Crafting Enterprise Eco-Strategies For Long-Term Growth

In an exclusive interview with Thiruamuthan, Assistant Editor at Industry Outlook, Ankit Todi, Chief Sustainability Officer of Mahindra Group, discusses how Indian enterprises are embedding sustainability into strategy through green aligned businesses.

Ankit Todi, a strategic business leader with 10+ years of experience across sustainability, consulting, and innovation, specializes in ESG strategy, clean-tech partnerships, and value-chain transformation. He has advised global enterprises, driven Mahindra’s green transition, and actively mentors climate-tech startups.

With ESG disclosures recently becoming mandatory for top Indian companies, how are enterprises aligning eco-practices with compliance while ensuring long-term value?

As a business group, we have been investing time and energy in ESG-related initiatives for the last 18 plus years, and a lot of this was done voluntarily earlier. Over time, the increased interest from both the investor ecosystem and regulators is a testament to the value that early investment in this space yields better results.

From a value perspective, ESG, in our view, forms the foundation of long-term corporate success and resilience. It's one of the building blocks for a long-term stable company. The E part of ESG in particular translates to very clear economic value. Areas like renewable energy or energy efficiency, for example, lead to significant economic value.

At the same time, a lot of the work happening in the broader ESG framework allows different departments to work closely together and engage with all kinds of stakeholders—government, investors, employees, and the supply chain. Generally, these efforts drive and create value.

That value often comes through revenue uplift, cost savings, risk mitigation, and better brand value, especially with the investor ecosystem. In the case of Mahindra, we see all of these benefits accruing from the investments we have made in our ESG journey, specifically on the environment side.

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As renewable energy adoption accelerates in corporate India, to what extent are enterprises embedding clean energy sourcing into their broader eco-strategy frameworks?

Renewable energy is one area where the economic case and the environment case are strongly aligned, and as a result, many companies are committed to transitioning towards renewable energy. From a Mahindra Group perspective, we have been committed to getting as close to 100 percent renewable energy as possible by 2030 or sooner. Currently, across the group, our annual electricity spend is approximately ₹500–700 crore, with ~30% sourced from renewables.

We are undertaking a wide variety of projects, both in-house and through power purchase agreements, which will help us reach about 60–65 percent renewable energy in the next couple of years. From there, we are working on additional solutions, both technology and policy-related, to continue our transition. The business case for renewable energy is very strong, both environmentally and economically, with very good payback periods.

From a sustainability perspective, we are not stopping at adopting renewable energy within Mahindra alone – we are also driving this across our entire value chain. From dealers in the auto industry to suppliers in the manufacturing ecosystem, we are taking measures to create awareness and accelerate the adoption of renewable energy.

We are also addressing different policy-related challenges. While the central government is strongly aligned with the transition, there are operational issues at different state levels, such as billing, that we are working to resolve in order to accelerate progress.

With water scarcity intensifying across India’s industrial hubs, why is integrating water stewardship beyond token conservation initiatives critical for enterprise sustainability?

Water is a very critical resource, and similar to renewable energy, we are committed to becoming water-positive as a company. In fact, we have been water positive since 2014.

Water positive means giving back more water through recycling or groundwater recharge than what we consume. At a group level, we have been doing this for many years, and we are now ensuring that at a business and site level we are also water positive in as many locations as possible. There is risk mitigation that happens through water security for the group. We also have Mahindra EPC, a drip irrigation business, which is an enabler for water security.

From the renewable sector, we manage large-scale projects through Mahindra Susten and Mahindra Teqo. Here, we have completely transitioned from water-based cleaning of solar panels to robotic cleaning, leading to significant water savings, especially in regions where water is scarce.

Water is something every business should invest in—as a board-level commitment and a long-term risk mitigation measure. It is also essential to run CSR initiatives in water conservation and watershed programs over the years.

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Considering India’s growing waste management challenges and circular economy push, in what ways are companies redesigning product lifecycles to balance profitability with ecological responsibility?

Waste management and circularity require businesses to focus on three key areas. The first is a commitment to becoming zero waste to landfill. At operational sites, this means reducing waste generation, recycling, and reusing as much as possible—either directly or through partners—and sending minimal waste to landfills.

The second is investment in material circularity. Especially for the manufacturing sector and for sectors which are construction-oriented, such as real estate; businesses should think: how do we use less material and low-emission material? How do we use recycled materials and recyclable materials? That’s the principle every business should try to apply in its work.

Perhaps not in every area, but using less material is economically better. At the same time, even using low-emission materials and recycled materials has already started making economic sense. In a few other areas, these are slightly more difficult problems, and as a result, we are engaging with both our supply chain partners with different innovative solutions and, in some cases, with the government to see how we can enable circularity of materials.

Steel remains a complex challenge for circularity, requiring supplier engagement and policy-level interventions.

The third area is circular business models. For example, the group’s end-of-life vehicle recycling business. While we manufacture cars and other kinds of vehicles, we have a business called Cero, which handles end-of-life vehicles and closes the loop on the vehicle ecosystem. Similarly, we also partner with a number of innovative startups for battery reuse and recycling.

Generally speaking, from waste management to circular materials to circular business models across the value chain, we are trying to do a few things across the different group companies.

Amid rising investor scrutiny of greenwashing, which initiatives are Indian enterprises prioritizing to strengthen transparency and accountability for genuine sustainability commitments?

Transparency and disclosure are foundational to robust ESG practice. We publish our sustainability and annual reports and actively participate in multiple ESG-related ratings and benchmarks. At the same time, the focus is evolving—moving beyond reporting into areas that drive tangible business value, whether through revenue growth, cost efficiency, risk mitigation, or enhanced brand equity across customers, employees, and the broader ecosystem.

Increasingly, the emphasis is on accelerating meaningful change. Renewable energy is one example; water stewardship and circular economy initiatives are others. These are the kinds of interventions where investor attention is shifting – and where it must continue to deepen.

As expectations evolve, enterprises must move beyond compliance to demonstrate authentic, measurable sustainability outcomes that reflect both strategic intent and long-term impact.