The award recognises Raithal village as a ‘global leader' for its achievement at creating an ecosystem that meets the criterion laid down by IGBC under its ‘Green Village Rating System’. These include ‘Health & Hygiene’, ‘Village Infrastructure’, ‘Water Conservation’, ‘Energy Availability and Efficiency’, ‘Materials & Resources’, ‘Social & Community Actions as well as ‘Green Innovation’. It also makes Raithal the first certified ‘green village’ of Rajasthan.

The announcement comes close on the heels of Raithal being transformed by ICICI Bank into a digital village. In line with the bank's vision of ‘Sashakt Gaon, Samridhh Bharat', Raithal is one among the 100 digital villages that were dedicated to the nation last year. The programme involved end to end digitisation of transactions and other commercial activities, providing vocational training to village residents, extending credit facility as well as helping the villagers to access markets to earn a sustainable livelihood. So far, the bank has transformed 600 villages across India into ‘ICICI Digital Villages’. This ambitious move is inspired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of empowering rural India.

Speaking about the achievement, Ms. Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank said, "We are delighted that Raithal has been awarded the highest rating by IGBC making it the first village to be certified as a ‘green village’ in Rajasthan as well as the first ‘green digital village’ in the country. We at ICICI Bank have always partnered the nation in creating sustainable green initiatives. In our endeavour to do so, we have actively recognised the need to conserve national resources and explore clean technology. This has been made possible through our constant collaboration with colleagues and customers alike. At Raithal as well, ICICI Bank along with ICICI Foundation have collaborated with the officials of the village to undertake initiatives including creating a less cash ecosystem, installing street lights, setting up of bus shelters, public toilets & rain water harvesting systems, providing vocational training to the village residents as well as commissioning a fully solar powered bank branch. Through these initiatives, we aim to continue to significantly contribute to the Government’s mission of empowering rural India."

ICICI Group has undertaken the below initiatives towards making Raithal, India’s first digital village to be certified a ‘green village’:

• Setting up of a Green Village Committee with a view to ensure cleanliness in the village
• Providing facilities like safe and adequate drinking water along with health and sanitation facilities to enhance the quality of life of the village residents
• Facilitating the segregation of wet and dry waste by providing bins at various nodal points of the village
• Creation of rain water harvesting system
• Training the villagers on skills such as dairy farming and vermi-composting
• Providing vocational training to the villagers to help them earn a sustainable livelihood
• Undertaking tree plantation activities in and around the village
• Commissioning a branch in the village that runs entirely on solar power

In addition to the above initiatives, ICICI Bank has adopted several other measures to reduce carbon footprint across the country. These pioneering steps have been focused on areas such as energy conservation, use of renewable energy and water conservation among others. As a recognition to the bank's contribution towards maintaining ecological balance, major large buildings of the bank viz. ICICI Bank Towers in Mumbai and Vadodara, its state-of-the-art data centre as well one of its branches in Hyderabad have been awarded a 'Platinum' rating by IGBC.