Responsible Business Practices for a Sustainable Future
Sudarshan has completed 70 glorious years as a global color and effect pigment manufacturer. From its humble beginnings in 1952 as a local pigments manufacturer, Sudarshan has successfully transitioned into a world class global solution provider with a vibrant and innovative culture. It has also adopted a sustainable business strategy, committed towards People, Planet, and Profit, and is positively impacting the environment and society, while benefiting all stakeholders.
In this context, it gives me immense pleasure to present our maiden ESG report for the year 2021-22. Sustainability has always been at the heart of everything we do, and we have consistently endeavored to work together with our stakeholders to leave behind a better planet for future generations. The report theme is hence aptly derived from our higher purpose – Growing Together for a Sustainable Future.
After extensive research, interacting with stakeholders, mapping our core values, and evaluating our contributions to society, we have established our ESG focus areas. The goal is to work on these focus areas to create long-term value for all stakeholders, while considering the limited energy and resources of the planet. Realizing the sustainable growth of both our company and society is the aim of our ESG focus areas.
As a chemical company, we have imbibed Environmental Sustenance as one of our higher purposes. We have gone the extra mile beyond requisite compliances, to establish efficient effluent treatment plant, recycled water, and solvent recovery projects, resulting in creating less waste. We have set up state-of-the art waste-water facilities at Roha and Mahad, helping us in mitigating our environmental footprint. We strongly emphasis on Reduce, Reuse, Recycle & Responsible Disposal for waste management.
In the coming years, Energy Efficiency will be a key area of focus. We have already diversified our energy sources and 60% of our purchased electricity is from renewable energy sources. We also generate our own electricity, and our Co-Gen Facility (Steam & Power Co-generation plant) generates 124 tons of steam per hour and 15MW of electricity per hour, providing uninterrupted power and significant savings. We are working towards a future where we wish to replace coal with efficient sources of renewable energy. We have always considered Employee Safety as our highest priority. We have adopted international standards to provide a safe work environment for employees. We have partnered with World class leading EHS consulting firm to achieve the highest level of process safety. We believe in creating Social Impact by driving projects passionately across local areas and villages. We strive to make a visible difference by getting involved at the ground level with key stakeholders and focusing on core areas of Education, Women Empowerment and Environment. We are proud to have been successfully running a school since 1976 in Roha, Maharashtra and providing quality education and facilities to local children.
Sudarshan is an Equal Opportunity employer. Employees are our biggest strength, and our Sudarshan culture promotes Equal Employment opportunities and supports Diversity, and Inclusion. We are one of the first chemical companies to encourage employment of women on shopfloor and differently abled individuals.
We follow the highest standards of Corporate Governance. We have a strong and independent board with a commitment to uphold the highest levels of Ethics & Conduct in all areas of our business. We have an established culture of doing the right thing, the right way, and a robust Governance framework in line with the prevalent best practices in the industry.
Finally, I would like to conclude by reiterating that this report is a good beginning. We are proud of what we have achieved in many of the focus areas highlighted above, but we still have a long way to go. In the coming years, we aspire to make a considerable impact in our society and accomplish our higher purpose of Growing Together for a Sustainable Future.
We have started our journey in Environmental Sustenance and Employee Safety. There is scope for a lot more to be achieved and we will be focusing our energy on these two areas. Over the decades, we have created substantial Social Impact across villages, and we intend to sustain the momentum. As an Equal Opportunity employer, we are seriously looking at increasing representation of women and differently abled employees across levels in the organization. We would like to further strengthen our corporate governance practices and exhibit transparency for all stakeholders. We are also challenging ourselves to achieve energy self-reliance through green sources and minimize dependence on coal. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all our stakeholders for their invaluable contributions. We believe that we are on the right path and in the coming years will work towards establishing 'Responsible Business Practices for a Sustainable Future'. The future looks optimistic. I am hopeful and confident that as we grow together, our resilience and commitment will help us meet challenges head on and bring us closer to achieve our shared dream of leaving behind a better planet.
Yours faithfully
Rajesh Rathi, Managing Director