Steel major ArcelorMittal today said it invested $235 million in research and development (R&D) in 2009 for producing safe and sustainable steel, besides providing $2.54 million for relief measures in earthquake-hit Haiti and China as parts of its corporate social responsibility programme.
"ArcelorMittal invested $235 million (over Rs 1,000 crore) in R&D... Reaffirmed commitment to secure an 8 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emission by 2020," an e-mailed statement from the Luxembourg-headquartered company said.
"ArcelorMittal is determined to push the boundaries of steel, not only in terms of technical innovation and production, but also driving industry best-practice in terms of social development, environmental policy and transparent governance," it said.
One of the key highlights of CSR include a significant improvement in company's safety record as its lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) fell 1.9 per million hours in 2009, a 24 per cent improvement over 2008, it said, adding company's target is to reduce accident rate by 20 per cent in 2010.
The LTIFR is measured as the number of lost time claims per million hours work.
Despite the challenges posed by the severe economic downturn, the steel major remained committed to its CSR, Chairman and CEO Lakshmi N Mittal said.
"Despite inevitable repercussions for our global operations... Our commitment to CSR remained unwavering... I would like to draw attention to our significant improvement in the overwhelmingly important area of safety - a positive trend we are determined to build upon in 2010," Mittal said.
It said the ArcelorMittal Foundation donated $2.54 million (over Rs 11 crore) for reconstruction of Xinhuamen Primary School following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake for creating a new steel-framed facility and for relief efforts in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following the recent earthquake.
Besides it has inked a pact with South African Department of Education to build schools using steel-framed construction techniques and joined the Sustain Our Great Lakes coalition in US - a public-private partnership designed to protect the crucial ecosystems of the Great Lakes region, which contain 20 per cent of the world's fresh water.
