Mahindra Group hosted the Annual Sustainability Champions’ Meet on October 24, 2024 gathering sustainability leaders and their teams across group sectors and companies

The Mahindra Group Annual Sustainability Champions’ Meet held at Mahindra Towers, Worli, saw sustainability leaders and their teams across companies – AFS, Mahindra Logistics, Mahindra Lifespaces, Mahindra World Cities, Mahindra Finance, Mahindra Susten, Mahindra Teqo Tech Mahindra, Mahindra Holidays – attend the session.  

The purpose of the Sustainability Champions’ Meet is to establish a shared understanding of sustainability across companies, exchange learnings, and strengthen collaborative efforts within the group for better synergies in the future. The Meet underscored the group’s ongoing commitment to driving impactful change and fostering an ecosystem of collaboration and innovation across the organisation. 

 The event opened with Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Chief Group Public Affairs Officer & GEB Member outlining Mahindra’s long-term vision for sustainability. She emphasised that sustainability remains a leadership priority and should be embedded within business strategy. Abanti encouraged Mahindra’s champions to take decisive action to advance these goals. Ankit Todi, Chief Sustainability Officer, then discussed Mahindra’s increased focus on sustainability with investors and policymakers, integration of sustainability within business strategy, especially along the supply chain, and recent shifts in ESG ratings and expectations. He highlighted the potential to leverage expertise across the group companies for a unified approach to sustainability and reiterated the role of communications in conveying Mahindra’s commitments, both internally and externally. 

 Representatives from across Mahindra companies presented their detailed action plans, offering insights into how each division is working toward meeting the group’s environmental commitments – Siddharth Rana (Susten & Teqo), Prathamesh Lambe and Charvie Mishra (Auto & Farm Divisions), Mahesh Kanak (Mahindra Lifespaces), Prasad Patil & Swayantani Ghosh (Mahindra Logistics), Jayesh Bhansali (Mahindra Accelo), Bindu Mathew (Mahindra Holidays), Brijesh Bahera and Shreyans Modi (Mahindra Finance), and Raviteja (TechM). This discussion fostered collaboration, allowing teams to explore synergies, review strategies, and exchange valuable lessons. 
Here’s a summary of the key sessions at the conference: 

• Policy Updates: Pamela Tikku, VP of Group Public Affairs, shared insights on CAFÉ norms, Mahindra’s EV initiatives, and policies like PLI, FAME, and PM E-Drive, outlining their impact on the group’s sustainability goals. 

• Tyre Recycling & Circular Economy: Devendra Gandhi from SSU Tyres highlighted tyre recycling's role in Mahindra’s circular economy efforts. 

• EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD): Chinmayi Lele provided insights on EU CSRD requirements, sharing implications for Mahindra’s operations. 

• Sustainability Communications & Positioning: In a fireside chat, Swati Khandelwal, Sr. VP & Head of Group Corporate Communications, discussed positioning sustainability within Mahindra’s strategy and strategies for crafting messages that resonate with multiple stakeholders. 

• Carbon Markets & Offsetting: Navin Mathur (COO) and Sachhin Patra (Lead, BD) from Asvata presented on global carbon markets, focusing on India’s Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, voluntary and compliance markets, and the value of carbon offsets in net-zero strategies. 

The event concluded with a celebration of sustainability leadership through the Sustainability Champions Awards, recognising contributions to Mahindra’s environmental goals in two key categories. The Sustainability Champions Award honoured team members who directly drive sustainability, execute strategic plans, build skills, and ensure transparent reporting, contributing to Mahindra’s ‘planet-positive’ mission – the recipients of this important honour were Neelima Dalvi of MMFSL, Siddharth Rana from Susten, and Mahesh Kanak from MLDL.

Newly introduced, the Sustainability Catalyst Award recognised individuals outside core sustainability roles who’ve embedded sustainable practices in their projects or teams, supporting Mahindra’s environmental impact efforts across all functions. Awardees in this category were: Jayesh Bhansali (Accelo), Baskaran K (O&M, Mahindra World City), Kondal Reddy (SSU, AFS), G.S. Murugan (Purchase, MHRIL), Shailesh Menon, (Group Comms, GCO), Shine Mohan (Club M Ashtamudi, MHRIL), Rahul Lalwani (Materials Technology, MRV Chennai), and Shreya Singh (Digital Strategy, GTO). These awards underscore that achieving meaningful change takes champions from all areas within Mahindra.