Vedanta Ltd announced the launch of its pathbreaking talent acquisition program, ‘Project Panchhi’, for recruiting 1,000 girls from its communities across the country, the week before International Women’s Day in 2023. The objective of the programme is two-fold: to recruit young women from remote areas in the operational areas of the company’s metals, mining, and oil & gas businesses in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Goa, etc; and to increase the diversity of its workforce by specifically focusing on the recruitment of girls, who are underrepresented in the metals, mining, and heavy engineering industries.

What is unique about Project Panchhi is that this programme aims to recruit girls from marginalized communities. Many of these girls are first-generation learners who aspire for further study to have professional careers. Vedanta is undertaking a selection process to identify the right candidates based on various criteria and will support their higher education at leading institutions. After graduation, these girls will join Vedanta’s operations as graduate trainees. This programme is inaugurated at Vedanta’s Alumina Refinery operations at Lanjigarh (Kalahandi, Odisha), where in the first phase, 40 girls have been identified.

Vedanta’s Lanjigarh operations, the site of the first roll-out of this project, house a world-class 2 MTPA alumina refinery, which feeds the company’s state-of-the-art aluminum smelters at Jharsuguda (Odisha) and BALCO (Chhattisgarh). The refinery is currently undergoing expansion to 5 MTPA and will deploy significant manpower. This offers immense opportunities for the recruits to get a hands-on learning experience. It will also serve as an inspiration for thousands of other girls and women across India to aspire for a career in the manufacturing industry.

Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta, commented, “I strongly believe that Project Panchhi will give young girls wings to soar. It will enable girls from remote parts of the country to pursue higher education, learn skills, and financially empower themselves. Vedanta’s motto ‘Transforming for Good’ embodies our mission to bring positive change in the lives of our communities. I proudly look forward to seeing these girls succeed and emerge as tall leaders in our organization.”

Madhu Srivastava, Group CHRO, Vedanta Ltd, added, “Project Panchhi is a unique initiative towards an inclusive development of our communities and in line with our overall vision for diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are confident that these upskilled young girls would emerge as leaders and become shining examples for others in their communities, states, and country at large.”

For more information: www.vedantaaluminium.com