GMR Group has employees across 40 locations and there are diverse ways in which they engage with social development: from participating in initiatives of GMR Varalakshmi Foundation (the CSR arm of the GMR Group) to reach out to communities around GMR Businesses, to sponsoring the education of under-privileged children; from working with government schools in the neighbourhood of GMR projects, to taking up initiatives in old age homes, orphanages, and other such institutions.

One of the innovative practices to facilitate such engagement is the Group Chairman’s Social Entrepreneurship Fund: this is designed based on the premise that employees have their own passion towards different causes, and their ideas about how to contribute to society. Under this initiative, groups of like-minded employees are encouraged to get together and formulate a project which will make a difference in the lives of under-privileged. Every 4 months, entries under the Fund are called for on a Group-wide basis. The 10 best entries are selected and supported for implementation. Till date, close to 40 projects, involving about 350 employees spending 5500 person hours have been completed. Another 9 projects are under implementation. The projects have ranged from construction of toilets at an Old Age Home, to providing computer education for govt. welfare schools and to providing therapies and aids for children with disabilities.