Sustainable Development: Practices adopted in a Various Industry Sectors in India: Methodology & Data Analysis

Methodology
Analysis has been done through study of data from secondary sources mentioned below for assessment of sustainability reporting practices. Data source: Secondary data sources (Companies websites for sustainability reports, Articles, Industrial forum like CII conference documents. Project Portfolio Data analysis has been done for four industry sectors in India with respect to sustainable development practices adopted by different companies in chosen sectors. Project portfolio is mentioned below.

Industry Sector
Power & Energy Mining Petroleum and Refinery Agribusiness

List of Companies
1.TATA power 2. Reliance Power 1. Coal India Limited 2. Hindalco 1. IOCL 2. BPCL 1. ITC 2. Rallis India Ltd.

Data Analysis
Sustainable development in India Industry wide practices for sustainable development in India encompasses a variety of development schemes in
social, cleantech (clean energy, clean water and sustainable agriculture) and human resources segments.

Pressures from various stakeholders are impelling businesses to take proactive steps to ensure sustainability in their operations. These pressures / incentives can be from the external environment or from within the business enterprise. The key external environmental influencers are customers and social activist groups who are increasingly becoming anxious about the impact of businesses on the environment. To add to that, the government has also introduced several regulatory guidelines and policies which the businesses are obligated to follow. Some of the recent ones are releases of National Voluntary Guidelines for Social, Environmental, and Economic Responsibilities of Business by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and a policy mandate for Central Public Sector Enterprises to earmark a part of their net profit for sustainability initiatives. Another strong motivating external influence is the fact that Indian businesses, by following international sustainability standards, can increase their attractiveness to forge partnerships with international companies. Additionally, the pressure to become sustainable comes also from within the business. Businesses are struggling to find solutions to increasing costs of energy, water and waste management and solutions to the scarcity of natural

resources. Any approach to reduce the effects of these on the operations processes will benefit businesses tremendously. Major Achievement The number of carbon credits issued for emission reduction projects in India is set to triple to 246 million by December 2012 from 72 million in November 2009, according to a CRISIL Research study. This will cement India's second position in the global carbon credits market (technically called Certified Emission Reduction units or CERs). The growth in CER issuance will be driven by capacity additions in the renewable energy sector and by the eligibility of more renewable energy projects to issue CERs. Consequently, the share of renewable energy projects in Indian CERs will increase to 31 per cent. CRISIL Research expects India's renewable energy capacity to increase to 20,000 megawatt (MW) by December 2012, from the current 15,542 MW. National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), the Navratna PSU, under the Union Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India, has become the first PSU in the country by implementing a pilot-cum-demonstration project on Carbon Sequestration in its captive power plant at Angul. The project is expected to go a long way towards addressing the issue of bringing down GHG( Green house gases) The contribution of renewable energy to the power business in India has now reached 70 per cent, compared to 10 per cent in 2000, in terms of project numbers and dollar value. Business Sustainability Initiatives Various companies in India are using sustainable operations to optimize their processes, with a view to taking advantage of the increase in revenues, reduction in costs and avoidance of regulatory risks. Below table enlists some of the major initiatives taken by sustainable businesses in selected industries. Table: Sustainability initiatives by selected industries Industries Major Sustainable Initiatives Automotive Efficient Supply Chain Management Development of innovative fuel efficient vehicles Green Infrastructure for offices and factories Conservation of water and energy usage in the processes Optimization of material management process Provision of employee buses to reduce carbon foot print Utilization of alternative sources of energy ICT Smarter Buildings Green IT virtualization of servers, desktops using Cloud Tree planting at IT campuses Reduction of travel using innovative communication technologies Focus on reduction of paper in the offices Banking Internet and Mobile banking and the introduction of IVR facility has reduced the usage of paper Innovative product offerings provision of preferential loan rates for the purchase of hybrid vehicles and construction of LEED design buildings Green awareness campaign among employees Solar powered ATMs Retail Eco friendly products and packaging Eco friendly sourcing Recycling initiatives Green Buildings Alternative Energy sources Energy, water and waste management As per the project portfolio, qualitative data analysis has been done for Sustainable Development Practices adopted in a Industry Sectors in India namely Power & Energy, Mining, Petroleum and Refinery and Agribusiness.

Power & Energy Sector

TATA Power
Tata Power, India's leading power company has been awarded Sustainable Plus, the world's first corporate sustainability label by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Based on a methodology that is globally recognized and suited to Indian markets, the company has been recognized as Sustainable Plus in the Gold category by CII. Tata Power has always set a standard in adopting sustainable practices in business. In fact, it has accepted sustainability challenge in a broader sense, wherein sustainability encompasses a much wider spectrum of behaviour and resilience towards environmental, social, and financial factors. The Sustainability Policy of Tata Power integrates Economic progress, social responsibility and environmental concerns with an objective of improving quality of life. Tata Power has tied up with various institutions involved in research in the renewable energy space, piloting projects in geo thermal energy, solar concentrators, biomass gasification and more. Through these initiatives, the Company seeks to empower the green economy. Tata Power continued its strides towards making the business operations more sustainable through participating in the Combat Climate Change (3C) initiative that takes the holistic view of climate change issues. Sustainability Strategy Tata Power Sustainability Strategy covers four key elements, drawing reference from the well established triple bottom-line concept (profit, planet and people). Economic: The economic well-being and prosperity of the organization both today as well for the future to remain a relevant player in the industry and country Environmental: The environment footprint of the organization in terms of GHG emissions, water consumption and discharge, SO2, NOx and particulate matter, etc. Social: Promoting well-being in the community and society that the Company operates Cultural: Create a culture in and out of the organization which can keep its people connected to values

Sustainability Model: The Sustainability Model of Tata Power covers the entire range of Stakeholders. Tata Power has instituted Care as one of the values in the organi sation which entrust Care for Environment, Care for Community, Care for Customers, and Care for People i.e. employees, shareholders, suppliers, partners etc.

Initiatives Tata Power has installed Rain water harvesting systems and Sewage Treatment plants at all locations. Zero discharge systems are proposed at all locations. Tata Power plant expansion of projects with optimum utilization of existing infrastructure and reuse, recycle water to the extent possible. Water availability is one of the main criteria for selection of site for new projects. Tata Power is committed to reduce its CO2 intensity thus reducing the footprint of its operations on the environment. This is line with the strategic intent of generating 20-25% power from non carbon emitting sources. This is further facilitated by revolutionary initiatives like Club Enerji, which is a nationwide movement to educate the youth on measures of Energy Conservation. Greenolution is also one such Brand initiative to Tata Power that drives and motivates employees to take environmental initiatives and rewards good initiatives and their initiators are entitled as Green Heroes. The Company follows several charters, principles and other initiatives related to Sustainability. Various charters/ principles have been voluntarily adopted by the stations at different points of time and subsequently renewed as per their specific requirements. Some of them are: ISO 9001, ISO 14001, UNGC(United Nations Global Impact), CDP UK ( Carbon disclosure project) GHG emissions are tracked regularly and Carbon footprint assessment is conducted annually to compare trends from previous years and to accept targets to reduce them. Carbon Foot printing is done as per the WBCSD guidelines, ISO 16040.

Different initiatives are taken to strengthen Biodiversity in and around locations, which includes Conservation of Endangered Mahseer Fish, Sea Turtle Monitoring Project, Trombay as an Important Bird Area (IBA) etc. Green IT initiatives are also taken which includes Virtualization, Adoption of the Cloud computing, Enforcement of Power saving mode (Hibernation) through Domain Policy etc.

Reliance Power
Reliance Power has adopted principle of materiality and prioritized key issues after collective deliberation by management and key stakeholders. These issues include; Energy security, Health & safety, Corporate governance and transparency, Product responsibility, Climate change and Waste management. To ensure energy security, company has been engaged in exploration & production of oil & gas is to ensure energy availability for India, minimise dependence on imported crude oil and reduce exposure to vagaries of crude oil prices. Natural gas - a low-carbon, low polluting green fuel would be transformational initiatives to promote use of alternative energy. Through annual environment plan and business targets, company identify projects and take action to reduce water consumption and become carbon neutral and achieve maximum possible recycling and reuse of wastes. Company sets targets for key environment-related performance indicators such as material intensity, GHG emissions, air quality, water consumption, effluent discharge, waste generation and disposal, and conservation of bio-diversity. Strategy Milestones Made significant investments in E&P of O&G to secure energy supplies Implemented systems to monitor and measure sustainability performance Introduced sustainability awareness programmes in the intranet Formed the Reliance Innovation Council Sustainability report assured by an independent assurance provider Roadmap Companys short-term and long-term plans of achieving excellence in sustainability initiatives are as below: Short-term plan Form a sustainability council as an apex body to give impetus to our sustainability strategies Identify and develop measurable goals for sustainability performance indicators Give a structured approach to our social initiatives Create a pan-RIL system for managing organisational knowledge assets with the objective of empowering every employee with connective organisation knowledge for delivering superior performance Create a sustainability portal for e-enabling data and information collection

Long-term plan

Embed life cycle and systems thinking in all business processes Reduce environmental footprint by deploying appropriate systems and technologies Move towards a low carbon business enterprise Strengthen the talent pool to cater to our diverse and integrated nature of business Create a triple bottom-line accounting system Environmental Initiatives Strategies are in place for sustainable township development in various sites of Reliance Power by designing structures with minimum disturbance to the topography and ecology. The various steps towards building an eco-friendly composition are Rainwater harvesting, Solar heating for public buildings, Use of energy efficient building material , Use of lead free paints, Treatment of sewage water and reuse for landscape and irrigation purpose The company would be using super-critical technology and ultra super-critical technology that enables better combustion of coal and thereby reducing the emission levels apart from the Flue Gas-Desulphurisation plant that reduces sulphur dioxide emissions in flue gas. For some sites of Reliance Power, we would be using imported coal with low ash content. Moreover to limit ground level concentration of pollutants, the chimneys are being made taller at all our plant sites. The company is also involved in implementing green steps like the fly-ash collected from the plants which is further recycled for use by using it in manufacture of concrete bricks. Environmental sanitation with special emphasis on solid waste management, waste segregation and vermincomposting is practiced at site locations.

Mining Sector
The Indian mining sector has been facing severe criticism on several issues relating to its performance vis--vis sustainable development. Some issues highlighted are: To a great degree, minerals, forests and tribals tracts are concentrated in the same geographic areas; The recent boom in the demand for low grade iron ore has contributed to intensifying the above issues in addition to giving an impetus to illegal mining; Legal and regulatory loopholes and inadequate policing has allowed the illegal mining operations to flourish and grow; More intensive use beyond sustainable limits has been contributing significant pressures on land, air, water, forests, biodiversity , especially due to the increased pace resulting from market demands and made possible through newer, improved technologies; There is a framework to be adopted by mining sector in India , which is Sustainable Development Framework (SDF) modelled by International Council of Mining and Metals (ICMM)/ International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).

The SDF (a framework approach), takes into account the biggest issues facing the sector in the context of existing laws and regulations and defines a set of principles that collectively progress the sector towards sustainable development. SDF Principles

Coal India Limited

CIL operates through 81 mining areas spread over 8 provincial states of India. Coal India has 462 mines of which 270 are underground, 169 opencast and 23 mixed mines. The company has adopted a Corporate Environment policy, duly approved. Before commencement/enhancement of production from coal mines, the impact on existing environment and forest due to coal mining projects are assessed by an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study for each project and based on the same, Environment management plans (EMP) are prepared. EMPs deal with the various pollution mitigation measures to be undertaken to mitigate the impact of pollution, in order to reduce adverse effect on environment & forest, as per the requirement of the project. The EMP is submitted to MoEF for obtaining Environmental clearance (EC). Various types of pollution and measures for mitigation as per EMP of the coal project approved by MoEF with project specific conditions are taken up for implementation. Various pollution control measures taken by Coal Indian are as follows: Effective plantation in mine lease area is done to arrest propagation and dispersion of dust. CIL is having drills fitted with wet drilling and with dust extractors in some drills. The effluent from mines is treated by settling arrangements before let out. The effluent form workshops in opencast mines is treated in Workshop Effluent Treatment Plants (WETPs)

Closed water recirculation system has been adopted in the washeries to stop the discharge of effluent outside premises. The treated water is used for water sprinkling in coal transfer points, good housekeeping and plantation for overall improvement of environment. To restore degraded land and mined out areas, plantation has been done at large scale on technically reclaimed mined out areas. To make environment mitigation measures more transparent, CIL introduced state-of-the-art Satellite surveillance to monitor land reclamation and restoration for all opencast projects. Surface miners and continuous miners are being deployed which reduces air pollution an loss of valuable reserve Coal.

HINDALCO
Hindalco Industries, part of the Aditya Birla Group, is a metals powerhouse, and among the worlds most cost efficient aluminium and copper producers. In Aluminium, it has business presence in Alumina Chemicals, Primary Aluminium, Aluminium Extrusions, Aluminium Rolled Products, Foil and Packaging. In Copper, the primary products are Copper Cathodes and Continuous Cast Copper Rods. The Copper business is also associated with recovery of precious metals as well as using process waste to produce useful products such as acids and fertilizers. The commitment to sustainability is supported by the apex level management. The Company embraces a topdown approach that gives direction and bolsters efforts. The following are the bodies responsible for sustainability performance of the company at various levels:

Sustainability Governance Structure at Hindalco

Hindalco has been consolidating our ongoing work in material sustainability aspects such as Energy, EHS,CSR and People, so as to build a coherent framework for sustainability. Sustainability Strategy and Roadmap

The Working Committee on Sustainability, in place at Hindalco, did a materiality assess ment exercise to identify the most significant sustainability issues affecting our business and our stakeholders .These issues were then discussed with the Unit level Team members for their inputs and incorporation in their sustainability initiatives / targets.

Initial List of Material Issues Identified by Hindalco Team

Sustainable Mining Practices

Resource sustainability in the minerals and metals sector is a key challenge. Company has undertaken a holistic approach to address the multi-dimensional facets of resource sustainability which reflects the material issues faced by us throughout the value chain. Starting from sustainable mining practices to ensuring long term access to our raw material requirements, it ensures that our approach is sustainable and takes into account stakeholder interests. Some of the sustainable mining practices adopted at Hindalco are as follows: Management systems and assessment tools Impact identification and assessment, baseline studies, action plans for biodiversity protection Management of Mining waste, sustainable ore extraction and processing

Water resources management preserving natural water bodies, addressing water scarcity, reducing water pollution, and supporting competing uses Mined area rehabilitation and closure Topsoil handling procedures to enhance botanical diversity of post-mining vegetation The overburden generated during the initial mining years is stacked at identified sites and used as a back-filling material to address the voids in the mined-out area followed by plantation activities. The company monitor the vegetation of rehabilitated mining area so as to help it become self-sustaining. Downstream units of Hindalco in India and Novelis manufacturing facilities in several countries have dedicated Aluminium recycling and remelting facilities. Company recycle process scrap from customers and scrap collected from the market together with our own process scrap.

Petroleum and Refinery Industry

IOCL
Economic, Social & environmental goals are guiding force behind IOCLs commitment to build a strong sustainable business that is firmly rooted in the community and demonstrate concern for the environment. The Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development Department has been set up at corporate level with designated nodal officers at divisional level to drive & implement the sustainable development action plan. The main objectives of this plan are to minimize GHG and the emissions from operations, making Indian Oil water positive and responsibly managing the waste. Efforts are being made to improve resource efficiency in operations, especially for key resources like energy and water and adopt the 3 -R (reduce, reuse, and recycle) philosophy for all types of waste. Key Initiatives undertaken by IOCL for sustainable development are as follows: Footprinting exercise for measuring GHG emissions, water consumption, and waste generation across all business units of IOCL Rainwater harvesting All major events in IOCL are made carbon neutral by calculating the carbon emissions resulting from the event and planting of requisite number of trees to offset them Awareness generation workshops on sustainability Retail outlet/KSK Solarisation by installation of SPV modules to provide solar energy in lieu of power from diesel gensets during power outage.

BPCL
BPCL continues to forge ahead on its path to becoming a national and global leader in the space of providing responsible energy to meet the country's energy needs. Compliance with regulatory requirements of the Government of India during all BPCLs operations and throughout our value chain is the bedrock of its sustainability philosophy. BPCL successfully implemented six Sustainable Development projects in accordance with the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) guidelines during the year 2012-13. BPCL has taken the lead in establishing operations in compliance with industry and national regulatory requirements by targeting to minimize waste generation; reduce water consumption; encourage water neutrality at units and utilization of solar energy at its units. BPCLs Dream Plan, introduced in 2010, encapsulates our business strategy on economic, social and environmental aspects. The Dream Plan identified strategic and material issues that need to be addressed by different functions and SBUs to realize the vision created for the company by 2015. As part of the strategic planning exercise undertaken while formulating the Dream Plan, BPCL has identified the following five material sustainability issues for our businesses and have focused our efforts for the last three years in these areas.

Energy and Climate Change Community Development

Health and Safety

New and Clean Technology

Water Management

Key targets and initiatives are depicted below:

Agribusiness Sector
Sustainability Issues The sustainability issue of the crop productivity is fast emerging. The post-Green Revolution phase is characterized by high input-use and decelerating total factor productivity growth (TFPG). Producing additional food with limited land, and providing economic access to food at the household level for ensuring food security would continue to be a major challenge for the nation. At the farmers level, sustainability concerns are being expressed that the input levels have to be continuously increased in order to maintain the yield at the old level. This poses a threat to the economic viability and sustainability of crop production. The problems of waterlogging and soil salinity may develop sooner or later in many irrigation project areas due to over-irrigation and deep percolation and seepage losses in the absence of a suitable drainage system. The problem is likely to aggravate further in future if proper soil management practices, including provision of suitable field irrigation channels and drainage system, are not undertaken. Due to the degradation problems, growth in TFP has not made headway across a substantial area of the country for major food crops.

ITC
ITCs vision to serve larger national priorities is realised by this strategic approach of embedding sustainability in its core business models. Innovative strategies have been designed and implemented to create sustainable value chains linked to its businesses that encompass some of the most disadvantaged sections of society, especially those residing in rural India. Initiatives for sustainable development ITCs atta (wheat flour) brand, Aashirvaad. The ITC e-Choupal system has co-created with farmers an efficient agri-value chain that enables identity-preserved procurement lending a unique source of competitive advantage to the Companys Foods businesses. Farmers gain from ITCs agri-extension services that impart know-how for increased productivity, efficient market linkages as well as from the growing market share of Aashirvaad. At the same time, ITC derives gains from an efficient supply of quality raw materials. The ITC e-Choupal has benefitted over 4 million farmers in 40,000 villages and significantly raised rural incomes. Recognising that water stress is a major crisis impacting agricultural production and livelihood of farmers, ITCs Integrated Watershed Development programme has enabled soil and moisture conservation covering 1,16,000 hectares providing precious water resources. As a result, farmers are able to get additional crops in areas that are mostly rainfed enhancing their incomes substantially. Given the success of these programmes, several State Governments and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) have engaged with ITC on such watershed projects in public private- people partnership, multiplying livelihood opportunities as well as enhancing agriproductivity and rural incomes. These programmes together with the Social & Farm Forestry initiative also add to eco-restoration through rainwater harvesting, top soil conservation and large scale carbon sequestration.

ITC is continuing to engage with policy makers through industry associations, organisations and other appropriate forums for enabling a balanced and pragmatic policy framework that not only removes restrictive conditions on the efficient functioning of agri businesses but also facilitates the establishment of market-based institutions that can raise agricultural productivity and optimise transaction costs across the value chain. Adopting a low-carbon growth path through reduction in specific energy consumption and enhancing use of renewable energy sources. Enlarging its carbon positive footprint through increased carbon sequestration by expanding forestry projects in wastelands Reducing specific water consumption and augment rainwater harvesting activities both on site and off site at watershed catchments areas Working towards minimising waste generation, maximising reuse & recycling and using external postconsumer waste as raw material in its units Life Cycle Assessment studies have been carried out for different products to understand the impact across the value chain. Resource efficiency is integrated into product and process design and is addressed in the creation of physical infrastructure, the operations phase, logistics and waste management

Rallis India Ltd.

Rallis has an enviable record in the Pesticides Industry. The Company's distribution network and reach into the rural markets, supplemented by the high quality products and an abiding concern for our customers coupled with environment protection, are all major assets. A three tier system exists in the Company for managing its sustainability: At the Board level, which sets the policy. At the Senior Management level in Corporate and at Units, which develop the implementation plan for the policies At the Unit level, which implements various action plans The action plans and their implementation are continuously reviewed at the Board level quarterly and at the Plant level monthly. The Company has integrated environmental management in its business plans. All capital investment proposals are cleared with an environmental assessment and necessary environmental investments are included. Rallis recognizes that agriculture is at the heart of human existence where economic, social and environmental considerations intersect, encompassing critical economic and political choices, rural management, development & poverty reduction and resource imperatives. Major initiatives for sustainable development undertaken by Rallis India Ltd are as follows:

Rallis defines its key stakeholders as the various groups who are affected, or who affect the enterprise's effect on the biosphere and on social capital. Through stakeholders engagement, feedback inputs received from various stakeholders on disclosure of information is fed into the envisioning, strategic planning and action plan development exercise. The investor survey, customer satisfaction survey, employee satisfaction survey and community need analysis are undertaken periodically and the inputs from these are used to prepare the Annual Business Plan which is finalized by month of March every year for implementation with effect from 1st of April. The Company has participated with the community to build infrastructure around the manufacturing locations keeping in mind the obligation to the affected society at the neighbourhood. The Company is in the process to identify usage (re-sue) of certain eco-friendly wastes generated elsewhere within the Company as alternate fuel. Various energy conservation initiatives were rolled out across all the manufacturing units and tangible reductions achieved mainly in electrical consumption. Promoted by the achievements, Turbhe & Ankleshwar units participated in the National Energy Conservation Award with the result. All units engaged in the manufacturing activity are located in notified industrial areas and thus not affecting the bio diversity or any flora and fauna of the neighbourhood. Environment impact assessment has been done by the development authority before declaring the industrial zones whereby protection of bio-diversity is taken care in the planning stage itself.