Mahindra Group to financially compute its impact on society: Anand Mahindra

Mahindra and RIL are two Indian firms that joined 61 other global firms to commit to the core Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics released by IBC at the World Economic Forum this Jan

The Mahindra Group is working on measuring the social impact the group creates as part of its ESG commitments, Anand G Mahindra, Chairman Mahindra Group.

“On the 75th anniversary of the Mahindra Group, we proudly commit that we will measure our social impact as rigorously as we measure our financials. We will compute our social impact, quantify it in financial terms and target its increase,” Mahindra informed its shareholders at the company's Annual General Meeting on Friday.

ESG, which stands for environmental, social and governance criteria, is of increasing interest to companies, their investors and other stakeholders. With growing concern about the ethical status of listed companies, these standards are the central factors that measure the ethical impact and sustainability of investment in a company.  

Mahindra Group and Reliance Industries are two Indian companies that joined 61 other global firms to commit to the core Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics released by the International Business Council (IBC) at the World Economic Forum in January 2021.

The metrics offer a set of universal, comparable disclosures focused on people, planet, prosperity and governance that companies can report on, regardless of industry or region. They strengthen the ability of companies and investors to benchmark progress on sustainability matters, thereby improving decision-making and enhancing transparency and accountability regarding the shared and sustainable value companies create

Mahindra said the Group has already started working towards it and outlined ten very specific commitments. In October this year, at a senior executive’s conference this year, Mahindra’s top officials will put their heads together and chart out a path to increase Group’s social goals manifold over the next 25 years, he said.

“The days when business of business was only business are over,” said Mahindra who transitions into the role of a non-executive chairman in November this year, that Group’s new leadership team Anish Shah (MD & CEO, Mahindra Group) and Rajesh Jejurikar (Executive Director – Auto and Farm Sectors) are firmly in the saddle. “They have shown their business acumen during a very difficult period.   They are going to take the company to greater heights as the sailing becomes smoother,” he said.

In his new role will have a strong oversight of the company’s financials and governance will be a major area of focus for him.  “I will be deeply involved in monitoring the routine governance functions that show transparency. The internal audit, a major tool of governance, will report directly to me,” he told the shareholders.