Helping Children, Young people and Communities thrive

At Colgate-Palmolive (India), we are committed to building lasting relationships with our local communities. Reflecting upon our corporate values of caring, teamwork and continuous improvement, we constantly leverage our expertise, synergies, and innovation-centric approach to empower the underserved communities.

All CSR initiatives are aligned to our 2025 Sustainability and Social Impact Strategy. CSR Committee has the onus to identify impact areas, evaluate programs, review modalities of funds utilized vis-à-vis the implemented activities and formulation of an annual action plan67. Our Board approved CSR policy outlines CPIL’s dedication to serving communities through projects which bring meaningful and measurable social impact, in line with national requirements and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

We look forward to collaborating with like-minded organizations and encourage stakeholder participation to promote shared goals on future proofing Oral Health initiatives.

As a socially conscious company, we ensure consistent improvement across our CSR programs and translate our promise of ‘Giving India Reasons to Smile’ into a shared value creation approach that helps to generate long term employment and facilitate good health. For the reporting period, we are humbled to state that none of our operations have contributed or caused any negative impact on local communities.

Thematic areas

Oral Healthcare Education & Elevation icon

Oral Healthcare Education & Elevation

Promoting Education icon

Promoting Education

Women Empowerment icon

Women Empowerment

Water Access and Augmentation

Water Access and Augmentation

UN SDGs in focus

no poverty icon
  • 1

    Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures®

Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures

As a leading oral care company, we are focussed on enabling oral healthcare awareness and education through our Flagship program Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures®, since 1976. Through this program we focus on instilling good oral care habits, right brushing techniques, healthy eating habits and avoiding tobacco. We have impacted 171 million children till date.

In FY 2022-23 we implemented the program in the state of Andhra Pradesh, collaborating with the National Health Mission and the Indian Dental Association.

Impact in FY 2022-23

2,517

Schools covered

1,03,812

Children covered

Infrastructure support

2

Dental Mobile Vans donated

29

Dental equipment donated

  • 2

    Smile for Life

Every year, in India, approximately 35,000 children are born with cleft. Due to lack of resources for treatment, they suffer from issues like malnourishment, speech problem, societal acceptance, thereby losing out on opportunities to lead a fulfilling life. To address this issue we are running a program on cleft surgeries in 09 states catering to underprivileged children suffering from cleft deformity, through this program we aim to create a lifetime impact through a comprehensive care model.

Impact in FY 2022-23

Colgate impact

2,517

Schools covered

  • 3

    Keep India Smiling

We launched the Keep India Smiling Foundational Scholarship program 4 years ago. This program shows great promise to be the wind beneath the wings of our young scholars. Community help is a unique category of scholarship which has a multiplier impact. Each community scholar further empowers groups of children or individuals. In FY 2022-23, we extended the program to include Dental Scholarships. Along with the financial support, a LMS based mentorship program support is designed to groom people.

Impact in FY 2022-23

70 BDS

Scholarships awarded

1,000+

Scholars selected

56%

gender diversity

1,250

people impacted through 10 community scholars

  • 4

    Water Access, Augmentation for livelihoods & Women Empowerment

Water scarcity, in terms of year-round inaccessibility to clean and good-quality water, adversely impacts millions of lives and livelihood. With women at the fulcrum of this issue, our feasibility study in 2016-17 across 9 tribal villages in Udaipur (Rajasthan) unearthed specific needs in this area. It brought to light the challenges of low income families, under- representation of women in economic earnings, low yield crops, and higher interest loans. With these insights and assessment of potential opportunities, a holistic program with an integrated approach was developed to support Water Augmentation through Livelihoods and Women Empowerment.

In FY 2022-23, Water Conservation Literacy Program was launched to augment awareness and inculcate sustainable habits at the grassroot levels to facilitate efficient use of water for irrigation and agriculture.

Additionally, the Digital and Financial Literacy program was designed to enable women to learn financial management, leading to informed financial and entrepreneurial choices. As a first step in the program, Digital Smile Sakhis were trained, who further offer assistance to other women in Self Help groups. Till date, we have imparted training to over 30,000 women and aspire to train 60,000 women by 2030.

Impact in FY 2022-23

14

new villages added to the program

47

Women accountants in SHG

130

Smile Sakhis trained

20,000

Women skilled for Digital/Financial Literacy

  • 5

    Water access for Communities

We are recognized for our leadership and innovation in promoting sustainability and community well-being. We promote water recycling, reuse and zero discharge as well as water conservation and sensitization towards the cause of ‘Save Water’.

Four years ago, we launched a water program for rural and tribal villages in the Amravati district of Maharashtra, where the focus was on a comprehensive water management approach based on an in-depth feasibility assessment. The multistakeholder approach has helped improve the scale of the program and its alignment with India’s JalShakti and Jal Jeevan Mission.

In FY 2022-23, Water Conservation Literacy Program was launched to augment awareness and inculcate sustainable habits at the grassroot levels to facilitate efficient use of water for irrigation and agriculture.

Impact in FY 2022-23

10

new villages added to the program

25,000

Beneficiaries reached

2,035

Children covered under WASH

Water availability

27

Schools and Anganwadis