UltraTech Cement Ltd, India’s largest cement and ready-mix concrete (RMC) company, recently announced that it has conserved 105 million cubic meters of water in FY24, making it five times water positive, in line with its stated ambition. UltraTech’s water management efforts encompass areas within the unit premises as well as beyond the fence, i.e., within the communities the company operates in. The 105 million cubic meters of water conserved include the water it has reused, recycled, harvested, and recharged both within its unit premises and through community interventions. This is an increase of over 20 million cubic meters of water conserved in FY23.

UltraTech’s water conservation initiatives are based on its belief in the criticality of water as a shared resource that is essential for business operations as well as the wellbeing of the community and for nurturing biodiversity. The company has proactively installed rainwater harvesting systems across its site locations. In addition, it has also set up Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) plants at several of its manufacturing units to enable the reuse of 100 percent treated water within the units.

Through its watershed management approaches and community-driven initiatives, UltraTech focuses not just on water conservation, but also on enriching lives and livelihoods. The company’s watershed management projects encompass a holistic planning basis for the rainfall pattern in a given area and target harvesting a percentage of the rainfall in addition to other water conservation activities. Its watershed projects focus on delivering four main objectives:

●      Effective natural resource management for sustainable use and conservation

●      Increased farm productivity through the implementation of advanced agricultural practices

●      Promotion of livelihood activities to create economic opportunities for local people

●      Empowering women through the establishment of community-based organizations, enabling their active participation and decision-making.

 Through its community watershed projects, UltraTech has so far constructed 191 check dams and 97 rainwater harvesting structures, soak pits, and large ponds. Over 35,218 farmers have benefited through the company’s community water conservation initiatives. UltraTech’s efforts towards the protection and conservation of water resources underline its commitment to building a sustainable future.

Sustainability Progress in FY24

UltraTech has taken a holistic approach to embed sustainability across its value chain. It has integrated low-carbon strategy into its business conduct. It is scaling up investments in the development of environment friendly products, improving energy efficiency, increasing the share of renewable energy, increasing green cover to nurture biodiversity, and scaling up the use of industrial and municipal waste in its manufacturing operations to drive circularity. During FY24, the company has made significant progress across its key focus areas of sustainability, namely decarbonization, energy transition, circular economy, biodiversity management, water conservation, safe operations, and community development.

Decarbonization:

UltraTech’s net CO2 emission intensity has decreased to 556 kg/tonne of cementitious products in FY24 compared to 632 kg/tonne of cementitious products in 2017, in line with its target of a 27 percent reduction in carbon intensity by 2032. The company has also stated its intent to not invest any further in thermal power capacity as part of its capacity expansion projects, thus further reducing its dependence on fossil fuels and increasing the use of green energy in its operations.

Energy Transition:

UltraTech has accomplished its EP100 commitment way ahead of the target year of 2035, by successfully doubling its energy productivity from the base year 2010. As part of its RE100 commitment, the company has significantly increased its renewable energy capacity by 77 percent and WHRS capacity by 32 percent from FY23. The current capacity as of FY24 stands at 612 MW of RE and 278 MW of WHRS. It has achieved 23.6 percent electricity substitution by green power mix in FY24, and plans to increase the overall share of green energy in its total energy mix to 85 percent by 2030.

Circular economy:

UltraTech has scaled up the use of alternative fuels and raw materials (AFR) in its cement manufacturing operations as part of its commitment to enhancing circular economy and minimizing utilization of natural resources. It has successfully utilized over 33 million tonnes of recycled and alternative raw materials in cement production in FY 24. In addition to this, over 1.5 million tonnes of alternative fuels was utilized by the company in FY24. Its efforts have allowed it to become 3.26 times plastic negative in FY24.

Biodiversity:

UltraTech is committed to achieving ‘No Net Loss’ to Biodiversity. The company has completed biodiversity assessments for 14 of its integrated units and plans to complete for all its units by December 2024. It has adopted the Miyawaki afforestation method to increase green cover at its manufacturing sites. Over 34,000+ trees have been planted in just five of its units using this method. Many of the plant species have also been chosen to provide economic benefit to the local villagers in terms of providing fodder, fuel, fruits, and flowers in addition to maximizing forest’s carbon sequestration potential and recreating habitat for biodiversity and wildlife.

For more information: www.ultratechcement.com