dr Kavita Chaudhari, Deputy Director - CSR & ESG, Sanofi & Vice Chairperson, IFCCI CSR Committee

• Ms Sukhman Randhawa, Partnership and Development Finance Lead, UN Resident Coordinator's Office, United Nations India

• Mr Shailesh Tyagi, Partner, Sustainability & Climate Leader, Deloitte South Asia

About IFCCI

Established in 1977, the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IFCCI) is part of a global network of 124 French Chambers (CCIFI) across 94 countries, representing over 37,000 companies. One of India’s most active bilateral chambers, IFCCI promotes trade and investment between India and France through a network of 800 member companies and over 7,000 business leaders. Headquartered in Mumbai, IFCCI has offices in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, and Hyderabad.