Apply – Corporate - SKOCH Ratings

The SKOCH Awards are widely recognised as the highest, most honest independent awards in India. Every year, SKOCH studies governance at both the macro and micro levels to evaluate the true impact of various projects, schemes and efforts on the lives of the intended beneficiaries. This year, the SKOCH Awards are also looking at the corporate sector in India to recognise and celebrate industry leaders, changemakers and trailblazers.

SKOCH studies individual administrative, economic and social sectors with a fine-toothed comb to identify patterns, predict trends and inform better practices. The corporate sector in India is at the very heart of the national economy. It is about so much more than just the business of business: from small-scale agricultural units to global tech giants, from the food on our tables to how we connect with our loved ones – the corporate sector employs, empowers and inspires. And SKOCH recognises the contribution of the corporate sector in India towards generating meaningful employment, boosting the economy, raising the bar for consumer goods and services and undertaking lifechanging CSR initiatives.

The following projects have made the cut for the SKOCH Corporate Award.

Alstom India Paves The Way For Gender Empowerment

Alstom India has done incredible work in promoting gender empowerment in the manufacturing industry. The industry, particularly the heavy engineering niche, is traditionally male-dominated and there are very few opportunities for women on the shop floors. As an equal opportunities organisation, Alstom India’s 2020 Vision seeks to have women make up at least 25% of the total workforce. The policy pushes ideals of inclusivity and global diversity. At present, women constitute 18% of the organisation’s shop floors. Women have been employed in a number of roles such as incoming inspection, planner, supervisor, QMS engineers and fitting engineers in niches such as supply chain, quality, production & assembling, testing & commission, etc.

The organisation has two manufacturing units in Sricity, Tada, and Coimbatore and a conscious effort is made to create employment opportunities for women and offer them training and development courses for the same. Alstom’s diversity push strategy includes ensuring a safe work environment for female employees, hiring locally from polytechnic colleges to augment employee retention, use the positive impact of senior female leadership to inspire other women and offer a comprehensive orientation and Technical & Behavioural Training module to help new employees become familiar with the workflow, company culture and ethics.

The company is particularly sensitive to gendered experiences, taking into consideration the unique challenges of women managing professional and personal responsibilities. Life skills workshops, self-defense trainings, travel and accommodation assistance, etc. are all part of Alstom’s efforts to make women employees feel welcome, safe, respected and appreciated.

Bosch Limited Uses Solar Power

The project for the 2.1 MWp Rooftop Solar Power Plant at Bosch Limited, Nashik, began in August 2014 and was completed in 2015 at a cost of Rs. 15.42 Crores. The plant has been installed on the rooftop of a factory shed, has a capacity of 2.1 MWp and is estimated to generate 3.2 million units annually.

The primary goal of the project is to improve self-reliance and decrease the amount of electricity that has to be bought from the grid, thereby addressing issues of both external dependency and expenditure. Bosch Limited, Nashik, has long been leading the way for sustainability and ecofriendly practices in the niche by prioritising energy efficiency at the plant. The project is an important green initiative by Bosch Limited. The customer has also been recognised by CII as an Excellent Energy Efficient Unit award at the 16th National Competition for Excellence in Energy Management 2015.

Prior to the plant installation, the customer was entirely reliant on buying power from the state grid supply. Not only have this dependency and associated costs been addressed, the facility now has a much lower carbon footprint as compared to below. The plant is supposed to have the highest capacity of rooftop installations in the entire state. It has opened up new avenues for other organisations to repurpose roof-space to generate renewable energy.

Vedanta Ltd. (Cairn Oil & Gas) Runs Zero Flaring During Milling Operations

The project by Cairn Oil & Gas wins in the Environmental Stewardship niche. When milling in tight gas reservoirs, one of the byproducts of the process is the creation of metallic debris and hydro carbon. The Zero Flare system has been implemented to recover the gas generated as part of the process. Since then, multiple milling operations have been carried out without flaring – marking a turning point in the RGT landscape. The mechanism is estimated to have saved 0.96 MM USD and resulted in 30% rental savings by boosting the use of well services units. The positive environmental impact can be measured in turns of 16088 Tons of CO2 equivalent reduced and a more minimal effect on the surrounding biodiversity and community. The project prioritises safety best practices through careful handling and movement of sensitive, hazardous materials. No HSE incidents have taken place since the project was launched.

Infosys Ltd. Recognised For Cybersecurity Initiatives

With an employee base of more than 200 people, Infosys has one of the biggest security teams in the sector for the CISO’s office. The company blends industry best practices with cutting-edge solutions to predict, prevent and mitigate any and all threats to the organisation.

As part of the strategy, multi-layered anti-APT solutions have been deployed for emails, network and web to prevent and catch zero day attacks. Endpoint DLP solutions have been implemented all through. Incident management and intelligent user behaviour analytics are being carried out using User Entity and Behavior Analytics (UEBA). The most advanced IT GRC solutions are used to facilitate workflow and improved process management and reporting. The Infosys Cyber Defense Center (CDC) uses the latest technology and domain expertise to develop proactive and reactive incident management programmes. Threat intelligence is prioritised at the operational, strategic and tactical levels.

As a result of these efforts, security issues have come to be at the forefront of organisational priorities. Numerous threats have been proactively recognised and addressed. 120 Cyber Security Projects have been introduced and 50% of these have successfully helped in meeting specific targets that have contributed to the overall evolution of the company’s security character. Risk identification and reduction has noticeably matured using a multi-tiered security solutions approach. The organisation was able to protect itself and advised Client CxOs against the severe ransomware attacks that had plagued enterprises worldwide sometime back

The driving goals behind the cybersecurity initiatives are to develop a mature security culture, push the envelope on a consistent basis, enhance business security and build dynamic ‘detect and respond’ capacity.

Larsen And Toubro Limited Invest In Upskilling Rural Youth

Larsen And Toubro Limited runs the Construction Skills Training Institute to help create career opportunities for the rural youth. Under the programme, the trainees are offered skills training and boarding and lodging at the institute free of cost. The institute was set up in 2011 with the goal of meeting two related needs: plugging the skills scarcity in the country and created a more skilled workforce. The construction industry requires a skilled workforce that is familiar with the latest tech and sustainable building practices, which is not the norm with the Indian construction labour force. The Indian workforce does not undergo a formal training and certification process prior to being employed in the sector. The future of the industry will be defined by a demand for highly skilled workers familiar with concepts like energy efficient constructions, sustainability, low carbon emissions in construction processes, minimal site waste, etc. And so, the institute offers training programmes for executives, front line supervisors, trainers, workmen and safety and scaffolding workshops for L&T site officials and Modular Mobile Training Facility for site-based skilling for workmen.

Nestlé India Limited Works For Public Health

Project Jagriti was launched in December 2015 by Nestlé India in collaboration with Mamta Health Institute for Mother and Child (MAMTA). The goal of the project is to help beneficiaries attain and maintain higher standards of health and nutrition at important life age milestones, from adolescence and young couples to pregnancy and caregiving. The project was launched in Delhi with a pilot target of 100,000 slum residents. The goal was to educate people and raise awareness and community participation vis-à-vis proper nutrition and breastfeeding habits. The project also worked to facilitate access to public healthcare services. It has been introduced in 15 districts of Delhi, Bihar, Chandigarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. It focuses on health, nutrition and sanitation in underprivileged communities and pushes for enhanced penetration of health services therein. The project works to engage community stakeholders and the healthcare system. It has also worked to develop peer mentor support groups for pregnant and lactating women. Community-driven strategies are designed to tackle issues of teenage pregnancy, child marriage, sexually transmitted diseases, gender-based violence, unhealthy menstrual hygiene habits, etc. Young married couples are educated about matters like interpersonal communication, pregnancy planning, spacing births, gender-based nutritional needs and sexual and reproductive health.

Suzlon Energy Limited Develops India’s Longest Turbine Blade

As one of the global leaders in the renewable energy solutions niche, Suzlon Group is constantly reinventing the wheel. Suzlon Group is using product innovation to push for more sustainable industry practices. The organisation has set an industry benchmark in the design and development of carbon fibre blades. They have made news for designing and building the longest blade in India, the Blade SB63. The blaze is the first full carbon girder blade by Suzlon and measures 63 metres. The blade is used in S128 – the largest Wind Turbine Generator in the country, also installed by Suzlon. The turbine generator has a rotor diameter of 128 metres. This creation has helped decrease the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCoE). The use of carbon fibre is innovation at its best because it allows thinner aerodynamic profiles to function optimally in low wind sites while withstanding immense amounts of stress loads.

Tata Communications Ltd. Recognised For CSR Initiative

Tata Communications Ltd. launched the Integrated Development Program for Children through Sports, Educational Interventions and Internet Connectivity Support in 2014 and it continues to operate even now. The programme has done transformational work in the fields of education, healthcare, nutrition and acquiring international exposure. 1700 students have been helped as part of the programme and 150 teachers were trained. Literacy programmes were arranged for 100 mothers for scholars of the Parikrma Humanity Foundation. This particular partnership offers a financial commitment and holistic support to the latter, allowing an opportunity for sustained changemaking. The joint effort also offers an adult literacy programme.

TVS Motor Company Raises Cybersecurity Standards

The Cyber Security project by the TVS Motor Company was launched in September 2020. A lot of businesses are blending Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT). One of the drawbacks of this is that the clearly-defined security boundaries between the two niches are distorted and as a result, the threat of cyber risks is a very real one. In order to address these concerns, the project by TVS looks at safeguarding both the IT and OT environments through proactive monitoring and response mechanisms. The goal is to prevent business losses by avoiding unintentional downtime caused by cyber security threats. The OT security solution has been designed to tackle the threats endemic in the IT-OT convergence landscape by applying some critical security controls to the OT environments. The focus areas include Asset Identification & Management, Behavior-Based Anomaly Detection & Signature-Based Intrusion Detection, Continuous Threat Detection, Governance, Network Segmentation & Micro-segmentation, Remote Incident Management, Risk & Vulnerability Management and Security Monitoring & Threat Detection. The programme works to recognise the biggest security challenges and requirements, create a framework from the selected solutions and isolate fault lines in said framework in order to enhance efficacy.

Recent SKOCH Awardees from Corporate