Interview: Satish Singh on ESG Leadership and CSR Impact at PNB Housing Finance

Satish Singh explains how PNB Housing Finance is driving ESG-led growth through Pehel Foundation initiatives, employee engagement and scalable community impact across India

By Rusen Kumar

NEW DELHI (India CSR): In this exclusive interview, Rusen Kumar, Managing Editor of India CSR, speaks with Satish Singh, Chief People Officer at PNB Housing Finance, about the company’s ESG and sustainability journey. Singh highlights that sustainability is deeply embedded in the organisation’s strategy, guided by its ‘Conserve, Respect and Practice’ framework and strong Board-level governance. He discusses impactful CSR initiatives led by the Pehel Foundation across healthcare, education, environment, women empowerment, and support for armed forces families, benefiting over 8 lakh people across India. Employee volunteering emerges as a key pillar, fostering purpose, empathy, and community engagement.

Singh also explains how ESG awareness, climate literacy, and leadership-driven culture empower employees to take ownership of sustainability in their roles. Looking ahead, the company aims to strengthen Pehel Foundation through scalable, technology-driven interventions and deeper partnerships, reinforcing its commitment to inclusive growth and long-term value creation.

1. Please tell us about the ESG and sustainability values of PNB Housing Finance.

At PNB Housing Finance, sustainability is embedded into our core business strategy and value creation model, focused on delivering long-term value for people, planet and prosperity. From a people perspective, it shapes our culture, while driving responsible growth, strengthening stakeholder trust and building organisational resilience. 

Our ESG approach is anchored in the ‘Conserve, Respect and Practice’ framework, translating environmental, social and governance priorities into actionable outcomes, and is further strengthened by our sustainable value creation model, which integrates financial, human, social and natural capital into decision-making to drive holistic, long-term value. ESG is a Board-level priority for us, with robust governance and oversight by the Board and its committees. These principles are embedded across the organisation through employee engagement, responsible business practices and sustained CSR investments under the Pehel Foundation.

2. Please tell us about your initiatives and partnerships in this regard, and the impact you have created.

Our CSR initiatives, implemented through the Pehel Foundation, focus on delivering measurable and scalable impact across communities. Our Flagship interventions are designed for the welfare of the construction workers’ community, while Strategic interventions have focused on healthcare, environment, education, women empowerment and sports interventions. Our ‘Guardians of the Nation’ interventions are driven towards supporting armed forces veterans, war widows, and their dependents through various initiatives.

• Flagship Interventions: The construction workers’ community has been supported with cataract surgeries, mobile medical units, skill development, children’s education, etc. 
• Strategic Interventions:
  • Pehel Swasthya (Healthcare): Strengthened govt. hospitals with infrastructural improvements, supported blood collection & transport vehicle, cochlear implant surgery support for hearing impaired children, dialysis machines support, wheelchairs support to old age home and senior citizens, smart vision glasses enabled with AI device to visually impaired individuals, USG machine support, and palliative care for children suffering from cancer. 
  • Pehel Shiksha (Education): Upgradation of a school with science laboratory, Anganwadi renovation, holistic development for girls’ schools, School renovation project, Establishment of computer lab at government nursing colleges, PM Internship Project, etc. 
  • Pehel Paryavaran (Environment): Projects for tree plantation, waste management and solar electrification in schools and villages, etc.
  • Pehel Shakti (Women Empowerment): Scholarship to girl students, construction of multipurpose centres and supporting women owned production centre.
  • Pehel Khelo India (Sports Interventions): Supporting athletes preparing for Olympics, Paralympics and other events with coaching, training and rehabilitations.
• ‘Guardians of the Nation’ Interventions: Supported education grant to the students and provided Advance Life Support (ALS) ambulances to Indian Army to address accidents/ mishaps in hilly terrain faced by civilians and armed forces.

We currently operate across 16 states and 38 districts, having impacted over 8 lakh of beneficiaries to date. One of our latest initiatives includes the plantation of 1 lakh trees in the Green Belt at Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, to mitigate the growing ecological imbalance in Delhi NCR region. Collectively, these initiatives reflect our commitment to inclusive growth and sustained community impact, aligned with our broader ESG priorities.

3. How does employee volunteering fit into the broader CSR and sustainability vision of PNB Housing Finance?

At PNB Housing Finance, employee volunteering is an integral pillar of our social impact strategy, closely aligned with our CSR vision. We believe meaningful change is most effective when driven collectively, and our initiatives enable employees to contribute to community development across education, environment and livelihood support, strengthening our engagement with the communities we serve.

This is reflected in strong participation from our employees across on-ground initiatives, reinforcing our ‘People First’ philosophy and positioning employees as active stakeholders in our sustainability journey. It builds empathy, builds social awareness and instils a deeper sense of purpose across the organisation, while amplifying the overall impact of our CSR programmes.

4. How is the company encouraging employees to take ownership of sustainability in their day-to-day work and beyond?

We cultivate a long-term mindset across the organisation by embracing sustainability as a core pillar of our growth and value creation journey, rather than a support function. Through structured climate literacy and ESG sensitisation programmes, complemented by selective sustainable innovation pilots and formal online learning programmes, employees are empowered to understand material sustainability drivers, and translate them into informed, responsible actions aligned with their roles. 

This culture is anchored by leadership that leads with conviction, consistently championing integrity, accountability, and responsible business practices as enablers of sustainable performance. We further reinforce ownership by advancing transparency through disclosures beyond baseline requirements, prudent risk management architecture, and leveraging scalable digital transformation to enhance efficiency, governance, and decision making.

By fostering cross functional collaboration on ESG, we enable our teams to deliver tangible, on ground impact, thus strengthening the organisation’s resilience, reinforcing trust, and driving sustainable long term value for stakeholders and society alike.

5. What are your future plans for Pehel Foundation? Are there any new impact areas you are looking at?

Pehel Foundation remains central to PNB Housing Finance’s vision of enabling inclusive and sustainable community development. As we move forward, we are strengthening Pehel into a strategic, outcome-led platform focused on delivering measurable, long-term impact at the grassroots level.

We are also deepening our interventions towards construction workers, women empowerment and the environment, along with the ‘Guardians of the Nation’ programme, to drive a more integrated and scalable impact model. We will continue to strengthen partnerships with NGOs, institutions and community stakeholders to expand reach and improve programme effectiveness. Additionally, we are also enhancing employee volunteering as a core cultural pillar, while integrating technology-led solutions to enhance efficiency and impact.

About the Author

Rusen Kumar, Editor of India CSR, is a renowned thought leader in the field of Corporate Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). He regularly writes insightful articles and conducts interviews with industry leaders, policymakers, and development practitioners, promoting dialogue on responsible business and sustainable development.

(India CSR)