Mahindra & Mahindra

18th October, 2022

Student 1 : Good evening everyone! I welcome you all to the Mahindra

group video conference wherein we would be discussing the several ethical and sustainable
practices which are being adopted by the group in the recent past and the timeline in focus
would be the post pandemic era. We are 18 members, the students of 1 st year PGDM course
in Human Resource Management from Xavier Instistute of Social Service, Ranchi. I would
firstly like to thank (“Mahindra official” :name not mentioned in order to maintain
confidentiality as per his request) sir for giving us time out of his busy schedule for this
meeting. So sir, I would request you to address us with some brief introduction of the
organization and then we would start with the QnA session taking into consideration the
paucity of time. (The introduction of the official was also done by Student 1. But again for
maintaining confidentiality, it has not been covered here)
Mahindra employee: Thank you so much for the introduction. It is my pleasure to see
you all, the young inquisitive budding HR professionals. Before starting I have a small request
that please do not mention my name and designation anywhere in your reports as we have some
protocols to adhere to. Coming to the organization, Mahindra & Mahindra was founded as a steel
trading company on 2 October 1945 in Ludhiana as Mahindra & Muhammad by brothers Kailash
Chandra Mahindra and Jagdish Chandra Mahindra along with Malik Ghulam
Muhammad (1895–1956).  Anand Mahindra, the present Chairman of Mahindra Group, is the
[6]

grandson of Jagdish Chandra Mahindra. In 1948, the company changed its name to Mahindra &
Mahindra. Part of the Mahindra Group, M&M is one of the largest vehicle manufacturers by
production in India. Its subsidiary Mahindra Tractors is the largest manufacturer of tractors in the
world by volume. It was ranked 17th on a list of top companies in India by Fortune India 500 in
2018.
Student 1: Thank you sir. And we would certainly maintain the confidentiality over your
name and designation. Moving ahead, our team has a few questions and one by one we
would like you to address those so that we would get more insights into the company’s
initiative and goals. So can he have the first question please!

Student 2: Good evening Sir. I am .Since we have come out of a very

tough phase which affected the entire nation and every section of the society. So I want to
ask that what were the contributions of the firm during post covid- 19 pandemic phase
towards the society? Please give instances or program names/initiatives taken by the
Mahindra group under its ethical governance system.
Mahindra official: Good evening .We launched several schemes such as Swastha
Raho, Mast Raho initiative which was a COVID-19 awareness and query resolution initiative,
reaching 4000+ associates. We worked closely with their key suppliers to minimize the supply
constraints post covid, through capacity planning and longer-term contracts. It was also ensured
that the highly localized supply chain continues to be self-sustaining and as minimally impacted
as possible. The another model was work from anywhere web based learning series to ensure
optimal productivity. The learning series was aimed at helping Mahindra employees learn how to
work effectively no matter where they were. The other project was named Project Nanhi Kali to
ensure that girls continued to receive educational support during this critical time. For the tribal
communities greatly affected, we partnered with Swadesh foundation and came up with alternate
off- farm based income opportunities. I will share a google drive link with you all with you all
which has detailed annual report as well the sustainable report.

Student 3: Hello sir. My name is .It is a well- known fact that Mahindra group
has a long history of coming up with innovative sustainable practices which come under
industrial best practices for saving our planet and caring for the environment. So can you
throw some light upon some of the latest sustainable practices adopted by the
organization?
Mahindra official: The vision of the chairman is “Seeing sustainability become a way of life, a
way of business and a way of profit and not a mere box-ticking exercise.” At Mahindra, we
believe in the equation, People + Planet = Profit. There is no trade-off between people, planet
and profit. We continuously measure, control and mitigate emissions to reduce our carbon
footprint and reduce all the risks associated with it. There is a method called 'Alternativism'
through which we are setting an ambitious target to contribute their part in the global fight
against climate change. Mahindra Hariyali, is our flagship tree plantation initiative which
focusses on improving India's green cover and protecting biodiversity. Today, 14 years since
inception, we have planted over 19 million trees. The $500 million Green Portfolio of Mahindra
includes initiative for waste-to-energy, renewable energy, auto recycling, green buildings, micro-
irrigation, and electric vehicles. Each business caters to a current or emerging sustainability need.
To name just a few, Mahindra Life- spaces transforms urban spaces and enables smarter living;
Mahindra Susten is accelerating the adoption of clean and smart renewable energy solutions;
Mahindra EPC is helping farmers achieve superior product quality and higher crop yields. We
are also decarbonizing Indian cities by providing clean mobility solutions through electric
vehicles and a much-needed related ecosystem for accelerated adoption.

Student 4:. Hello sir. I am . Adding to the previous question, I had come
across somewhere in the news about the Mahindra group’s reforestation programme in
Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh. Can we have some insights into this?
Mahindra official: Good question . It seems you are ardent follower of the
news and the businesses around. Actually the reforestation of the Araku Valley, has created a
new avenue of livelihood for Adivasi farmers through a technique in farming which is a
conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. The Araku project has
also been awarded the Food Vision 2050 Prize by the Rockefeller Foundation for its focus on
regenerative agriculture. Basically, the creation of this functional forest in Araku is a symbiosis
between social and environmental sustainability and focuses on increasing biodiversity,
improving water cycle, increasing resilience to climate change and topsoil regeneration.

Student 5: Good evening sir. My question is that what are the areas of focus that you make
sure are covered and reflected under the social audit?
Mahindra official: Hi . We mostly focus on some key areas such as work
environment including safety, harassment free environment and equal opportunity, energy use or
impact on carbon footprint, volunteering activity of employees, charitable giving, community
development and financial contributions, and environmental impact resulting from the
company’s operations to name a few.