Away from the rat race to acquire auto firm in South Korea or pulling

RELATED ARTICLES M&M Q3 standalone net down 9.8% at Rs 662.15 cr

out all the stops to take wings in aerospace sector from Australia, Mahindra & Mahindra is quietly turning to support education of underprivileged girls back home.

The company, which spends one per cent of its net profit on various welfare schemes for the disadvantaged sections, aims to provide support for education of one lakh girls by next year under a scheme named 'Nanhi Kali'.

M&M, which posted a net profit of Rs 2,478.56 crore in 2009-10, is currently supporting over 54,000 girls.

"The goal of Nanhi Kali is to provide educational support to 1,00,000 underprivileged girls by 2011," the company said in its Annual Report for 2009-10.

'Nanhi Kali' is the flagship programme of the KC Mahindra Education Trust. The main objective of the scheme is to encourage a girl child in her pursuit of education.

"Nanhi Kali sponsorship provides not only academic support classes, where concepts of Maths, Science and language are taught to the girls, but also provides uniforms, school bags, shoes etc, which free her family from hidden costs of education," the report said.

The USD 7.1 billion Mahindra Group on its own supports about 11,000 girls across the country.

"With support from thousands of individuals and corporate donors, project Nanhi Kali now supports the education of over 54,000 underprivileged girl children, in poor urban, remote rural and conflict afflicted tribal communities across 8 states of India," the company said.

Besides, the company also supports students from lower socio-economic section to enable them to pursue a job oriented diploma course at a recognised Government Polytechnic Institute.

Under Mahindra All India Talent Scholarships (MAITS), every year about 500 students are offered scholarships for a three-year course.

The company has supported 4,772 students with MAITS so far since starting of the scheme in 1995.

M&M has been undertaking these activities under its corporate social responsibility, even as it continues its global expansion

drive in business.

It is currently conducting due diligence of South Korean automaker SsangYong, which it expects to complete acquisition of a majority stake by December.

Last year, it had picked up 75.1 per cent stake each in two Australian firms -- Gippsland Aeronautics and Aerostaff Australia -- for Rs 175 crore, marking its foray into the aerospace segment.