At a time when sustainability has become a boardroom priority requiring urgent decision-making and transparency, Mahindra & Mahindra has set the benchmark for corporate accountability.
In recognition of these efforts, Mahindra & Mahindra has been selected as the winner in the ‘Best Disclosures and Transparency’ and ‘Best Auto OEM’ categories in Business Today’s inaugural Most Sustainable Companies Awards. The jury recognised the company’s commitment to clear, consistent, and comprehensive ESG (environmental, social and governance) reporting.
“In FY24, we implemented several sustainability-focused projects across our manufacturing facilities, with a strong emphasis on energy conservation,” says Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director & CEO, Auto and Farm Sector, at Mahindra & Mahindra.
Jejurikar highlights some of the initiatives taken by the company as an automobile manufacturer. The company replaced traditional air circulators with BLDC technology air circulators. BLDC or brushless direct current technology replaces traditional brushes with electronic controllers to manage current flow.
M&M also enhanced energy efficiency through variable frequency drives (VFDs), interlocks, automation, and digitisation. The company upgraded old motors to premium efficiency IE3 & IE5 motors. It installed automatic shut-off valves and IFC (intelligent flow controller) for compressed air systems. The company recovered waste heat from air compressors and paint shops and utilised smart cooling technology to improve chiller performance and longevity.
“We are the first Indian signatory of EP100 (Energy Productivity 100%) with a target of achieving this by 2030 using 2009 as the baseline year, a programme championed by the climate group, and successfully reached this goal well ahead of the target date due to these projects,” says Jejurikar. EP100 is a global corporate energy efficiency initiative, led by the international nonprofit the Climate Group.
M&M said that one of its most cherished milestones as an auto OEM was validating science-based targets with the international climate action group Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) across its value chain.
Jejurikar says the company achieved 49% reduction in specific Scope 1 and 2 emissions, categories of greenhouse gas emissions, in the automotive sector, compared to the FY19 baseline. “Our Tier 1 suppliers are aligned with our Supplier Code of Conduct, which upholds environmental responsibility and the health, safety, and dignity of workers. Furthering this commitment, we implemented a Sustainable Green Supply Chain Management Policy to promote ecofriendly practices and a Conflict Minerals Policy to ensure ethical sourcing,” notes Jejurikar.
Another important milestone in M&M’s ESG journey is receiving the GNCAP (Global New Car Assessment Programme) certification across its models. “We design vehicles that minimise environmental impact while prioritising occupant safety. By continuously meeting evolving GNCAP benchmarks, we have integrated advanced safety technologies such as electronic stability control, side curtain airbags, and pedestrian protection systems,” Jejurikar says. These have helped strengthen consumer trust and reinforced the company’s promise of ‘Rise for Good,’ enabling customers to make informed and responsible choices.
According to Jejurikar, a dedicated ‘Vehicle Safety Council’ ensures compliance with global standards like GNCAP, Bharat NCAP, and Euro NCAP. Investment in advanced crash test labs and simulation centres validates real-world safety performance, while close collaboration with Tier-1 suppliers guarantees critical components meet strict quality benchmarks.
Disclosure and Transparency Ethos
The Mahindra Group is replicating the auto division’s sustainability model across its other units, too. “As part of our ‘Planet Positive Framework’, we have rolled out a group-wide sustainability policy and the ‘Sustainability Mandate’, reflecting our ambition to become a global ESG leader. Our ‘Centre of Excellence for Sustainability’ plays a key role in aligning manufacturing leadership with sustainability champions throughout all units,” says Jejurikar.
Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Chief Group Public Affairs Officer & Member - Group Executive Board, Mahindra & Mahindra, says the disclosure and transparency ethos of the group stems from a very deeply embedded commitment to responsible business practices.
Sankaranarayanan says there are three benefits that accrue from the extensive disclosure M&M makes. The first is that it is able to clearly put out in the public domain its overall sustainability vision and philosophy, which it calls ‘Planet Positive.’ Second, it is also able to continuously engage in informed discussions with stakeholders, including investors, customers, the supply chain and communities. “The third is in terms of operational decision-making,” Sankaranarayanan adds.
One of M&M’s most notable CSR initiatives was the ‘Jal Samridhi’ project, for which the Group won ‘Best CSR Initiative Impact’ at the National Excellence Awards in 2024.
Notably, in the past year, the farm division of M&M received the ‘Brandon Hall Group Gold Award’ and ‘Best Initiative for Philanthropy and Corporate Giving’ for its CSR initiatives. The initiative, titled Project Hunnar, focused on livelihood generation through farm mechanisation.
According to Sankaranarayanan, the project helped empower rural communities by enhancing their skills in tractor operation and tractor-mounted farm equipment usage across multiple states.
The CSR programme, says Sankaranarayanan, helped M&M understand and run skill development and income generation programmes in multiple geographies under the same theme, i.e. mechanisation, as well as to get a good representation of women into the programme.
The automobile-to-technology conglomerate has also received reasonable assurance for BRSR (Business Responsibility And Sustainability Reporting) Core disclosures mandated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India for the top 1,000 listed companies in India.
Preparing for external validation through the BRSR Core involved several measures. Firstly, bringing internal data management systems to a level of robustness that would enable the group to make sure that it can accurately disclose as per requirements. “We conducted extensive internal audits before we had the external validation through third-party assurance providers. And then, finally, we had a huge amount of cross-functional mobilisation of effort and collaboration across departments because of the wide-ranging and diverse metrics that are to be captured in BRSR,” says Sankaranarayanan. It became a group-wide mobilisation, he adds.
@OrielAstha11
