OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

MBA 236

CIA-3

TOPIC:

SUSTAINABILITY TECHNIQUES IN Mahindra and

Mahindra Ltd.

By
B V Avinash Chowdary

Reg No: 2027931

The study explains the principles and trends of sustainability and the sustainability practices
of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. (M&M).

Introduction:
Sustainable development is a way to structure society in such a way where it can exist in the
coming years. This means that both current and future precepts, such as environmental
protection, natural resources and economic realities, are taken into account. Sustainable
development is the guiding principle for achieving human development objectives, while at
the same time retaining the capacity of natural communities to provide the natural resources
in a sustainable manner on which the economy and community rely. [ CITATION Spi15 \l 16393 ]
The desired outcome in which living standards and services are used to meet human needs
without compromising the dignity and balance of the natural environment. Sustainability
priorities resolve global issues, including poverty, inequality, environmental degradation,
resource depletion, justice and peace.[ CITATION Ibr16 \l 16393 ]

In this way, the term "sustainability" has been commonly used to describe progress in areas
such as over-exploitation of natural resources, manufacturing facilities, linear commodity
utilization, investment path, citizen lifestyles, customer buying behaviour, technical or
business advances and general institutional changes. As long as intervention does little, less,
or no damage to the natural environment – in the expectation that ecosystems will continue to
function and create conditions that will not reduce the quality of life of today's industrial
communities – it is also believed to be sustainable.[CITATION Wha20 \l 16393 ]

Components of Sustainability:

Sustainable development is a thoughtfully constructed strategy to promote growth while

making more productive use of resources, taking full account of significant and short benefits
for our world and the people. There are 3 main pillars of sustainable development:

1. Economic Sustainability.
2. Environmental Sustainability.
3. Social Inclusion.
1. Economic Sustainability:

Economic sustainability is used to describe policies that encourage the best use of socio-
economic capital. A fair distribution and effective allocation of resources is suggested by
a sustainable economic model. The idea is to encourage the effective and responsible use
of these tools, which offers long-term benefits and establishes profitability. It is more
likely that a profitable company will stay stable and continue to run from one year to the
next.[ CITATION Wha20 \l 16393 ]

The positive part of taking a global approach to sustainability is that if you concentrate on
environmental and social issues, profitability will always fall into line. Social programs
have an effect on consumer behaviour and employee results, while sustainability policies
such as energy conservation and emissions control may have a direct impact on waste
reduction. Economic sustainability means ensuring that business profits are made, but
also that business activities do not produce social or environmental problems that would
be harmful to the company's long-term success.[ CITATION Fro13 \l 16393 ]

Recent Economical Sustainability Trends:

 Investors Adopting Green Investments:

Today's investment community is on the verge of rising interest in sustainable
companies—one that demonstrates progress towards a 1.5C environment. As
sustainability journeys of businesses continue to grow, so do investor experiences.
 BlackRock's C.E.O. Larry Fink's powerful annual letter stating that his company
would avoid investing in businesses that "present a high risk of sustainability" is
only the latest example of this pattern. In December 2019, 631 investors from
around the world, representing some $37 trillion in assets, signed a letter calling
on governments to step up their efforts to tackle climate change. Furthermore, as
part of a new set of rules to finance sustainable growth and to foster a low carbon
economy, the Union has recently developed the Action Plan: Financing for
Sustainable Growth.[ CITATION Sch20 \l 16393 ]
 Circular Economy:
A rising number of companies have started to recognise viable opportunities for
circular business models. Circular models follow recycling methods and
expansion of product life, unlike most of the conventional linear model. In the
past, such efforts concentrated largely on the reduction and recycling of plastics
and packaging since both customers and regulators had been moved to action due
to public concern in the ocean plastics crisis.[ CITATION Sch20 \l 16393 ]
2. Environmental Sustainability:
Environmental sustainability is characterized as constructive engagement with the
ecosystem, to prevent natural resources being destroyed or degraded and to ensure
long-term environmental protection. Environmentally sustainable activities help
ensure today's people meet their needs while not jeopardizing future generations'
ability to meet their needs.[ CITATION Reb13 \l 16393 ]
Environmental sustainability requires taking responsible decisions that reduce the
negative environmental implications of your business. The main goal is not only to
reduce the amount of waste that you generate or use less energy, but to build
processes which will make companies fully sustainable for the future.
Environmentally sustainable development forces organizations to look past short-term
profits and to look at the long-term effects they have on the natural environment. You
not only have to consider the immediate environmental consequences of your
decisions, but also the long-term effects.
Recent Environmental Sustainability Trends:
 Green Microgrids:
Microgrid development is motivated by a need for organizations to guarantee their
physical supply infrastructure's grid reliability and resilience. Installed and planed
 power, Asia Pacific has emerged as the leader. Decreasing PV and battery storage
costs led to cost parity between the microgrid projects and conventional grid
supply. In Finland, Lidl's carbon-neutral distribution centre has shown that it can
save while reducing carbon footprint, which save environment. [ CITATION Sch20 \l
16393 ]
 Water Conservation on move:
Water crises were described as a major risk to the community over the next
decade by The World Economic Forum 2020 Global Risk Study. The UN expects
a global shortage of water availability of up to 40 percent by 2030. The UN
forecasts. We would also expect businesses to have a greater interest in water
quality. Companies collect information on the water footprint of water in their
organization, learn about the use of water in activities and in the processing and
control of their water supply.[ CITATION ENE19 \l 16393 ]
3. Social (people) Sustainability:
The least described and least known of the various ways of addressing sustainability
and sustainable growth is social sustainability. In public debate, social sustainability
has been substantially lower than environmental and economic sustainability. Social
sustainability takes place when formal and informal processes, systems, frameworks
and relationships actively promote the capacity of present and future generations to
build stable and habitable communities.[ CITATION ade20 \l 16393 ]
Companies that increase the value of social sustainability understand the magnitude of
their relationships with individuals, societies and community. Social responsibility is
part of their core corporate philosophy and they understand how individuals are
impacted by their operations. There is a human cost of doing business. In a specific
area, a socially sustainable organization would consider the wellbeing of its
employees. It will not cause the safety of its employees to be endangered by requiring
them to operate in a facility that has been considered unsafe.
Recent Social Sustainability Trends:
 Demand of Plant based food:
Data from Grub Hub shows that orders are at an all-time high for plant-based and
vegan products. In vegan and non-vegan restaurants alike, the Beyond Meat and
Unthinkable Burgers have won menu spots. In 2017, agriculture and forestry
alone in the United States accounted for 9.0 percent of US greenhouse gas
 emissions in 2017. 26 percent of the land on earth is used for grazing livestock
and one-third of the arable land is used solely to feed livestock and grow crops.
[ CITATION ENE19 \l 16393 ]
 Change in fast fashion:
Quick fashion is seen today as one of the world's biggest polluters. In terms of
longevity and style, fashion brands such as H&M, Forever 21, Fashion Nova, and
Urban Outfitters produce inexpensive, machine-made apparel with a limited shelf
life. Most of the clothing is not recycled and ends up in landfills. As a result,
smaller innovative brands focused on eliminating waste in manufacturing are one
of the up-and-coming sustainability trends. Customers are more conscious on
environmental impact than ever before and are making the transition from fast
fashion to thrifting, custom-made clothes and sustainable brands. [ CITATION
ENE19 \l 16393 ]

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. produces various types of motor vehicles, farm tractors,
machinery and industrial engines. It operates in two segments: business and secondary
industries. The portfolio of the company consists of a wide variety of vehicles, from
motorbikes to trucks and buses, SUVs to city buses. The company has a strategic alliance
with Navistar Inc, which manufactures heavy and medium commercial vehicle diesel engines
in India. It also provides two-wheeler, commercial cars, and heavy and light trucks which are
robust, reliable, environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient commercial vehicles.[ CITATION
com13 \l 16393 ]

By 2040, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has announced that it will become a carbon neutral
business. To achieve this aim, Mahindra will concentrate on energy conservation and the use
of renewable resources. Via carbon sinks, residual emissions would be tackled. M&M was
the world's first organization to commit to enhancing energy productivity by signing on to the
EP100 initiative of The Climate Community.[ CITATION NEW18 \l 16393 ]
Sustainability practice’s in M&M:

Renewable Energy:

They offer comprehensive expertise in energy generation, building end-to-end systems and
engineering as a leading solar EPC solutions provider. Over 556 MWp of solar projects,
including utility scale, rooftop, telecom tower solutions, and DG-PV hybrids, have been
executed and commissioned, to name a few. They have increased energy output by 16-24
percent through creative solutions such as MSAT-100, a solar tracker device that adjusts the
location of the panels in accordance with the sun's motion. In addition, their analytics and
intelligent monitoring systems allow for fast identification and remote shooting of problems.
[ CITATION Mah20 \l 16393 ]

Mahindra Renewables Private Limited (MRPL), a wholly managed company of Mahindra

Group, is expected to invest approximately 171 million dollars to develop a 250-megawatt
solar power project in Rajasthan. Mahindra Renewables Private Limited (MRPL) is a
cleantech arm of Mahindi Susten Private Ltd (MSPL). The project will be funded by the
International Corporation of Finance (IFC).[ CITATION TEN20 \l 16393 ]

Smart grids provide two-way connectivity between energy producers and consumers. M&M
technology helps customers to plan their power consumption. As a result, energy costing is
more realistic on a timely basis. In addition, they are enabling customers to directly purchase
renewable energy from local producers using block chain technology – without involving the
central grid.

Contributions:

 In FY 2017-2018, the amount of renewable energy used by the company increased by

more than 100 percent to 8,972 MWh, from 3,909 MWh in the previous year.
 The group installed 269 kW peak solar power plants in a tractor warehouse in FY
2017-2018, which will meet 27 percent of power requirements at the Jaipur factory.
 In FY 2017-2018, overall investment in environmental initiatives amounted to
US$4.21 million, more than half of which was for wind power generation.

Water Management:

M&M understands the way they respect, handle and use water in the global scenario of water
scarcity. At MSSSPL, Their exclusive water management strategy aims at achieving a 'Lean
Water Footprint' and improving 'Sustainable Water Supplies'. The policy also sets out a goal
action plan that gives priority to:

 Zero discharge from operations

 Water conservation at source
 Rainwater harvesting and water accounting

Reduced water supply and scarcity due to climate change are global problems today, and
although we are not water-intensive, one of our defined areas for action is successful resource
management.

M&M think that estimation, traceability and sequencing should feature effective water
management systems. They have built frameworks for all eventualities and any unwanted
expansion, combined with intelligent technologies. From urban projects involving more than
100 million litres per day to micro-irrigation projects – solutions have been built on all scales.

Waste Management:
In FY 2018-19, Mahindra Ltd sent over 209 tonnes of e-waste for recycling through an
authorized supplier and encourages partners to reduce single-use plastic and use eco-friendly
items. The company promotes the process of minimizing, reusing, recycling and restoring
plastic waste in the supply chain in order to minimize plastic waste. The company has a
comprehensive segregation mechanism for the source, storage and management of both
hazardous and non-hazardous waste.

Scrap waste consisting of plastic, office waste, packaging and paper is provided to recycling
vendors and organic waste is transformed into manure through the Vermicomposting process
or in our key locations in the organic waste composter. 32.5 tonnes of manure used for
landscaping was provided by vermicomposting of wet waste. The created e-waste includes
defunct computers, monitors and servers, electronic and electrical goods and is disposed of
by government-authorized approved vendors for recycling.

At all major facilities, the company has also set up sewage treatment plants to reuse and treat
sewage, which is recycled for non-operational uses such as landscape design and public
bathrooms. More than 606461 kl of processed STP water assisted in decreasing the
withdrawal of fresh water. Mahindra has invested in green technologies such as smart grid
systems, smart cities, smart waste management systems and charging systems for electric
vehicles. The company's emphasis on sustainability helps mitigate social and environmental
impacts, enhance operating performance, and ensure that business decisions contribute to
open, equal and inclusive growth that does not compromise the rights of others.

Carbon Emission Management:

By 2040, the Mahindra Group is determined to become carbon neutral. The Chairman of the
Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra, is dedicated to establishing science-based targets (SBTs)
for all companies within the group. With the Science Based Goals Initiative, 20 of the group's
businesses have so far dedicated themselves to developing SBTs. Tech Mahindra and
Mahindra Sanyo Special Steel (MSSSPL) became the first to contribute to setting SBTs and
have already authorised targets for the two Mahindra companies with the highest emissions.
MSSSPL was the world's first metals business to have an authorised SBT. Their goals are
Mahindra First Preference and Bristlecone. With EP100 by 2030, both Mahindra & Mahindra
and Mahindra Holidays and Resorts have committed to double energy productivity, from a
2009 baseline.
Contributions:

Emissions:

 Total emissions of the company, through direct, indirect and value chain emissions
(Scope 1, 2 and 3), decreased 14.0 percent from 718,986 t CO2 in the previous year to
618,439 t CO2 in FY 2017-2018.
 In 2017-2018, the group exceeded its goal for overall total energy consumption by
over 1 percent. The total energy consumed stood at 473,132 MWh, against the target
of 477,947 MWh set for FY 2017-18.
 More than 700 energy efficiency programs introduced over the past five years, the
company has saved 58 million kWh of energy.

Green Initiatives:

 The Mahindra Group is a visionary of technology in India for electric vehicles. It has
a number of products for emissions-free travel in cities, including the newly
introduced e-Alfa Mini.
 The company has launched the first electric SUV in India, the e-KUV1OO, and the e-
COSMO, the first electric bus.
 Mahindra has saved enough energy in the last five years to provide 14,525 Indian
homes with electricity for a year.
 Every year, more than US$5 million is spent in energy efficiency programs, with
returns exceeding 24 percent.
 10 separate processing plants are now certified as zero waste for landfill. The Igatpuri
plant is the 1st plant and the second in the world to be certified as zero waste for
landfilling in the automotive division. The Virajpet resort at Mahindra Holiday is zero
waste for landfill.[ CITATION Wem20 \l 16393 ]

Conclusion:

M&M therefore maintains and encourages sustainability activities very well.

However, they can also introduce a variety of other procedures, such as the
neutralization of harmful pollution gases, and they can also establish a quality health
 care among employees and raise awareness among employees, which would, in turn,
make society more aware of the environment.

References
adec-innovations. (2020). Retrieved from Adec Innovations: https://www.esg.adec-
innovations.com/about-us/faqs/what-is-social-sustainability/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CSocial
%20sustainability%20occurs%20when%20the,create%20healthy%20and%20livable
%20communities.

companieshistory. (2013). Retrieved from companieshistory:

https://www.companieshistory.com/mahindra-mahindra/

ENERGY Watch. (2019). Retrieved from ENERGY Watch: https://energywatch-inc.com/the-top-10-

sustainability-trends-to-watch-in-2020/

FrontStream. (2013). FrontStream. Retrieved from FrontStream:

https://www.frontstream.com/blog/the-three-pillars-of-sustainability

Ibrahim, G. (2016). Sustainability. Springer.

Mahindra. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.mahindra.com/innovation/smartcities/social-welfare

Narasimhan, T. E. (2020). Retrieved from Bussiness standered: https://www.business-

standard.com/article/companies/mahindra-renewables-plans-171-mn-investment-for-solar-
project-in-rajasthan-120010900428_1.html

NEWs. (2018, sep). Retrieved from News 18: https://www.news18.com/news/auto/mahindra-

announces-future-sustainability-initiatives-to-go-carbon-neutral-by-2040-1877119.html

Rebecca, G. (2013, Sept). Environmental Sustainability: Definition and Application. Retrieved from
Study.com: https://study.com/academy/lesson/environmental-sustainability-definition-and-
application.html.

Schneider. (2020). Retrieved from perspectives: https://perspectives.se.com/blog-stream/2020-

sustainability-trends-our-experts-top-ten

Spiegel, D. V. (2015). Sustainability strategies of manufacturing companies on corporate, business

and. International Journal of Strategic Engineering Asset Management.

YouMatter. (2020, Nov). Retrieved from youmatter:

https://youmatter.world/en/definition/definitions-sustainability-definition-examples-
principles/