Vedanta HZL CSR Udaipur

As a chairman, the focus will be to facilitate long-term viability of sustainable mining operations
Udaipur : The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI), a leading mining body, has appointed Arun Misra, CEO and Whole-Time Director, Hindustan Zinc, as its Chairman of Sustainable Mining Initiative – A Sustainable Committee of FIMI during an event in Bhubaneshwar. Arun Misra currently also serves as the Chairman of the International Zinc Association. Hindustan Zinc, India’s largest and the world’s second-largest zinc-lead miner, is an industry leader with over five decades of mining and smelting experience. As a fully integrated player with a keen focus on delivering holistic value to its stakeholders, the company is committed to safe, smart, and sustainable operations.

On the occasion, Arun Misra said, “We must value the resources provided by mother earth both above the ground (agriculture) and below the ground (minerals). Minerals are not only vital inputs in our daily lives but also necessary for India’s growth have always believed that India is blessed with a plethora of mineral resources which will play an important role in realizing the dream of AatmaNirbhar Bharat. As a Chairman of Governing council of Sustainable Mining Initiative of FIMI, my focus will be on mineral conservation while creating a sustainable environment and enabling mines to become net zero. My efforts have and will continue to be dedicated to this growth journey.”
The Indian mining sector is now at a crucial stage following the greenfield and brownfield mine auctions. Given that the country’s current mining ecosystem is dynamic, it is imperative that all stakeholders, including policymakers and the industry, adopt global best practices and collaborate in order to ensure long-term sustainability for the sector. The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI), established in 1966, is a national apex body that seeks to promote the interests of all mining, mineral processing, metal making, and other mineral-based industries. FIMI has more than 400 direct members and 25 regional associations which represent local small mining units across the country.
Following Arun Misra’s appointment as Chairman of Sustainable Mining Initiative, FIMI has hosted the Sustainable Mining Summit 2022 from 28th – 29th April 2022 at Hotel Mayfair Lagoon in Bhubaneswar. The summit’s primary aim was to put together a roadmap for sustainable mining in India. They emphasised on how our mines need to compete with global mines in terms of productivity, efficiency & safety as well as environment management and developing skilled workforce to handle imported sophisticated mining equipment. Various stakeholders, including government agencies, regulators, industry stalwarts, practising managers, NGOs, academicians, and strategists, came together during the summit to deliberate these issues afflicting the Indian mining industry as it inches closer to a new era in its history.

The company is guided by the fundamental principles of conserving resources, negating the impacts of our ecological footprint and adopting policies that ensure zero harm to the environment
Sustainable development is an integral part of Hindustan Zinc’s business philosophy thus ‘Investing in our Planet’ Earth is a core focus for the company as there is no planet B. The company has taken a holistic view in setting the sustainability goals 2025 and over the next five years, they will focus on expanding the work towards creating positive changes. As a part of its Sustainable Development goals, Hindustan Zinc fosters innovation in the pursuit of a ZERO HARM ecosystem, conservation of resources, improvement of health, safety, and sustainability practices across its operations.

The company focuses on five core elements water, climate change, waste, energy and biodiversity management, setting targets for each and directing our efforts towards improving processes and technologies.
Little drops make the mighty ocean
Water is a necessity which warrants maximum efforts for its conservation as well as proper management. Hindustan Zinc understands the importance and adopts best practices for making judicious use of water and conserving it. The company constantly looks to enhance and improve its water use efficiency by using less water-intensive technologies and maximising water recycling opportunities to help minimise the use of freshwater.
As a water positive company, Hindustan Zinc operates Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) in Udaipur. With a current capacity of 60 MLD, the STP can treat nearly all the sewage in the city and deliver processed water that can be reused at the company’s plant. The company’s RO-ZLD plant at Zinc Smelter Debari eliminates waste & discharge and recycles water for reuse in the company’s operations
Yet another noteworthy water conservation effort initiated by Hindustan Zinc are the rainwater harvesting structures at the company’s Rampura Agucha Mine (RAM). These structures enable rainwater harvesting and help replenish water within local watersheds to help Hindustan Zinc further reduce freshwater consumption.
Combating Climate Change
Climate change and extreme weather trends have been recognised as one of the key risks faced by humanity. Hindustan Zinc has taken concrete steps towards tackling climate change. The dedicated environmental sustainability efforts has led the company to take on the role of ‘COP26 Business Leader’ in shaping the agenda for COP 26.
The company had launched its first Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Report based on TCFD recommendations and guidance to align their reporting process with best practice of global climate reporting. Further, demonstrating its pledge to assist the fight against climate change, Hindustan Zinc has committed to the long-term target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 in alignment with the Science-Based Target initiative (SBTi).
Hindustan Zinc understands that the pursuit of environmental sustainability must be multifaceted and that is why biodiversity conservation too is an important aspect of the company’s green efforts. To that end, Hindustan Zinc joined the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) forum and has entered a three year-long engagement with TNFD partner, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Hindustan Zinc’s ingenuity in this regard is also witnessed in the fact that it repurposes waste generated at its facilities for construction of roads. The company also holds a US patent for manufacturing of paver blocks from process waste which is a unique model of creating livelihood opportunities for its communities.
Bringing Smart Solutions to Operations
To realize its dream to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 Hindustan zinc is investing in the latest technologies benchmarking global practices and bringing subject matter experts on board. the company is all set to invest $1 billion to turn its mining operations environment-friendly. To this regards the company has signed an MoU with Normet Group Oy and Epiroc Drills AB to deploy EVs for production & front-line servicing in their underground mines.
Hindustan Zinc also understands the journey towards decarbonisation needs more than just replacing underground frontline vehicles with electric alternatives and has a fleet of electric scooters for security staff, passenger EVs, and underground service EVs for mines.
The company is conscious about the fact that switching to renewable power helps in reducing carbon emissions to half and has undertaken ?350 crore-investment project in renewable energy for its smelting operations. Towards this goal, the company has approved the proposal for entering long term group captive Renewable Power development plan up to a capacity of 200MW.

The Company follows a strict Code of Conduct and encourages the reporting of irregularities via the whistle-blower mechanism, Hindustan Zinc is consistently focused on ensuring regular mapping and mitigation of all risks that could potentially impact their business
Udaipur : Hindustan Zinc, India’s only and the world’s second-largest integrated zinc-lead-silver producer received the “Masters of Risk in Fraud Prevention &Ethics Management” in the Large-cap category at the 8th edition of The India Risk Management Awards during the award ceremony in Mumbai. The award was presented to the MAS (Management Assurance Service) team of Hindustan Zinc. Mr. Bhargav Dasgupta (MD & CEO, ICICI Lombard) along with Ms. Latha Venkatesh (Executive Editor, CNBC-TV 18) and Mr. Nirmalya Kumar (World-renowned Business Strategist) were the chief guests at the event.

On this occasion, Mr. Arun Misra, CEO said “At Hindustan Zinc the risk management profile is based on a highly transparent system in which teams at all levels are encouraged to report any type or category of risk via various online reporting platforms. This award is a testament to our systems and processes in place to mitigate risks and ensuring smooth operations, people management & compliance frameworks with a top to bottom management approach.”
The India Risk Management Awards recognize the organizations and teams that have significantly contributed to the understanding and practice of risk management. As a responsible corporate, Hindustan Zinc is committed to effective risk management, which is critical to the success of the company’s business. Hindustan Zinc is consistently focused on ensuring regular mapping and mitigation of all risks that could potentially impact their business. The company has implemented a well-defined risk management framework that allows them to identify, assess, categorise, address, and mitigate all relevant risks through a well-defined process with defined roles and responsibilities assigned at each stage.
Hindustan Zinc adheres to a strict Code of Conduct and encourages reporting of irregularities through the whistleblower mechanism. To prevent fraud, the Company has put in place a number of control measures. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and ethics training, updated SOPs, IT/authorization controls, and consequence management are used to carry out these measures.