Mahindra & Mahindra has partnered Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and invested Rs 16 crore for a LED replacement programme with energy efficient alternatives across M&M’s manufacturing facilities as part of its sustainability drive as well as to bring down operation costs.
EESL, the company under the ministry of power that aims to implement world’s largest energy efficient portfolio in the country will be providing technical assistance, cost efficient procurement and project management services for the project.
“This partnership marks a very significant step towards promoting energy efficient lifestyle among corporates and large facilities in India,” MD of EESL, Saurabh Kumar said in a release.
While this will be EESL’s first private sector collaboration for promoting energy-efficient appliances in a working space, Kumar said they look forward to “more such collaborations so that organisations adopt EE appliances that will help them in reducing operational cost through energy savings.”
Mahindra has also encouraged its suppliers, dealer partners and employees to emulate its move to reduce carbon emission.
“There is a mindset that sustainability comes at a price. But sustainability actually makes money for you, everything that we have done with EESL has a financial payback for us,” Pawan Goenka, MD, Mahindra & Mahindra said. “Our interest in sustainability is not simply to be a good corporate citizen, it is a part of business strategy as there are many businesses that are emerging out of this sustainability drive, for example our solar and bio-CNG businesses.”
The payback for this investment is expected to be one year, Goenka said.
The automaker is also doing pilot projects with EESL for the motors used across its facilities as well as for air conditioners to replace them with more energy efficient alternatives and has set aside Rs 7 crore to replace motors as well as Rs 6 crore to replace air conditioners. The spending is part of Mahindra’s commitment to invest $10 per ton of carbon emitted in technologies to reduce its carbon footprint and it currently has pegged its expenditure on bringing down its carbon emission at Rs 30 crore.
“Around 70% of the energy in facilities is used in motors, be it power plants, textile mills. With this kind of a partnership the point driven home is that companies can not only rely on EESL for investing in efficient motors and lights but it will also make sure for the next 5-6 years these are performing as they were promised and the repayment happens from the savings that accrue from these replacements,” said Kumar on Monday.
The announcement for the collaborations comes a few days after Mahindra lost the bid to supply 10,000 electric vehicles to the government to Tata Motors as part of a tender brought out by EESL. It later matched its rival’s bid to settle at supplying 30% of the first phase which entails delivering 150 out of 500 vehicles but is yet to take a call for its share of supply for the remaining 9,500 vehicles.
Source: Economic Times