The Mahindra Group, with Positive Results Under the Chairman's Address Economic, Social As Well As the Environmental Performance
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where ALTERNATIVE is NATIVE From installing From adding tractor engines 1 million trees in Jeeps during to India’s the oil crisis of green cover the late 70s to investing to adopting 1% of profit climate change after tax on a as a key plank in continuing basis our product and in communities. service platforms. Alternative Thinking has grown from strength to strength in Mahindra and rethinking the regular has become a regular. In a world where standard, legacy approaches are fast leading to economic, social and environmental deadends, at Mahindra, Alternative Thinking is driving sustainability to the heart of every business decision. It is not only helping us cater to the exponentially rising societal and environmental demands, but also equipping us to harness emerging economic opportunities. Alternative Thinking is the strong foundation on which we are building global sustainable businesses which contribute towards a progressive sustainable society. SUSTAINABILITY REVIEW 2009-10 SUSTAINABILITY REVIEW 2009-10 SUSTAINABILITY REVIEW 2009-10 01 EXECUTIVE SPEAK Message from VC and MD EXECUTIVE SPEAK The year 2009-2010 has been yet another year of growth in our existing businesses and diversification into new territories for the Mahindra Group, with positive results under the Chairman's Address economic, social as well as the environmental performance. Moreover, after 3 years, our triple bottom line reporting process has become more robust and has moved from intention, to commitment, to well-established roadmaps. Three years ago, the Mahindra Group set out on a sustainability journey, using “Alternative Thinking” as the guiding principle. This principle has taken firm root Across the Group, sustainability as a concept has gained considerable momentum at the and has helped us in our quest for creating an environment of business growth strategic, managerial and operational levels, which has enabled us to further widen the while being sensitive to the environment as well as communities in which we breadth and depth of our reporting this year. Besides enhancing the scope of the report to operate. It gives me great pleasure to present the 3rd Group Sustainability report cover 93.8 % of the Group's gross annual turnover from Indian operations, an in-depth to all our stakeholders, based on the GRI reporting framework. The focus in this analysis of key stakeholders and materiality issues was carried out. This has helped in report is on strategic initiatives taken at the Business level as well as the unit level further aligning business practices with social needs and expectations and thereby helped towards achievement of the Goals set in our Group Sustainability review last year. in driving long-term sustainability and shareholder value. To further enhance the quality of The progress charted under all commitments has been encouraging and we are on our report, an exercise for capturing data of the environmental footprint caused by our target to achieve all of them. products, processes and people was undertaken during the year, and this report details the direct as well as indirect emissions from our manufacturing as well as non- manufacturing businesses scoped in the report. At the Mahindra Group, we recognize the significance of Climate Change and the two biggest challenges it poses - poverty and natural resource constraints. As this third Sustainability Review of the Mahindra Group highlights, our commitment to technology and societal development are the two important drivers not just of our Group's growth but also our country's prosperity. There is also the challenge of constant and inevitable change in the business and the political environment, and we may not have immediate answers to all these issues. However, However, we are clear about one thing - if India wins, we win. At Mahindra we strongly believe that improved environmental performance in the long-run Hence our strategies will primarily be towards societal prosperity and bridging our will lead to improved financial performance on a sustained basis - and a long-term business urban-rural divide. view requires investment in R&D, as well as new technology. Our new manufacturing plant at Chakan in Western India and our new research facility at Chennai in South India are Our commitment For Mahindra, 'Sustainable Development' is a newly articulated ancient wisdom. All manifestations of this philosophy. With an investment of around 1 billion USD and a to society is businesses which have survived the trials of business cycles over decades would bear capacity to produce 300,000 vehicles, this facility is an answer to smart and sustainable integral to our this out. We are indeed proud to be one from that genre of Companies. We have engineering. Our 100 million USD investment in the "Mahindra Research Valley" (MRV) - grown from an assembly unit for Willis jeeps in 1945, to a multi product, global player which is a fully integrated R&D facility, will focus on constant upgrading of fuel efficiency corporate culture. only because we followed the principles of sound corporate governance, transparency, We are committed to and alternative fuel technologies in all our future offerings. Hence, besides the accountability and adopted practices that could bring about an all-round growth. the cause of our Our commitment to society is integral to our corporate culture. Hence, besides the structured support We are committed to the cause of our people, our country and our planet. We will People, our Country structured support we offer in areas of Education, Health and Green Cover, by setting aside we offer in areas continue to live by the ethos and principles of responsible business practices and look and our Planet a portion of our profits, social commitment is also integrated in our business offerings. of Education, upon all our stakeholders to support us in this endeavour. While all our businesses foster growth among the communities around which they operate Health and Green in terms of employment generation and improved quality of life, two of our verticals have created business models with a direct linkage to societal development. The Farm Sector Cover, by setting Yours sincerely, has moved from tractor manufacturing to providing agri-solutions to the farming community. aside a portion of With a vision of "Impacting lives and delivering 'Farm Tech Prosperity' to 10 million farmers our profits, social by 2020," a unique business model has been created to improve the quality of life through technology. The Financial Services sector complements this initiative in a big way by commitment is also offering loans to over a million customers in rural India. These efforts would hopefully make integrated in our Keshub Mahindra a small but meaningful contribution to India's challenge of rural development. business offerings. Chairman, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited Yours sincerely, Anand Mahindra Vice Chairman & CEO, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited Chairman, Group Management Board 01 02 SUSTAINABILITY REVIEW 2009-10 SUSTAINABILITY REVIEW 2009-10 01 EXECUTIVE SPEAK Message from VC and MD EXECUTIVE SPEAK The year 2009-2010 has been yet another year of growth in our existing businesses and diversification into new territories for the Mahindra Group, with positive results under the Chairman's Address economic, social as well as the environmental performance. Moreover, after 3 years, our triple bottom line reporting process has become more robust and has moved from intention, to commitment, to well-established roadmaps. Three years ago, the Mahindra Group set out on a sustainability journey, using “Alternative Thinking” as the guiding principle. This principle has taken firm root Across the Group, sustainability as a concept has gained considerable momentum at the and has helped us in our quest for creating an environment of business growth strategic, managerial and operational levels, which has enabled us to further widen the while being sensitive to the environment as well as communities in which we breadth and depth of our reporting this year. Besides enhancing the scope of the report to operate. It gives me great pleasure to present the 3rd Group Sustainability report cover 93.8 % of the Group's gross annual turnover from Indian operations, an in-depth to all our stakeholders, based on the GRI reporting framework. The focus in this analysis of key stakeholders and materiality issues was carried out. This has helped in report is on strategic initiatives taken at the Business level as well as the unit level further aligning business practices with social needs and expectations and thereby helped towards achievement of the Goals set in our Group Sustainability review last year. in driving long-term sustainability and shareholder value. To further enhance the quality of The progress charted under all commitments has been encouraging and we are on our report, an exercise for capturing data of the environmental footprint caused by our target to achieve all of them. products, processes and people was undertaken during the year, and this report details the direct as well as indirect emissions from our manufacturing as well as non- manufacturing businesses scoped in the report. At the Mahindra Group, we recognize the significance of Climate Change and the two biggest challenges it poses - poverty and natural resource constraints. As this third Sustainability Review of the Mahindra Group highlights, our commitment to technology and societal development are the two important drivers not just of our Group's growth but also our country's prosperity. There is also the challenge of constant and inevitable change in the business and the political environment, and we may not have immediate answers to all these issues. However, However, we are clear about one thing - if India wins, we win. At Mahindra we strongly believe that improved environmental performance in the long-run Hence our strategies will primarily be towards societal prosperity and bridging our will lead to improved financial performance on a sustained basis - and a long-term business urban-rural divide.