CEO Puneet Chhatwal unveils hospitality major IHCL's mega sustainability plans

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), India's largest hospitality company by market capitalisation which owns the Taj brand amongst others, recently announced a framework to drive its sustainability and social impact measures under the broad rubric of what the company calls 'Paathya.'  

"Responsible companies must aim for three things simultaneously. The triple bottomline looks at people as number one, planet as number two and profits as number three," said Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, IHCL, on the occasion.    

Chhatwal said that pre-pandemic, globally, one out of four jobs was created in the travel and tourism sector. "However, the sector also leaves a huge environmental footprint. In order for continued growth and development of the sector, it is essential to ensure that it is sustainable and inclusive. And that it contributes positively to communities, natural eco systems and the cultural heritage upon which our sector depends," he said.  

He added that Paathya is IHCL's endeavour to walk an extremely collaborative path towards creating a shared value for all stakeholders.  

"Through this framework we are committing ourselves to action towards our short and medium-term goals till 2030," he said.  

Paathya is focussed on six pillars -- environmental stewardship, social responsibility, excellence in governance, value chain transformation, sustainable growth and preserving heritage.  

"Any business that wants to be future ready has to weave in sustainability in every sphere of its business. Hospitality's role as brand ambassadors of the country is well known," said Chhatwal.   

He further pointed out that by 2030 all of the company's hotels will be single-use plastic free. "They will have on-site organic waste management systems, and all of the waste water will be recycled. All our hotels will also be 100 per cent EarthCheck certified," said Chhatwal.   

He added that among other measures that will make a large impact on the environment is that 50 per cent of all energy needs will be met through renewable energy and over 50 per cent of all raw materials will be sourced locally.   

"Keeping in tune with the times, 50 per cent of hotel guest parking areas will be committed to EV charging stations," he said.  

Chhatwal said that steps had also been taken to make meetings and events green under the 'Innergise' initiative. Meetings will be paperless with sustainable set up using environment-friendly recycled and upcycled materials.     

IHCL is also committed to skilling 100,000 youths over the next five years who will be trained with the necessary skill sets to provide livelihood.  

"We are also looking at every action from the lens which is gender progressive. There will be 25 per cent representation by women in the boards of our various subsidiary companies," said Chhatwal.   

He added that hospitality goals are not met unless we keep the idea of Incredible India shining. "All our hotels will have at least one initiative to preserve heritage, arts and crafts. There will be 100 per cent adoption of UNESCO's cultural heritage projects in the geographies we are present in," he argued.   

Chhatwal in his address also highlighted the fact that after the pandemic ravaged the hospitality sector, it is now reviving. "In the last 4-6 weeks we are experiencing such a strong revival that our March, April and May business on the books is higher than March, April and May of 2019. If that's the trend then it shows that together we will march forward and also lead such initiatives because it is about the will to make a difference."    

In the last couple of years, IHCL has launched Qmin, its food delivery business and Ama Trails & Stays, the first branded product in the homestay market in India.  

"We are very proud to have launched and taken that leap of faith as the first mover in the industry to do home delivery or to provide homestays through Qmin and Ama respectively. Second, we are very proud that both of them are premium. We are not making any false promises. It's all about quality. Whatever segment we are in has to be premium," said Chhatwal.   

He added that since day one both these brands have been profitable as they are based on existing infrastructure. "It's like using the infrastructure we had versus creating all this new. So we had the kitchens and the chefs, all we had to do was to get some packing material and find some delivery people."  

Chhatwal said IHCL aims to scale up both the brands and take them to the next level. Plan is to increase Qmin's presence from 20 to 25 cities and increase Ama's portfolio from 75 to a 100 properties.   

IHCL has a portfolio of 232 hotels including 58 under development globally in over 100 locations across 12 countries.  

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