“Where Alternative is Native” is the name that Mahindra Group gives to its sustainability report. The framework for sustainabie innovation began 3 years ago, when the company set out on its sustainability journey using ‘Alternative Thinking’ as its guiding principle and since then the concept has firmly been embedded it self into the strategic business level. It is one of the few Indian companies to receive an A+ GRI rating for its first report in 2007-08.
Mahindra is a $12.5 billion company with more 137,000 workforce spread across 100 countries with operations in 18 key industries such as aerospace, automotive, construction equipment and IT. The group’s automotive sector is a market leader in utility vehicles and accounts for about half of India’s market. The company also designed the country’s first hydrogen 3 wheeler and the first hybrid. With brands like Scropio, Xylo, Bolero and the recently launched the very stylish XUV, the company continues to capture the hearts of the adventurous Indians. In an earlier collaboration with Renault, it released a sedan called Logan.
The Rise
The group also began another journey called “The Rise” – a brand-led transformation that started earlier this year taking the group to a new level all together within the minds of its consumers. It is finding commonalities between a tractor and an apartment and rising above the diversity by having one on one conversations with its key stakeholders.
In short “Rise” is a call to action that leads to build better lives – and that is exemplified in the products it makes – from solar lanterns and providing rural credit to IT services and building SUV’s. The group has taken this call to not only build better products but also to green themselves. To that effect, it has brought some tangible internal and external changes to align their core values. Often companies restructure their organizational structure in order to embed all inclusive sustainability and CSR concepts.
Strategies used in Sustainability
Besides the regular board committees, the group also has a seperate Sustainability Council and a CSR Council demonstrating the commitment towards climate change. The group has taken major initiatives in the area of:
- Reduction in energy consumption
- Reduction in resource consumption (paper, water, waste)
- Green IT and Green procurement
- Certifications (ISO, OSHAS, ECOTEL)
- Reduction in GHG/CO2 emissions
- Stakeholder engagement
- Employee engagement in Esops
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Related articles/Other Green companies
- Changing the lifestyle, the Mahindras way (thehindu.com)
Linking Sustainability 
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