Vedanta HZL CSR Udaipur

The company has been at the forefront of implementing cutting-edge technology for smart, safe and sustainable operations, Safety is more than just compliance for Hindustan Zinc employees; it is a way of life
We presently dwell in a global community that is equally volatile and unpredictable. Innovative market dynamics are emerging as a result of a slew of mega-trends, including fast globalization and technological breakthroughs. In order to thrive in such a setting, it’s imperative for businesses to constantly innovate. Nevertheless, innovation is no more solely for the sake of generating value for organizations. The overall objective of innovation must go far wider, participating in the establishment of a smarter future that serves all of the company’s stakeholders. The cornerstone of Hindustan Zinc’s expansion over the last half a century has been a thorough knowledge of market impulses and market demands, including the aptitude to integrate them into customer-driven offerings utilizing innovations and technology.

The significance of technology is doubled when it is implemented holistically instead of as an individual operation. At Hindustan Zinc, the team has been at the vanguard of implementing the most advanced technologies to establish and strengthen a strategic position in the mining sector, while also improving efficacy and productivity across its operations. One of the most notable achievements has been the successful commissioning of a 3000 KLD zero liquid discharge RO-ZLD plant at the Zinc Smelter Debari. It will recycle 30 Lac litres of water each day. At its Zawar Mines in Rajasthan, Hindustan Zinc has built India’s first ‘Dry Tailing Plant’. The dry tailing system has major advantages, including recirculation of more than 80% of the process water present in tailings, speedier rehabilitation and restoration of the storage site after mine closure, and ensured water re-availability for future usage. The company has also commissioned a 10 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) facility in Udaipur, and another 5 MLD STP is nearing completion, bringing the total STP capacity built up by it to 60 MLD. This will treat nearly all of Udaipur’s sewage, and the recycled water will be used by its plants, lowering its freshwater use dramatically.
Hindustan Zinc has made notable technological advancements in the area of energy conservation. To achieve their aim of ‘Net Zero’ GHG emissions, it is vital to focus on energy efficiency as well. To that effort, the Zinc Smelter Debari has revamped the Cell House and eliminated current losses through electrolytic cells by successfully replacing 656 concrete cells with poly concrete cells. As a result, the power rating has improved from 6.7 to 7.2, and the electric energy consumption has been reduced from 3616 to 3307 kWh/MT of Zn cathode. Additionally, the turbine refurbishment project is certified as a carbon reduction project by VERRA (the world’s most widely used voluntary GHG program). In the coming year, their captive thermal power plants’ turbines will be revamped, resulting in a decrease of 270,000 tCO2e per year.
Safety isn’t just a set of rules and regulations for Hindustan Zinc’s employees; it’s a way of life. The business places a high value on its employees’ safety and well-being and works to provide the best facilities to achieve this. In 2021, Hindustan Zinc launched a revolutionary InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) surveillance technology based on satellites to offer early warning of surface ground movements. It provides mine-scale surface displacement monitoring with great precision. The company’s Rajpura Dariba Mine (RDM) epitomizes this safe working culture by inventing India’s first staircase-style emergency escape route, which is located 708 metres below the earth. In an emergency, the innovative 25-meter-long escape route will guarantee a seamless and speedy rescue operation from the lowest level of RDM, which is located at 232 Mean Reduced Level (MRL).
Hindustan Zinc is consistently on the quest for innovative technologies to address important societal issues, new proactive initiatives to forecast the unpredictable economy and break down roadblocks to a brighter and smarter future. The business has made tremendous headway in leveraging technology and is eager to adopt emerging innovations in the future, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain capabilities.

The company was awarded ‘Champion’ in Leading Practices in Pandemic Response and ‘Winner’ in Leading Practices in Tech Deployment in HR
Out of 150 nominations from over 50 companies, Hindustan Zinc was recognized for its pandemic response
Udaipur : Hindustan Zinc Limited, India’s leading zinc, lead, and silver producer, has been awarded the ‘People First HR Excellence Award 2021’ on the 22nd of December. Hindustan Zinc was awarded ‘Champion’ in Leading Practices in Pandemic Response and ‘Winner’ Leading Practices in Tech Deployment in HR. The award was presented to the company in a virtual ceremony for its exemplary contributions amid the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, as well as for its cutting-edge technology deployment strategies.

Mr Arun Misra, CEO of Hindustan Zinc, commented on receiving the award, saying, “We are delighted to have received both the awards at the People First HR Excellence 2021 event. I commend the efforts of my team for timely execution of actions during the pandemic for the welfare of stakeholders and communities. We at Hindustan Zinc prioritise people, provide focused-driven excellence in the field of workplace diversity, and recognise the value of human capital as a significant contributor to our success.”
With its employees and communities at the forefront of its thoughts, the company ramped up its CSR efforts during COVID-19 to guarantee that the lives of its employees and those in their operational areas were not impacted. The company ensured that all employees, business partners, and their families are fully vaccinated, and they are also covered by its term insurance the Corona KAVACH Policy.
The company also places a strong emphasis on innovation and technology to make operations more efficient for all stakeholders. The digitalization strategy in the Human Resources department of the company is built on three pillars: Platform, People, and Work. ‘Platform’ to streamline and integrate HR operations under common platforms like SAP, SuccessFactors and Mobility SAP Fiori; ‘People’ to encourage a culture of innovation and sharing among employees, along with activating a digital mindset through a robust change initiative; ‘Work’ to leverage digital tools and apps to deliver solutions that will change the way the company works and support the continuous experimentation and innovation.
The People First HR Excellence Awards aim to highlight the best HR efforts from companies around the geographies and to provide a great opportunity for professionals in the domain to honour the world-class tasks undertaken by their friends and colleagues. This year’s overall categories received 150+ nominations from 50+ organisations representing a diverse range of industries, including manufacturing, automobiles, telecoms, information technology, banking, financial services, insurance, and hospitality.

The company was recognised for its industry-leading practices
The award was presented by Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Hon’ble Minister of Heavy Industries, Government of India
Udaipur : Hindustan Zinc Limited, India’s leading zinc, lead, and silver producer, has been awarded the IEI Industry Excellence Award 2021, instituted by The Institution of Engineers (India). Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey,

Hon’ble Minister of Heavy Industries, Govt. of India, presented the award to Mr. Pradeep Singh, Head Environment & Sustainability, Hindustan Zinc, in a ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi.The IEI Industry Excellence Award honours industry leaders for their innovation, engineering excellence, and capacity to sustain excellence in a competitive environment. The awards were presented to companies that work in Engineering, Manufacturing, and Processing (EMP).
Hindustan Zinc received the award for their innovative practices in the industry they have been involved in, as well as the advancements in industry performance, the emphasis on corporate governance and corporate social responsibility strategies, and other new methods, boosting competitiveness for the greater benefit of society and the country. The company is a pioneer in implementing innovative solutions and smart technology for responsible mining.
The company believes in the philosophy to reduce, reuse and recycle water in order to optimise consumption and provide more water for the community’s use. Being a 2.41x water positive company, it has developed state-of-the-art technologies like Sewage Treatment Plants and Dry Tailing Plants for efficient management and recycling of water. The company has also made several technological advancements in the area of energy conservation. The successful commissioning of a 3000 KLD ZERO LIQUID DISCHARGE RO-ZLD plant at the Zinc Smelter Debari is one of the most remarkable achievements. The Vedanta ethos is ZERO HARM– ZERO WASTE– ZERO DISCHARGE, and several plants under Hindustan Zinc epitomise it.The organisation has been steadily increasing its use of low-carbon and low-emission technology, expanding its renewable energy capacity, and lowering its overall GHG emissions.

SAMADHAN has supported farmers with sustainable, innovative and cost-effective farming techniques
Wide-ranging mandate includes care of livestock, livestock development, increase in crop yield, and strengthening the farming community.
Over 28,000 farmers have benefitted from innovative agricultural practices and cattle breeding and animal advisory services
Farming is one of the major contributors to India’s GDP. Millions of families depend upon this profession. The percentage of the population involved in agriculture is vast, close to 60%, and it is growing. Thus, it is the country’s responsibility to make sure that the industry is well equipped to meet the present and future demands. Hindustan Zinc, under its SAMADHAN Project, has assisted farmers with ways to increase their income-generating capacity.

The primary aspect of farming is the farming methods being used today. India’s farmers should be using innovative and tech-friendly ways to cultivate crops, but unfortunately, many farmers are either not aware of the latest developments, or don’t have the financial means to implement them.
To spread the scientific temper and maximise the productivity of various farms in Rajasthan, the SAMADHAN project was expanded from its initial objectives. It focused on the agrarian community-based in five districts in Rajasthan – Ajmer, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, Udaipur, and Rajsamand.
Through the SAMADHAN program, the company has supported farmers with sustainable, innovative, and cost-effective techniques. As a result, over 35,800 cattle of over 3400 livestock owners, including women farmers, have benefited. By supporting a multi-faceted approach, they have been able to reach out to more than 11,500 families to ensure a plentiful supply of fresh and nutritious feed for cattle and provide 24/7 veterinarian services. By implementing this project, Hindustan Zinc helped improve the livelihood of farmers by providing them with the right technical training. In addition to offering deworming, vaccinations, and artificial insemination (AI) of livestock, the camp also treated diseases associated with the monsoon.
In addition, SAMADHAN has developed over 263 acres of land with fruit-bearing plants, improving the ecological balance and economic security of the community. Through its Integrated Livestock Development Center, SAMADHAN has produced 5338 female progenies and an overall increment of milk production by 19%. Moreover, the animal health camps have catered to more than 1 lakh large and small ruminants.
SAMADHAN is also expanding into ‘Farmer Producer’ institutions/organisations in an effort to strengthen the farming community and improve sustainability. By enhancing and ensuring the efficient trickle-down of agriculture and livestock innovations until the farm level, SAMADHAN will become an aspirational program for other states and regions.
SAMADHAN saw a 12% increase in maize production just in the past year, with an average of 6.3 quintals per bigha. Accordingly, Hindustan Zinc also initiated a hi-tech vegetable cultivation program to produce exotic crops such as Strawberry, Broccoli, and Lettuce. With these interventions and best practices, the farmers were able to earn an increment of average income by INR 20,000 vegetables during the cropping cycle and it goes up to INR 90,000 for exotic English.
SAMADHAN has now been in operation for more than four years with the support of its implementing partner BAIF Livelihoods. During this period, 13,838 farmers benefited from innovative agricultural practices specific to their area and more than 15000 farmers saw improved cattle breeding and animal advisory services.
Hindustan Zinc Limited, joined hands with Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology (MPUAT), and BAIF Livelihoods (Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation), to expand its SAMADHAN program which has since impacted more than 30,000 farmers across the state of Rajasthan.
MPUAT will support the program by providing technical assistance on the farm and educational training at the institution to attract progressive farmers within our community.
Modernising farming methods in this manner enables farmers to become educated, helping the community and villages nearby to become circular economies.
The way farming is done is fundamental for our lives too, as we depend upon those grains for our daily nutritional needs. Therefore, it is highly essential that our agricultural sector receives the best technology and innovation possible. We also need to make sure that the technology is sustainable, keeping the future in mind. Hindustan Zinc will always put every possible effort into empowering and educating the communities residing in rural areas.

Acquisition to drive India’s self-sufficiency in Nickel and Cobalt – metals critical for transition to aGreen economy
Mumbai/Delhi : Vedanta, one of the world’s largest natural resources conglomerates has acquired Nicomet, a leading Nickel and Cobaltproducerbased in Goa. With this acquisition, Vedanta has become India’s sole producer of Nickel. The move is a significant step in Vedanta’s mission towards making India self-reliant in key critical minerals.
The acquisition of Nicometis in line with Vedanta’s ESG missionand is a big step towards supporting India’s carbon neutrality goals.

Nickel, a strategic mineral, is a vital input in the manufacturing of stainless steel and batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). Similarly, Cobalt is a key element for lithium-ion battery for EVs, Energy Storage Systems and has other useslike superalloy for steelmaking. Both Nickel and Cobalt are regarded as the minerals of the future which will play a leading role in transition to renewable and cleaner energy.
In recent years, the value of India’s Nickel and Cobalt imports has been growing steadily. With Vedanta’s foray into production of these critical minerals, India will be in a better position to manufacture EV batteries, the main component for EV vehiclesand support production of high-quality steel products, a key building block for Infrastructure growth.
Certified with ISO 9001 for quality and with strong R&D focus, Nicomethas emerged as a certified producer of high-quality battery grade Nickel Sulphate Crystals used for manufacturing of batteries of electric vehicles globally.India’s demand for nickel is currently pegged at 45 KTPA which is entirely met through imports.At present, Nicomet’s plant has a capacity to produce 7.5 KTPA Nickel & Cobalt. With an ambitious growth plan in place, Vedanta is well poised to meet 50% of the country’s total Nickel demand.
Nicomet marks a major strategic acquisition for Vedanta and is expected tostrengthenits portfolio of Iron and Steel business.
Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal said “We are excited about Vedanta’s foray into nickel and cobalt production which will play a critical role in supporting Govt’s mission for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Nickel and Cobalt are a metal of great strategic importance, especially for our transition towards clean energy and electric mobility. Currently, India imports 100% of its Nickel requirements; our focus will be to boost domestic production that would fuel India’s transition to a Net Zero economy.
The acquisition comes at a time when the nickel market is tightening with a surge in battery demand and an increase in global stainless-steel production in recent years, a trend that is expected to continue into 2022.