Dear Reader,

It is my pleasure to present our National Survey on Corporate Responsibility in India, the IVth in the series of reports launched by Partners in Change in 1996-1997. Corporate Responsibility issues have, not unexpectedly, witnessed unprecedented global attention in the past decade, and we are satisfied to have made a small contribution to the continued documentation of the business response in India. For those readers interested in assessing changes over this period, the present survey provides a tracking of responses to certain key questions common to previous surveys.

The present survey has also maintained the past high standard of respondent coverage, with the participation of over 550 leading companies, from across the country, through face to face structured interviews conducted by IMRB-SRI.

Recognizing the growing attention and interest in corporate responsibility issues, relevant to specific business sectors, the present survey focuses, for the first time, on capturing the perspectives of six sectors. This is a theme we hope to develop in the future, through more detailed sector surveys.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank each of the company respondents for supporting this survey through their participation, and to IMRB-SRI for maintaining the high standards set through previous surveys.

In conclusion, it is our hope that this Survey will make a useful contribution to the growing body of information on the state of corporate responsibility in India, and we will be happy to respond to any query or suggestion for further improvement that you might like to share with us.

Viraf Mehta
Chief Executive
Partners in Change