Leading Indian companies awarded for adopting green manufacturing practices and deploying sustainability

Top manufacturing units of renowned companies in India were recently honored at India Green Manufacturing Challenge (IGMC) hosted by the International Research Institute for Manufacturing (IRIM) at Hotel ITC Grand Chola, Chennai on 17th March 2017.

IGMC is an awarding platform that is designed to recognize manufacturing firms that have shown consistent progress in improving sustainability factors associated with a manufacturing facility. The winning participants at IGMC had shown excellent strategies and initiatives towards green manufacturing practices and also presented thought-provoking arguments towards rudimentary practices still followed in India.

Mr. Anand Louie, Director-IRIM welcomed the gathering and spoke about the Green manufacturing scenario in India and the need for companies to adopt green manufacturing practices. He emphasized on how an organization can bring business growth while contributing to the betterment of the environment.

Dr. A. C. Muthiah, Chairman - Emeritus Southern Petrochemical Industries Ltd. India was the chief guest at the IGMC awards.

Thought leaders and senior executives from different sector shared their experiences of making their facility and organization more eco-friendly and efficient. Few also shared their experience of how they tackled various challenges and were able to find a more economic and environment-friendly solution in the process, as rightly mentioned later in Dr. Muthiah's speech, a classic example of 'an opportunity in disguise'.

In later half of the evening, amongst the 13 companies that were awarded, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) Mumbai refinery bagged the top award followed by JK Tyre Industries Ltd. Chennai tyre plant and Larsen and Toubro Rubber Processing Machinery in Kanchipuram, Chennai.

The highlight of the event was a Panel discussion on the topic "How to develop a proactive strategy for Sustainability"

The panelist were -

L&T Rubber Processing Machinery Ltd. - Mr. S.Srinivasan - Business Head

Indofil Industries Limited - Dr. Atchutuni L. Rao - Sr. Vice President Manufacturing

JK Tyre AND Industries Ltd. - Mr. K. A. Unni Nair - Vice President Works

Lanco Power - Mr. KathirKamanathan - Chief Finance Officer

Lucas TVS Ltd. - Mr. J. Anandan - Head Operations

IRIM, as an unbiased third party evaluated and rated each company on its unique Green manufacturing barometer. This rating was achieved through a structured assessment of the manufacturing facility on 15 indicators of IRIM's Green Manufacturing framework which are building blocks behind the calculation of this index. The assessment was customized to each facility by assigning unique weightage to each of these indicators based on organization's priorities to become more sustainable.

This is the third edition of the IGMC conducted by IRIM in India for bringing about excellence in manufacturing industry while motivating industry leaders towards a greener India.