‘Responsible Business’ has been the foundation of the Mahindra Group’s way of doing business since its inception in 1945. The questions facing us are always ‘What’s the right thing to do?’ and ‘How much of it can be done?’

Our vision is to be among the Top 50 most respected brands in the world. Anything we do within the realm of sustainability and responsible business must contribute towards enabling our organisation to achieve its vision. Our goal is to build a sustainable business while also rejuvenating the environment and enabling our stakeholders to rise.

The Group’s Sustainability Framework makes it possible to prioritise, set goals, and move ahead using whatever part of the framework is applicable to each business. This is supported by sustainability dashboards, assessments, rewards, recognition, etc.

Our ‘Make Sustainability Personal’ initiative encourages employee participation. We want our employees to be a part of our sustainability journey, contributing in any way to make a difference, not only at their workplace but also at home.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Zero waste economy is both an opportunity and a challenge. Our engineers strive to reduce vehicle weight, increase fuel efficiency while ensuring that we are not only compliant with prescribed emission standards but bettering them. At the same time, clean air is a critical factor in climate action. We are trying to reduce emissions by offering vehicle recycling so as to take older vehicles, which have higher emissions, off the road.

The Mahindra Group pioneered the development of electric vehicles in India and continues to lead the development and implementation of electric mobility in the country. Mahindra hopes to drive the transition from fossil fuel to electric mobility in India in a bid to rejuvenate the environment without affecting common modes of travel. Apart from that our factories and resorts are energy efficient and ‘zero waste to landfill’ facilities.

Mahindra Susten, our renewable energy company, has figured out ways to keep solar panels clean without using much water. They are also strong proponents of agrophotovoltaics where solar panels and food production can co-exist on fertile arable land. This helps remove a potential source of conflict between solar energy companies and the agricultural sector. Mahindra Susten has also forayed into international markets with solar panels and invertors for both residential and commercial use.

Necessary actions for climate change

The pressing issue of climate change is a result of unintended consequences of the use of technology. While solar energy and wind energy are the cleanest forms of energy we have today, solar panels have a life expectancy of about 25 years. How can we recycle, refurbish or extend their life, etc., are not questions for the future. It is imperative that we begin looking at ways in which to lengthen the life expectancy of solar panels. There is always scope for innovation.

Water, for instance, is infinitely recyclable. Yet, our ‘take, use, dispose’ attitude has led to an infinite number of environmental problems – continually polluted water bodies, decreasing ground water, etc. Pausing to check our behaviour is a critical need of the hour. It would be wise to use technology to adopt productive water management practices without needing a terrible natural calamity to remind us that water is a scarce resource.

The Mahindra Group’s goal is to be water positive: i.e., harness more water than we consume; enhancing water productivity by decreasing the intake of fresh water, and finding ways and means to reuse and recycle so we can ensure water security at each of our locations.

In the post-pandemic world, the more we adopt practices that are in harmony with nature, the better our chances of avoiding the worst consequences of climate change.