Abstract

The private sector can play a pivotal role in Disaster Risk Management (DRM) by providing services to strengthen resilience such as climate-resilient infrastructure, supply chain, recovery planning, etc. It can also lead the projects to enhance preparedness by providing expertise in risk assessment, relief coordination, and financial protection. With these capabilities, the private sector can extend its cooperation to the government and public sector to reduce people’s vulnerability to various disasters. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is one of the prominent ways in which the private sector can contribute towards DRM. In India, private sector-led bodies like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) are prominently contributing to DRM through CSR towards capacity-building programs. Private firms of varied sizes such as Mahindra, Reliance, and TATA, make varying financial and non-financial contributions toward relief operations and resilience at the individual level. However, a contribution to disaster preparedness in India by collective private bodies and industry associations has the upper edge because they push for improving the scalability and efficiency of innovative solutions and ease of community use of advanced technological tools. The present study highlights the prominent programs these private bodies such as Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies (ARISE) India that promote the private sector’s contribution to disaster risk management. Based on the best practices of these programs the recommendations are drawn that stress a strong partnership (Public Private Partnerships (PPPs)) between different stakeholders (Public and Private) to improve the accountability and feasibility of disaster preparedness.