Hindalco debuts on Dow Jones Sustainability Index 2019 in the Emerging Markets category

2019-09-18

Sep. 18, 2019 - Hindalco Industries Limited has made its entry in the 2019 edition of the S&P Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI). The metals flagship of the $48.3 billion Aditya Birla Group, Hindalco has been recognised for its success in governance, social and environmental initiatives and is the only aluminium manufacturer from India to be included in the list this year.

The DJSI, one of the most prestigious benchmarks for corporate sustainability, is the global standard for measuring and advancing corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices. Hindalco, a new inclusion this year, is one of 98 companies in the Emerging Markets Index. It is one of 12 companies from India to make the list and the only aluminium manufacturer to be included. Its DJSI score places Hindalco among the world’s top three aluminium companies.

“Ï am proud that Hindalco has successfully met the stringent criteria of DJSI,” said Satish Pai, MD – Hindalco Industries Limited.

“This achievement demonstrates how well sustainability has become entrenched in Hindalco. The 3 key pillars of our performance have been Resilience in a low LME environment, given our focus on resource security and a diversified, balanced product mix; Reliability through focus on Manufacturing Excellence, Supplier Risk Assessment & Mitigation and Customer Centricity; and Responsibility with our focus on environment sustainability, safety and people initiatives.

More importantly, this assessment has given us a scorecard to identify areas that require attention and work to improve these. The DJSI scoring makes us even more committed to deliver more value going forward.”

Hindalco has achieved 75th percentile overall scores in the economic and environmental dimensions. On all 3 dimensions, Hindalco has been rated in 100th percentile in more than one aspect including Risk & Crisis Management, Customer Relationship Management, sustainability reporting, operational eco-efficiency, human capital development, and corporate citizenship and philanthropy. The score is an affirmation of Hindalco’s Purpose -- Manufacturing Materials that make the World Greener Stronger Smarter.

Hindalco’s commitment to build a Resilient, Responsible and Reliable model for growth has led to a number of innovative steps. In spite of the challenges in using renewable power in continuous process industries, Hindalco has commissioned a 30 MW captive solar power plant in Odisha and a 4 MW captive hydel power project in Maharashtra. India’s first lightweight aluminium bulker, which helps transporters save up to 13,000 litres of fuel annually, was developed and commercialised by Hindalco. The company has recently launched a new recyclable packaging material that replaces plastic.

Aluminium, produced by Hindalco, can be considered a supermaterial -- strong, lightweight, and infinitely recyclable; it takes 95% less energy to recycle aluminium than to produce primary metal, making it more environment friendly.