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• From Sanitation to Skills, creating a blueprint for responsible, grassroots-level change, benefiting over 20,000 residents

• Roads illuminated with solar-powered streetlights, and over 93 toilets built

• Hundreds of local youth trained in advanced road machinery operation, creating skilled jobs

As of 2022–23, nearly 12.5% of rural households lacked access to toilets, and several still did not have electrification or often faced erratic supply. State government programs such as the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and rural electrification drives like the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana have narrowed these deficits, but budgetary constraints and scale mean progress remains uneven.

Ammann India, operating a major manufacturing facility in Mehsana, has been among those reshaping the district’s sanitation, infrastructure, and livelihood ecosystem. Its interventions, executed in coordination with Panchayats and local authorities across Mehsana, Lanva, Visnagar, Ditasan, Jagudan, Kochvu, Linch and Unava provide a case study in how corporate social responsibility (CSR) can move from a compliance exercise to measurable impact on the ground.

Ammann India identified a glaring local need, the absence of adequate toilets in nearby villages such as Ditasan, Jagudan, Linch, and Kochva. Since 2022, Ammann has been instrumental in the creation of 93 toilets in these villages and 25 more are planned to be constructed by end of this financial year. The efforts have had tangible health benefits, reducing the spread of waterborne diseases and creating a safer, more respectful environment for over 20,000 residents. Over and above these large-scale interventions, Ammann has also distributed dustbins to help create a cleaner, more hygienic public environment.

Ammann further identified that limited electricity supply left streets in darkness after sunset, affecting safety and restricting activity on rural roads. To address this, the company installed solar-powered streetlights in areas where poor lighting posed safety risks and curtailed evening activity. The project has also empowered shops and small businesses to operate for longer hours, enhancing livelihoods and reducing the risk of accidents.

Beyond infrastructure, Ammann India has invested in skilling the youth with industry expertise to close a critical gap. By building future-ready talent in Mehsana, Ammann is helping the region transform its young workforce into a local growth engine. It has organised structured training programmes to teach advanced road construction machinery operation and other in-demand skills, fuelling opportunities both regionally and nationwide. Since 2017, Ammann has trained around 360 ITI graduates and 112 diploma/degree holders.

CSR is often measured in steady, long-term projects, but its true character is tested in crises. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ammann Group was a front runner in India’s emergency response, pledging medical relief worth over CHF 7 million, donating oxygen concentrators to the Mehsana District Collector, and supporting rural health centres by installing oxygen plants in Gozariya and Lagnaj. In Ditasan village, the company also stepped up in the reconstruction of the cremation ground, transforming the site into a place of peace and privacy.

By leveraging its technical expertise in machinery training and its willingness to engage beyond core business interests, Ammann India is contributing to the broader development ecosystem of the region. Corporate India should look to Ammann India’s work in Mehsana as a template to replicate for building growth in rural belts.