Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ABFRL Sustainability Report 22
ABFRL Sustainability Report 22
OUR WINGSPAN
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT/2021-22
INDEX
IN THE REPORT
01
EXECUTIVE
MESSAGES
05
COMPANY
PROFILE
12
REPORTING SCOPE,
33 ENVIRONMENT 85 SAFETY
24
SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS
AND RECOGNITIONS
55 FINANCIAL 105 SOCIAL
ANNEXURES
25 61 131 191 197 199 204
CORPORATE PRODUCT TCFD SDG ASSURANCE GRI CONTENT
GOVERNANCE PEOPLE REPONSIBILITY ALIGNMENT MAPPING STATEMENT INDEX
MESSAGE FROM THE
CHAIRMAN
ESG-driven Growth
guardrails that underpin our Group's ethos.
01 02
MESSAGE FROM THE MESSAGE FROM THE
MANAGING DIRECTOR CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER
sustainable packaging, sustainable livelihood, disposed to land ll from any of our operations. Against our
commitment of using % sustainable packaging material
ESG advocacy and thought leadership, by , we have achieved over %.
PROFILE
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Company Pro le
THE GROUP In FY, ABFRL signed an agreement to acquire .%
stake in designer Masaba Gupta's 'House of Masaba'. This
Aditya Birla Group is a premium global conglomerate in the League of Fortune . Anchored by an extraordinary force
partnership aims to create a young, aspirational and
of over , employees belonging to nationalities, the Group is built on a strong foundation of stakeholder value
digital-led brand across the affordable luxury segment in
creation. The Group is a member of numerous global sustainability organisations, including the United Nations Global
the fashion, beauty and accessory categories. The
Compact and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and has followed responsible business practices
initiative is part of the company's overall strategy of
for over seven decades.
partnering with India's top most designers to build a
portfolio of distinctive and aspirational home-grown
brands across fashion and lifestyle categories. The
Company also announced the signing of a long-term
ADITYA BIRLA FASHION & RETAIL LIMITED
licensing agreement with Reebok, which grants it
ABFRL is part of the Aditya Birla Group. The Company exclusive rights to distribute and sell Reebok products
To align with the evolving market, ABFRL through wholesale, e-commerce and branded retail
has become India's leading fashion powerhouse in
recent years. With revenue of INR , Cr. spanning is also partnering with gen-next focused stores in India. This deal marks company's foray into
across retail space of . million sq. ft., it is India's rst India's fast-growing sports and activewear segment
fashion and lifestyle businesses creating
billion-dollar pure-play fashion powerhouse with an Besides, ABFRL has a repertoire of industry's largest,
elegant bouquet of leading fashion brands, and one of the next set of iconic brands young,
strongest and most resilient fashion brands including
India's most well-known retail formats, Pantaloons. aspirational and digital- rst brand. Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, and Peter
The Company is focused on leveraging its strong brand England. It also holds exclusive online and offline rights
portfolio, evolving its product pro le in line with to the India network of California-based fast fashion
changing consumer preferences, expanding its reach brand Forever . The international brands include - The
across channels and accelerating its omni-channel play. Collective, India's largest multi-brand retailer of
international brands, Simon Carter and select mono-
brands such as American Eagle, Ralph Lauren, Hackett
London, Ted Baker, Fred Perry and Reebok.
DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER BRAND The Company's foray into branded ethnic wear business
includes brands such as Jaypore, Tasva & Marigold Lane.
The Company has strategic partnerships with designers
ABFRL plans portfolio of up to 'Shantanu & Nikhil', 'Tarun Tahiliani', 'Sabyasachi' and
05 06
COMPANY ABFRL
PROFILE
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
HIGHLIGHTS (CONSOLIDATED)
REVENUE
8,136
MARKET UPDATES ABFRL FY22 HIGHLIGHTS
(INR crore)
Strong recovery post COVID Wave Strengthened Portfolio
Ÿ After a short dip, demand rebounded Ÿ Acquired Reebok's India operations to build strong play
7,824
in sportswear
Ÿ Increase in footfalls across malls and high streets as
pandemic impact weakens Ÿ Launched premium men's ethnic wear brand 'TASVA' &
REVENUE
Standalone (INR crore)
women's ethnic wear brand 'Marigold Lane'
Accelerated digitalisation spurred by pandemic Ÿ Added 'House of Masaba' to the portfolio
2,789
Ÿ Brands continued to increase their online presence
and utilize data analytics to offer personalised Category Extension EQUITY
solutions to customer (INR crore)
Ÿ Continued Category extensions through AS Tribe,
Ÿ Brands are investing heavily in omni-channel play VH Flex, Louis, Street Armor, etc.
28,344
Ÿ Direct selling to customers without any Ÿ Strengthened Pantaloons private label play in
intermediaries is an emerging business model Home, Saree & Athleisure MARKET CAPITALIZATION
Ÿ Introduced kids segment in Peter England; scaled up as on 31st Mar 2022 (INR crore)
In ationary pressure kids wear in Allen Solly & Pantaloons
Ÿ Continued pressure on textile value chain leading
NET DEBT
504
to cost in ation Aggressive Retail Expansion
Ÿ In ation countered by price increases Ÿ Retail expansion across brands and markets (INR crore)
Ÿ Several cost saving measures implemented in Ÿ Piloting innovative partner models to further
order to maintain/increase margins distribution in newer markets
RETAIL SPACE
9.2
Ÿ Continued expansion into Tier and below markets
Brick & Mortar bouncing back Ÿ New incubated business to undertake an (million sq. ft.)
Ÿ As the markets came back to normal with the accelerated network expansion approach in the
24,500+
pandemic waning off, need for a real-life experience coming years
brought consumers back to offline retail
EMPLOYEES
Digital Acceleration
Emergence of new categories Ÿ E-commerce business grew by % over LY;
Ÿ Ethnic Wear market has evolved into a fashion trend currently at a scale of INR ~, Cr.
driven by a shift from tailored wear to ready-to-wear
3,091
Ÿ One of the largest fashion omni-channel plays with
and rising need of young Indians to rediscover their
~% network omni-enabled BRAND
culture and heritage
Ÿ Embarked on a journey to build a portfolio of STORES
Ÿ Fusion wear, Athleisure and Kids Wear have seen
digital- rst brands
growth in recent times
PANTALOONS
STORES 377
CITIES 900+
07 08
COMPANY ABFRL
PROFILE
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
± + stores for Peter England's small-town format Shantanu & Nikhil
± More than stores in Allen Solly Prime Ÿ FY revenue ahead of LY by %
Jaypore
± Business has now piloted similarly modeled small-town Ÿ Two new stores opened in FY
formats for Van Heusen and Louis Philippe FY revenue grew by % over LY led by strong retail
Ÿ Consistently investing in strengthening brand equity
expansion and growth in E-commerce business
Ÿ Aggressive retail expansion with new stores during
PANTALOONS TASVA the year
Ÿ Brand receiving excellent customer feedback as Ÿ New categories showing strong consumer pull
Ÿ Posted revenue of INR , Cr. at % growth YoY
re ected in high store conversion rate
& % LTL ± Home & Accessories grew ~% over LY
Ÿ The brand that commenced its journey this year started
± Men's apparel business grew x
Ÿ Added stores during the year to exit with with stores and plans to growth the footprint
stores
Van Heusen – Active Athleisure Innerwear
multifold by the end of next scal
Ÿ FY revenue grew by % YoY Masaba Gupta
Ÿ Launched Premium Women's Ethnic brand
'Marigold Lane' Ÿ E-commerce continued with strong growth Ÿ Acquired majority stake in brand 'House of Masaba'
momentum; revenue up % over LY Ÿ Entry into Beauty & Personal Care segment
Ÿ E-Commerce exhibited aggressive progression
Ÿ Continued the aggressive network expansion Ÿ Build a truly digital rst brand
± PT.com showed strong traction with % growth
± Now selling at ~, MBOs
± New website launched with improved CX
± Also building a strong retail network Sabyasachi
± More than % network is now Omni-enabled
± Strengthened its position as a favorite denim brand Ÿ Acquired exclusive rights for Reebok
India operations
± Gradually building strong departmental-store network
Ÿ Integration process underway
09 10
COMPANY ABFRL
PROFILE
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
11 1. Little England Apparels is located in Thalli, Tamil Nadu | 2. Mancheshwar Apparels is located in Mancheshwar, Odisha | 3. Scope is limited to Safety only 12
SUSTAINABILITY ABFRL
& US
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Sustainability & Us
ABFRL retained
As we dive into the post-pandemic next normal phase
loomed by uncertainty and deepening asymmetries,
business recovery strategies have placed Environment,
The scienti c evidence is clear, and the UN Climate Change Conference (COP ) recently held in Glasgow
reiterated that it is very likely that the burgeoning needs of the world shall have serious impacts on the
global business ecosystem resulting in a climate crisis, if not acted in a pragmatic way to limit global
temperature rise to .°C.
13 14
SUSTAINABILITY ABFRL
& US
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
1
Identifying and understanding set ourselves on a transition - Sustainability . - from
value chain aspects across 'Process-led to Product-led', with a agenda
Industry sector Geography Value chain approach to Time geographies for a sector
focussing on product design and development,
customer centricity and supply chain.
of operation of operation include key stakeholders horizon
2
Our objective is to nurture an ecosystem that is
Prioritising material aspects across
ethical, equitable and environmentally conscious,
time horizons and stakeholder with innovation and digitalisation acting as
expectations overarching pillars.
3
Developing sustainable business impactful transformations across the fashion value
strategies with time-based targets chain. This combination of sustainability-friendly
products at pocket-friendly prices has the potential to
mainstream sustainability faster and more efficiently.
15 16
SUSTAINABILITY ABFRL
& US
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
SUSTAINABILITY 2.0
We are focussing on 'clean by design'
products by working on alternate
materials, sustainable production
processes and sustainable packaging
Safety
Zero severity at
Inclusive Sustainable
Green Building
Communities Certi ed Build Collaborations
Environment
Sustainable Product Intensity OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Labels Achieve
De ne and achieve Clean by Design 5% reduction Along with the three pillars, empowering communities we operate in and establishing conducive work
target based on environment through robust occupational health & safety (OHS) framework are equally critical to us. Over the years
sustainable attributes Sustainable we have progressed multi-fold in terms of outreach and impact. Going forward, we commit to create a more
for product labeling Scope 3
Attributes Emissions equitable and inclusive society by nurturing pathways leading to sustainable transformation and social
50% garments Achieve 5% reduction integration.
to have
Circular Economy 2 sustainable When it comes to OHS, our management systems coupled with effective and robust governance assures that our
Recycle or upcycle attributes Sustainability Index employees and infrastructure are not exposed to high-risk incidents and illnesses at the workplace. Over the years,
10% products Assess critical our systems, procedures and protocols have been seamlessly tested with time, including during the ever-growing
by volume Tier 1 & 2 suppliers uncertain circumstances like COVID- pandemic, providing ° vigilance across our office spaces, factories,
and disclose results
warehouses and retail stores.
The strong business recovery, growth and expansion is magnifying the need for strengthened change management
practices, and our Health & Safety framework is playing a vital role, kick-starting with the due-diligence assessment
Customer Centricity Design & Development Supply Chain to daily on-site assessments, ensuring the common goal 'Zero severity at our premises' is achieved. Going
forward, we envisage strengthening our management systems at work place far beyond compliance, international
and national standards, and ABG technical standard requirements.
17 18
SUSTAINABILITY ABFRL
& US
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
A S
VA
Resource conservation | Sustainable materials
Co
m pl
ian
ce
40
) s RAW MATERIAL SOURCING
20 Energy management | Human rights and compliance
Co ns
n
o
tto
Alternate
C, Z Coll
Supplier
Materials
C,
Sustainability
s
nd
Index
Elimination
MANUFACTURING
Tre
Na
(S A
of Single
Use Plastic
tio
eg a
na
ality - Manufac
|M
l Age
l- ri All Own
CSR (Farming) ria t
en Facilities -
ng
e
pm Su
ent Goals
at
lo p Green
-W
Building
e
Certi cation
pl
Design & Dev
areh
yC
Certi ed
ousing - L
Sustainable PRODUCT
Design & FOCUS Responsible Sustainable packaging | Plastic waste management
velopm
Development Chemical
GHG emission management | Zero Waste to Land ll
Tool Management
o gist
se
cs
i
e
-U -U
- of
D
se -
stic
euse - End R
MARKETING AND SALES
b l e
W
a
ast
ta
e
us
Product Global
S
Di
Labelling Platforms
scl
USE
o
Disclosure of Takeback
s ur
END TO END
Circularity | Recycling and upcycling
19 20
SUSTAINABILITY ABFRL
& US
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
A summary of the missions, respective targets and status for FY is depicted below. MISSION TARGET FY21ACHIEVEMENT STATUS
CSR
ReEarth Missions - Status Dashboard FY 2021-22
MISSION TARGET FY 22 ACHIEVEMENT STATUS No. of bene ciaries (Target) Achievement
Healthcare
& Sanitation 130,102 165,799
WATER Water positive
Water positive across our facilities
Sustainable
Livelihoods 1,663 1,163
41% arti
renewable water
i.e., 61,827 kl of rainwater harvested and
Water &
Watershed 36,390 40,490
cially recharged within premises
Others - Village
72%
recycle / reuse
i.e., 1,08,241 kl wastewater treated
Development Project
(Tree Plantation, etc.) 8,100 9,987
and reused within premises
86% packaging
PACKAGING
2 lakh sq. ft.
100% sustainable sustainable
GREEN To minimise the packaging
BUILDING environmental impacts from
our built environment across of our built environment is under the green
facilities by pursuing green building certi cation process under the logistics
building certi cation and warehouse rating system by IGBC
LEED Zero Water rating system 61% have at least 1 sustainability attribute
under USGBC SUSTAINABLE 50% products by volume to of products by volume
PRODUCTS have at least one sustainable
attribute
Net-Zero Energy buildings The pilot of two certi ed facilities under the
IGBC Net Zero Energy Rating System is in progress Higg Assessment for brands BRM self-assessment for ve brands
& own factories (Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Pantaloons
and Van Heusen Inner Wear)
CIRCULAR
ECONOMY
Zero waste to
land ll Zero waste FEM & FSLM self-assessment for all nine facilities
disposed to land ll is achieved across ABFRL facilities
FEM veri cation through SAC nominated verifying body for
ve of our factories (FCL, EGL, HAL, EAL, LEA)
& US
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Sustainability Awards
COLLABORATING FOR
ACCELERATING SUSTAINABILITY
and Recognitions
We have participated in and collaborated with various Some of our key initiatives and collaborations on
global platforms and ESG Indices such as UNEP, SAC, sustainability include:
ZDHC, CAIF, GIZ, Ellen McArthur Foundation, SU.RE,
CII, FICCI, IACC, and S&P Global. Along with our active Jeanologia - Technology Partnership
participation, we have also contributed ~ lakhs directly ABFRL entered in a technology partnership with
towards accelerating advocacy of the issues that are of Jeanologia to create an ethical, sustainable, and eco-
relevance and signi cance to our stakeholder groups in efficient textile and apparel industry. We also collaborated Our sustainability maturity and leadership has contributed towards achievement of
the pursuit of long-term value creation. with Color Threads Inc. to launch inStem's 'G-Fab' global recognition and various other accolades in this decade of sustainability journey.
Technology for making antiviral masks in India. This year, we continued to win accolades from prominent forums and organisations.
This assisted us in staying relevant and provided us an
opportunity to benchmark our sustainability
performance with domestic and global peers, and also Green Madura Challenge
ensured alignment with global as well as national We conducted a 'Green Madura' challenge with a primary
sustainability agenda. goal of seeking innovative, feasible and scalable
sustainable products and supply chain initiatives.
Along with that, it contributed towards our achievement
of global recognition and various other accolades in this
GIZ develoPPP Project
decade of sustainability journey including ranking as
Collaborated with GIZ to focus on material innovation,
Asia's Most Sustainable Company by S&P Global CSA,
reduce inputs of harmful substances, increase textile-to-
Golden Peacock Award for Sustainability, CII-ITC textile recycling, develop alternatives to plastic
Sustainability Award for 'Outstanding packaging, and foster traceability. It will also support the
Accomplishment in Corporate Excellence', and IGBC industry to match supply and demand which was
Green Village Award for one of our CSR programme. witnessing pressure due to resource constraints.
Going forward, imperatives for sustainability will only
intensify and collective efforts with a pragmatic Brand Sustainability Dashboard
approach shall contribute in holistic growth of our It provides accessibility of data across the organisation and
business. helps strengthen brand communications that creates a
stronger relationship with customers. The Brand
Dashboard emerged from our strategic sustainability focus
shift from facility operations to a product-centric approach.
The dashboard rests on a solid data repository structured
GOVERNANCE
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Corporate
Governance PHILOSOPHY AND PRINCIPLES
We are committed to the highest standards of business ethics and corporate governance. The governance philosophy is
Business sustainability stems from effective corporate our road to consistent, competitive, pro table and responsible growth, creating long-term value for our stakeholders.
governance. Sound corporate governance ensures The governance philosophy of the Group and ABFRL rests on the following basic tenets viz.
accountability, transparency, rule of law at all levels and
efficient management of economic, environmental and
social aspects that impact the business. TRANSPARENCY ETHICS REVIEW
AND DISCLOSURES Our practices ensure that Regular review of
25 26
CORPORATE ABFRL
GOVERNANCE
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
The Board Committees play a crucial role in the governance of the Company. Formed with
the approval of the Board, the Committees function under their respective terms of
The Board references framed in accordance with the Companies Act and the Securities and
The Board is at the core Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations & Disclosure Requirements) Regulations .
of the corporate
governance system of
ABFRL. The Board is
The Committees meet at regular intervals and take the necessary steps to perform the duties entrusted by the Board.
responsible for, and
Each Committee demonstrates the highest levels of governance standards and has the requisite expertise to handle
committed to, sound
issues relevant to their elds. These Committees devote time and provide focussed attention to various issues placed
principles of corporate
before them. The guidance provided by these Committees lends immense value and support, enhancing the quality of
governance by
the decision-making process of the Board. The Board reviews the functioning of these Committees from time to time.
overseeing how the
Management serves the At ABFRL, the following Committees have been instituted:
short and long-term Kumar Mangalam Birla Himanshu Kapania Vikram Rao
interests of the Chairman & Non-Executive Non-Executive Director & Non-Executive Director
Director Vice-Chairman Audit Committee (AC) Corporate Social
members and other
Responsibility Committee (CSRC)
stakeholders. This belief ABFRL has a quali ed and independent Audit
is re ected in the Committee which acts as an interface between statutory The Committee is inter alia entrusted with the
governance practices of and internal auditors, the management and the Board. responsibility of monitoring and implementing the CSR
the Company, under The Audit Committee is entrusted with the responsibility projects / programmes / activities of ABFRL. It is also
which we strive to to supervise the Company's internal controls and responsible for approving the annual CSR budget,
maintain an effective, nancial reporting process. reviewing Business Responsibility initiatives and other
informed and related activities.
independent Board. Nomination and
Remuneration Committee (NRC) Risk Management and
Composition
Sustainability Committee (RMSC)
of the Board of Ashish Dikshit Sangeeta Pendurkar Vishak Kumar The overall responsibility of the NRC is to approve and
Directors (as on March Managing Director Whole-time Director Whole-time Director recommend to the Board matters relating to the Business risk evaluation and its management is an on-
, ) appointment and remuneration of the Company's going process within the Company. The RMSC is inter
The composition, Executive Directors, KMP and senior management, in line alia entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring and
diversity and strength of with the Nomination Policy and Executive Remuneration reviewing the risk management plan, sustainability,
the Board is reviewed Policy of the Company cyber security of the Company, and other such functions,
from time to time to as may be delegated by the Board from time to time.
ensure that the same is Stakeholders Relationship Committee (SRC)
in line with the
The Board of ABFRL has constituted the SRC to
applicable laws, and
speci cally look into the various aspects of interest of
also that it remains
shareholders, debenture holders and other security
aligned with the
holders. It periodically reviews the status of shareholder
strategy and long-term Arun Adhikari Nish Bhutani Preeti Vyas grievances and redressed of the same.
needs of the Company. Independent Director Independent Director Independent Director
As on March , , the
Board comprised <30 30-50 50>
members, consisting of Total
Non-Executive Category Members Male Female Male Female Male Female
Directors (including the Board of Directors
Chairman), Executive
Directors, and
Audit Committee
Independent Directors. Nomination & Remuneration Committee
Stakeholder Relationship Committee
Corporate Social Responsibility Committee
Sukanya Kripalu Sunirmal Talukdar Yogesh Chaudhary
Independent Director Independent Director Independent Director Risk Management and Sustainability Committee
27 28
CORPORATE ABFRL
GOVERNANCE
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
POLICIES
ABFRL has formulated several employee-centric policies within the Company's Corporate Governance framework. These
Name of the Code / Policy Details of the Policies and Codes / Description / Web Link
policies help foster an organisational culture that results in transparent, ethical and responsible operations of the
Company. Our employees ensure a professional and mature work environment that reinforces ABFRL's value of integrity.
Some of the policies and codes adopted by the Company are as under: . Code of Conduct for Board of Directors http://www.abfrl.com/docs/corporate_governance/code_of_conduct/
and Senior Management of Aditya Codeof-Conduct-for-Board-of-Directors-and-Senior-Management-of-
Birla Fashion and Retail Limited Aditya-Birla-Fashion-and-Retail-Limited.pdf
Name of the Code / Policy Details of the Policies and Codes / Description / Web Link
. Familiarisation Programmes for http://www.abfrl.com/docs/corporate_governance/policies/ABFRL_Fa
. Sustainability Policy www.abfrl.com/docs/corporate_governance/policies/Sustainability- Independent Directors miliarisation-programmes-imparted-to-Independent-Directors.pdf
policy.pdf
. Forex Policy The policy mentions measures to protect cash ows and . Policy on Prevention of Sexual ABFRL has adopted 'Policy for Prevention of Sexual Harassment at
shareholder value by reducing the adverse effect of currency rate Harassment at Work Workplace' (POSH) at a Company-wide level to ensure the respect and
uctuations on the Company's pro tability, business plans and dignity of all the employees. POSH is applicable not only to employees
sustainability of operations but also to third parties or clients and vendors of the company. During
the year under review, no cases were led under the POSH Act
. Risk Management Policy The policy covers inherent business risks and appropriate measures to
be taken, to manage uncertainty, changes in the internal and external . Tax Policy http://www.abfrl.com/docs/corporate_governance/policies/ABFRL-
environment to limit negative impacts and capitalise on opportunities, TAXPOLICY.pdf
along with minimisation of identi able risks by the Company
. Policy on Preservation of http://www.abfrl.com/docs/corporate_governance/policies/Policy- . Vendor Code of Conduct Policy Our VCoC elucidates the basic requirements that all factories, suppliers
Documents onpreservation-of-documents.pdf and sub-contractors must meet in order to do business with Apparel
and Retail. The Code is based on national laws and internationally
accepted labour standards including ETI (Ethical Trading Initiative),
. Code of Practices and Procedures http://www.abfrl.com/docs/corporate_governance/code_of_conduct/ ILO’s core conventions (International Labour Organisation) SA ,
for fair disclosure of unpublished Codeof-Practice-and-Procedures-for-fair-disclosure-of-unpublished- and National Voluntary guidelines
price sensitive information price-sensitiveinformation.Pdf
. Code of Conduct to regulate, monitor Code to be followed by designated persons for dealing in securities of
and report trading by designated the Company
persons in listed, or proposed to be
listed, securities of Aditya Birla
29 Fashion and Retail Limited
30
G ECOSYSTEMS
RESTORIN
RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP
y is b rin g in g about a
abil it
a p ro du c t-led sustain
Transitioning
to
nd c o n s u m p tion process.
na
h a n g e in our productio l
fundamenta l c
red u cin g e nvironmenta
e are
g p ro d u c t circularity, w ing
By adopti n
yc le o f o u r products. Go
-c
to the entire life
pressures lin k e d
in to th is n ew approach,
cha
a lso ali gn ing our supply
re
beyond, we a EFFORTS
ECT TO AMPLIFY OUR
IPPLE EFF
CREATING A R
ESTABLISHING
RE- M POWERING
ESS E S A ND E
NATURAL PROC HEL P ITSELF.
ITY TO
THE COMMUN
105 SOCIAL SIBILIT Y
61 PEOPLE C T RESPON
NMENT 131 PRODU
33 ENVIRO 85 SAFE T Y
IAL
55 FINANC
ANCES
PERFORM
31 32
RESTORING ABFRL
ECOSYSTEMS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
ENVIRONMENTAL
33 22
%
~
P E R F O R M A N C E
WATER ZERO
POSITIVE WASTE
across our facilities. disposed to land ll
61,827 KL of rainwater and more than 99%
harvested and arti cially waste has been
recharged within premises recycled and reused
2
~
lakh square feet area of
1
manufacturing
our built environment is facility certi ed
under the green building 'LEED Zero Water' under
certi cation process USGBC rating system
33 34
RESTORING ABFRL
ECOSYSTEMS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Climate change continues to be perceived as the gravest With the guidance of ABG's sustainable business model, we continue to advance
towards our sustainability . journey swiftly transitioning towards building
35 36
RESTORING ABFRL
ECOSYSTEMS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Our Approach
At ABFRL, we believe that the health of business and environmental well-being This year, we refreshed our Enterprise Risk In this 'decade of actions', anchored by the ABG vision
are interwoven. Our sustainability approach puts products at the heart of and the three pillars of Sustainable Business Framework -
business and ensures that the entire lifecycle of the product is designed in
Management (ERM) framework to better Responsible Stewardship, Stakeholder Engagement and
harmony with people's and planet's health. So, we are accelerating our understand ESG-related shifts, impacts and Future-proo ng, along with our tailor-made
sustainability journey by leveraging our sustainability maturity, emerging sustainability . strategy, we have set ourselves in 'ACT
business models and technology, to expedite the achievement of our
dependencies that may affect our ability to LOCAL - IMPACT GLOBAL' mode, driving a robust,
sustainability goals. achieve the desired objectives. transparent, accountable and resilient business
ecosystem. With our actions, we ensure that our
AL
This exercise has contributed in emphasising our efforts sustainability strategy results in achieving broader
These goals are pivotal as we move towards
OUR GO S TO in governance of sustainability risks including climate national and global commitments.
25 I
FOR 20 PLISH
a greener, collaborative and resilient future change across our operations and also align ourselves
ACCOM
for our tomorrow. with global framework and standards.
DIGITALISATION
With a desire to strengthen business and sustainability
100
governance system, we have ampli ed our digital foray, Digitalisation is a major focus of our innovation efforts.
% built facility environment to migrating our data management, analysis, systems and We leverage digital opportunities to boost business
be Green Building certi ed processes including various assessments to a digital
platform - 'Sustainability Digital Dashboard (SDD)'.
performance, accelerate our research and development
activities, better manage our supply chain and broaden
our existing product portfolio to include new innovative
No signi cant nes or non-monetary sanctions were
digital experiences.
100
received from CPCB / SPCB for non-compliance with
% waste traceability environmental laws and / or regulations in FY. 'ReEarth Portal' - our IT platform for sustainability,
across operations extends across business operations including retail, to
map the sustainability KPIs further facilitate data
HIGG INDEX reporting, validation and assurance. The platform
enables automated data collection, provide
50
Being a core member of SAC, we adopted Higg Index
% renewable energy early. Early adoption helped us to assess the
comprehensive sources of sustainability data and make
5 % reduction in Scope
1, 2 & 3 emissions
In addition to the self-assessment of Facility
Environment Module (FEM) and Facility Social Labour
Module (FSLM) for all our in-house manufacturing
facilities, we also carried out FEM veri cation across
of our factories (FCL, EGL, HAL, EAL, LEA) through SAC
WATER across
POSITIVE operations
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OUR STRATEGIC
Resource
AREAS TO FOCUS ARE
E ciency
RESOURCE
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY
BUILDINGS
improvements such as remote energy
management systems, fuel switch (such as
effective use of biomass fuel) and
renewables. These initiatives have helped
us improve our carbon footprint and reduce
39 40
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REPORT 2021-22
61,827 kl
integrated water management systems.
The initiatives include installation and strengthening of
In addition to the ongoing efforts, in FY, we have
rainwater harvesting systems, sewage treatment plants rainwater harvested and arti cially
signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) of around and waterless / water efficient xtures.
recharged within the premises
MW of additional solar rooftop systems across more
FY 2020-21 FY 2021-22
facilities which is currently heading towards the
installation and commissioning phase. With this increase Water Footprint (kl) kl
of solar energy, our portfolio of SRT PV system will reach ABFRL Facilities FY 2019-20 FY 2020-21 FY 2021-22
MW, enhancing our renewable energy share.
Surface Water , , ,
41 42
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CASE STUDY
Net-Zero Water Buildings
Other water (>, mg/l Total Dissolved Solids) ,
ABFRL Facilities FY 2019-20 FY 2020-21 FY 2021-22 The USGBC identi ed Fashion Craft as a showcase example of sustainability to demonstrate leadership in
transforming the building industry. Fashion Craft was in compliance with LEED's rating system requirements
Rainwater Harvested % % %
based on annual water use/performance data, which was reviewed and validated with positive feedback.
Water Recycled & Reused % % %
The unit is equipped with rainwater harvesting system and arti cial aquifer recharge system that has collected
Note: Water Recycled & Reused percentage has witnessed a downwards trend due to COVID circumstances and also expansion of Scope i.e.,scope in FY 20
was limited to MFL facilities however, FY 21 & FY 22 has been extended to all ABFRL facilities which includes Pantaloons Office and Warehouses as well
and harvested more than , kl of rainwater this year. It utilised more than kl of rainwater for domestic or
process purpose; and recycled & reused more than , kl of treated wastewater for ushing and landscaping.
Our water stewardship journey, an amalgamation of all the initiatives in the past decade has enabled us to achieve a In FY, the quantity of total alternative water sources and water returned by this this facility is more than its
signi cant milestone, i.e., Water Positive at an organisational level in line with our sustainability . vision and total potable water consumed.
ambitious goals. At the facility level, following initiatives contributed in achieving this milestone:
Increase in Rainwater Reused Lakh Litres
In this journey, we leveraged latest technologies to
Reducing water demand ensure and further strengthen effective monitoring,
Note: Water Positive Index calculated for a particular year considers the
Arti cial recharge systems
Water Debit and Water Credit of a site. The term 'Water Debit' denotes the
'volume of total water withdrawal and consumed'. 'Water Credit' is the
Offsetting through watershed programmes at 'summation of the volume of recycled/reused wastewater, harvested
rainwater for real-time utilisation, the quantity of groundwater recharged
the community level and real-time use of water stored in the check-dams by the community. FY 2019-20 FY 2020-21 FY 2021-22
Water Credit over Water Debit gives the Water Positive Index.
HIGHLIGHTS
We have harvested 61,827 kl of rainwater, and recycled & reused 1,08,241 kl of wastewater. Ensured our Identi ed opportunities to Demonstrated our Returned .
alignment maximise alternate water commitment towards times more
with Net-Zero sources and minimise total water stewardship and water back to
strategy water consumption sustainable water use the ecosystem
WAY FORWARD
Post the review and performance evaluation by GBCI, we have analysed our existing
facility portfolio. As per our analysis, many of our manufacturing units and warehouses
demonstrate a strong case for Net-Zero Water and as we progress forward, we envisage
extending the initiative to our remaining facilities with accelerated action.
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APPARELS
Green Building has always been a vital pillar in Warehouses rating system.
our ongoing environment stewardship efforts
Buildings
transitioning towards a decarbonised
ecosystem. At ABFRL, our green building focus
OUR CORE APPROACH
emphasises on constructing and operating built
For each project, we go through the following steps.
environment in a resource-efficient manner
FASHION
promoting sustainability principles and
embracing life cycle approach end-to-end. Ÿ Our team conducts the feasibility study
We ensure that materials used in the
CRAFT of the existing building
construction of our built infrastructure promote
life cycle thinking, are responsibly sourced, are
Ÿ Daylighting and energy modelling is
regional and recycled, reduce water and energy
carried out to arrive at the best possible
use, enable efficient indoor air quality and
combination considering envelope of
ultimately contribute in shifting away from fossil
fuels, mitigating or eliminating negative CRAFTED the building, efficient mechanical
e ects, both positive and negative, on the natural environment, ATTIBELE Ÿ At the completion of the project, we
WAREHOUSE collect all the design and construction
as well as the people who inhabit buildings every day. related documents and carry out two-
stage completion, which usually takes
about three months from the time of
- US Green Building Council (USGBC) submission
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Ensure fresh air requirement as per the NET-ZERO WATER BUILDINGS NET-ZERO ENERGY BUILDINGS
ASHRAE standards Reducing our water demand by enhancing Reducing our energy demand by enhancing
water efficiency energy efficiency
One facility certi ed under
Plan for maximum renewable energy
to replace fossil fuels and offset carbon footprint Harnessing alternate water to reduce fresh Enhancing the share of renewable energy
47 48
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Circular
CASE STUDY
leadership awards programme. 48 We at ABFRL, consider waste as an opportunity for us to We are working towards establishing an ecosystem for
40 37 create value not only for our stakeholders, but also for extended producer responsibility in waste management
the nation as a whole. ABFRL believes in creating a and enhance the scope of circularity across our
During the virtual session of IGBC's Green
closed loop system where waste generated is recycled, operations. Through our streamlined waste management
Building Congress . This programme
reused or upcycled to useful resources. Initiatives in approach, we continue to ensure 'Zero Waste to Land ll
demonstrated our leadership in green built
circular economy are based on the principles of across all our own facilities'.
environment and benchmarked operational
designing out waste and pollution, keeping materials in
excellence. Going forward, we will continue to As per target, we achieved 'Zero Waste to
use and regenerating natural systems.
extend our efforts for global leadership. FY 2019-20 FY 2020-21 FY 2021-22
The entire non-hazardous waste in our facilities is either Land ll across all our operations' and
recycled or reused, and a small quantity undergoes ensured % traceability of waste disposed
composting which is used as bio manure for farming.
to achieve circularity.
49 50
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Waste Footprint MT
Non-Hazardous ,
CASE STUDY
ZERO Waste Facility
Hazardous
Total ,
Total Waste Generation MT At ABFRL we believe in creating closed loop 'Zero Waste' system where waste generated is recycled or reused
Type of Waste Unit Quantity
and converted to useful resources. Abiding to this, we have established an Integrated Waste Management model
to extend the life of our resources – creating smarter, cleaner, and more efficient operations.
Used Oil Litres ,
Tonnes
Across our operations, we implemented R
Batteries Numbers principle i.e., Reduce-Reuse-Recycle and
Bio-medical waste & others Tonnes also established various programs to foster
innovation and embed circular economy
Total Hazardous Tonnes
aspects across our operations. Some of the
Paper Tonnes key programs include repurposing waste
Fabric Tonnes , generated, enhancing sustainable packaging
coefficient, automating marker efficiency and
Metal Tonnes
cutting tools. We also periodically conduct
Plastic Tonnes workshops and capacity building sessions
Carton Box Tonnes , contributing to an attitudinal change of
responsible consumption. All the programs
Canteen Waste Tonnes
together helped us achieve our commitment
Any other Non-hazardous Waste Tonnes 'Zero Waste to Land ll'.
Coverall Tonnes
Construction & Demolition Tonnes This year, our manufacturing facilities i.e., Fashion Craft and Crafted Clothing have
Total Non-Hazardous Tonnes , received TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) Zero Waste Gold certi cation from
TOTAL WASTE Tonnes , Green Business Certi cation Inc. (GBCI) and Zero Waste to Land ll Certi cation from
Bureau Veritas respectively. This milestone is testament of our journey of responsible
consumption and commitment towards making fashion circular.
Waste Disposal and Treatment MT
We are further looking towards scaling-up for Circular economy program and exploring innovative ways
'Waste-to-Resource' ambition at ABFRL
FY 2021-22
to repurpose / reuse the production line waste in our products thereby reducing ever increasing demand
Waste Recyclable ,
Maximising value recovered
for raw materials.
Waste Reusable ,
51 52
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Climate
Strategy
Absolute GHG Emissions - Scope 1&2 Absolute GHG Emissions - Scope tCO2
6.6%
found that Fashion Industry is accountable for % of Our initiatives across energy efficiency and only helped us in enhancing climate change risk
global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and under the assessment at ERM level but also complimented us in
current trajectory, the fashion industry will miss the .°C renewable energy aspects led to an aligning the journey in accordance with Task Force on
pathway by %.
reduction in Scope 1 & 2 emissions emission reduction of , tCOe which Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
Delivering sustainable fashion being the core of our across ABFRL operations due to included , tCOe from solar PV systems, While we are staying focussed towards achieving our
strategy, we, at ABFRL, have adopted a pragmatic
approach to accelerating our climate change agenda and
renewable energy and energy tCOe by switching boiler fuel from diesel goals, we are also working towards devising a
e ciency measures
'Net-Zero' roadmap and looking forward to
decarbonising our operations across the value chain. to biomass boilers, and tCOe from communicating our roadmap as well as milestone
energy efficient lights and solar streetlights. years in the coming years' Sustainability Report.
Our climate change agenda and sustainability goals
This year the SBTi methodology alignment is also
are de ned well in accordance with Paris Agreement. In accordance to the GHG Accounting Protocol, we, at done and the submision is work in progress.
ABFRL, have identi ed relevant categories and over the
Over the years, we have adopted various initiatives across Scope & emissions and initiated dialogue with stakeholders years have streamlined established systems for
for mitigating Scope emissions across the ecosystem. Along with the initiatives adopted across the operations, we have accounting emissions, and also established a baseline for
established protocols and accounting methodologies across scope , and emissions. future course of action. Leveraging on the baseline
established and data insights, we have initiated
https://racetozero.unfccc.int/fashion-lays-down-its-route-to-net-zero/ discussions with our value chain partners including the
logistics providers, on feasibility of transitioning towards
e-mobility in a phased manner. While there exist certain
practical challenges, we are moving swiftly with an
objective to decarbonise our value chain to the last mile.
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P
FINANCIAL
E R F O R M A N C E
8136
,
M
Cr
revenue; 55% growth over previous year
STRONG RECOVERY
post the third wave of COVID-19
DIGITAL-FIRST BRANDS
emerged as a new business model
255+
new stores added
55 56
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Lifestyle Brands consist of: Lifestyle Brands continued with the expansion of their
Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England. presence in the retail channel. Product innovations and
ECOSYSTEMS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Outlook Footprint
ABFRL continues to focus on the well-being of its employees BUSINESS STRATEGY ABFRL has focused on rapid growth rapidly through a
and their families, while strengthening itself to capture the The key tenets of business strategy include: multichannel distribution strategy. Today, we are
large growth opportunity post the pandemic. The onset of third present in more than + cities. Together with
wave had an effect in the early part of the fourth quarter. Enhancing the Portfolio increasing our presence in existing territories, we are
However, the business witnessed strong rebound, with March We have moved towards a portfolio play led harnessing the tremendous opportunity in the vast
sales growing by % over last year. We expect this strategy focused on providing a bouquet of Tier , and markets of the country. We are already
momentum to continue for the rest of the year. offerings as we plan to take advantage of executing our expansion plan through appropriate
large growth opportunities across multiple business models. This is helping us gain a strong
On the operational front, optimised cost control and tighter position across markets to meet the growing demand
segments in line with rapidly evolving
cash ow management will continue to be at the core of the
consumer shifts for high quality, ready-to-wear, branded apparels.
business model. The recovery trend observed this scal is
testimony to the temporary nature of the impact of the
Expanding Distribution Footprint
pandemic and the resilient consumer sentiment. The future for
Accelerate growth by expansion of retail
the Indian apparel industry looks promising, buoyed by strong
network
domestic consumption and export demand. The per capita
consumption of apparel will grow swiftly in the times ahead
fuelled by aspirational buying and an organised market play. Building a Strong Brand
Strengthen brand visibility through strong
campaigns, product design and a refreshed
As digital consumption continues
store experience
to build its dominance, ABFRL will
continue investing in building its
Digital Transformation
digital capabilities at front and
back end to make it intrinsic Data analytics, in-store digitisation through
virtual stores, omni-channel initiatives, and an
to its business model going
forward.
agile and digital supply chain
Investing in Talent
Continue to invest in the acquisition,
development, retention and recognition of
our workforce
Supply Chain Sustainability
The sustainability of our supply chain plays a
determining role in how sustainable we are as
an organisation. We aspire to include the
INDIA’S WIDEST
entire supply chain in our initiatives. Some of
the key initiatives include Supplier
Sustainability Index (SSI), Higg Index, Vendor
Code of Conduct (VCOC), and Chemical
DISTRIBUTION NETWORK
Management.
BRAND STORES PANTALOONS STORES
Note: Representative map. Not to scale.
9.2 million
sq.ft. 3,091 377 28,585 6,515
FOOTPRINT BRAND PANTALOONS MULTI-BRAND SLS ACROSS
STORES STORES OUTLETS DEPT STORES
59 60
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REPORT 2021-22
P E
PEOPLE
R F O R M A N C E
24500+
,
employees
13800+
,
women employees
80
specially-abled
1,379
store-level employees
employees undergoing career
advancement programme
4800+
,
COVID bene ciaries
FULLY
VACCINATED
All employees
and 10,000+ lives across stores,
covered under voluntary factories and HO/ZO
insurance cover are fully vaccinated
61 62
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REPORT 2021-22
Although we maintained a positive outlook during the ongoing pandemic, there is no denying the unprecedented
challenges that came our way in FY. It highlighted our need to:
FY
Age Group (Years)
Employees - Age-wise Total
< - >
63 64
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REPORT 2021-22
Management Approach
Male Female
Differently - abled Total
No.s % No.s %
Permanent Employees Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total
Turnover Rate
Permanent Workers Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total
Turnover Rate
To manage the disruption caused by the pandemic, we built contingencies for probable
scenarios that would ensure business continuity. The scenarios include key individual
leaders, members or team becoming infected and indisposed for a certain period. As a
part of this plan, we identi ed 'Acting Heads' for % of our critical business roles. In
addition to this, succession planning for all critical roles were reviewed and validated with
the management team to ensure readiness assessment of key talent.
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In the last two quarters of FY, when every industry faced a great wave of resignations, we too witnessed a very high
attrition rate. Various employee retention measures were taken to arrest this exit rate.
ACE Programme
FY FY
Launched three years ago under the umbrella of ABFRL
Permanent Employees Male Female Total Male Female Total University, the programme provides employees with
Return to Work Rate (%) functional development opportunity in alignment with
their career aspiration. This year, an organisation-wide
Retention Rate (%) functional capability building initiative was developed
FY FY based on the experiential learning principle, driven by
Permanent Workers Male Female Total Male Female Total
the Madura Senior Leadership Team.
Return to Work Rate (%) The primary focus of the programme was on providing
key experiences through projects and exposures from
Retention Rate (%)
both internal and external leadership perspectives. The
Core Curriculum spanning seven months was designed
in collaboration with internal subject matter experts,
We also looked into focussed Learning and Development deans and convenors. Teaching inputs are delivered
through expert lead sessions focussing on external
redeployment of our employees in high In a rapidly changing and ever-evolving business perspectives, assignments, assessments, quiz, and
impact, cross-functional projects.
landscape, it is impossible to ourish without learning check-ins.
continuous learning that focusses on updating our
knowledge and skills. When it comes to our people
This helped support new growth areas, including
e-commerce and digital marketing initiatives during
development, we focus on both behavioural and With the pandemic, there was a major
the period of external hiring freeze. These measures
functional learning, which enables us to develop
future-ready leaders. The learning of employees is
shift towards eLearning through the
contributed in giving employees exposure to new
skills, while delivering their own KRAs.
anchored by our internal capability-building academy - Gyanodaya Virtual Campus (GVC) App;
clocking over 10,00,000 learning hours of
ABFRL University, as well as Gyanodaya - Aditya Birla
To continue the growth trajectory for the business and Group Global Centre for Leadership.
the country, we invest in the early careers of bright more than 90% of the workforce.
students from premier institutes across the country, GYANODAYA
creating a future talent pipeline. We have structured The GVC Learning App supports rapidly changing VIRTUAL CAMPUS
talent management programmes to enable the needs of our employees to upgrade their knowledge
development of campus hires by giving them and skills, placing a host of content and topics tailored
meaningful business stints and exposure to senior specially for them at their ngertips, based on interests
leadership. Our Young Talent Programme includes hires and learning goals.
across multiple streams such as Business Management,
Fashion Management, Chartered Accountancy and
Retail Operations. Springboard Programme Digital Marketing and Communication
Five women leaders from the middle management Ten employees underwent a special learning
underwent the Springboard accelerated programme, a intervention on Digital Marketing and Communication
learning intervention that facilitates self-insight and by MICA and upGrad. The top skills gained by them were
enables awareness of strengths, areas of development, SEO, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media and Content
management and leadership style. This leads participants Marketing, Branding, and Marketing Analytics.
to develop their identity as leaders and managers.
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Data Analytics and Advanced E-Commerce India's Finest Store Manager (IFSM) i-PEARL
Capability Building Programme
i-PEARL Daksha and Saksham are career development
We launched programmes focussed on Data Analytics This is geared towards bringing the best industry programmes designed for front-end sales force that
and Advanced E-Commerce Capability Building. The practices to groom our Store Managers, and lead them creates a career path for a fashion assistant to become a
aim was to build up the core competencies required by towards senior roles in the organisation. This was the store manager. These programmes are designed and
business, to keep up with the competitive business second year of IFSM . where best-in-class store delivered in close collaboration with business leadership
landscape and evolving consumer behaviour. managers were selected through a comprehensive and are executed through a :: learning approach to
assessment and their learning journey started with IIM provide the participants with a holistic learning
An application-oriented programme for Indore. Along with this, we kick-started Leap Ahead environment.
+ marketing and e-commerce employees Programme - a capability building programme for
Pantaloons' Area Business Managers through the virtual FA STAR Certi cation
across ABFRL was curated.
mode wherein all ABMs were enrolled to be a part of a
year-long learning and development journey. They went A strategic project on skill-based segmentation for front
More than ten modules of up to hours with live
through a well-crafted competency-based leadership line employees to bring alive the service experience by
application in ongoing campaigns, alongside sessions by
development programme by industry experts, business helping them express the best version of themselves. The
expert practitioners were conducted.
leaders and expert faculty from IIM. programme has four stages and each stage is linked to
processes and bene ts in an employee's life cycle which
encourages and motivates them to continuously
progress on the journey of learning and skill building.
Pragati
Madura successfully completed its Pragati
. learning initiative in May .
Out of candidates, % of the Green candidates We commenced with Pragati .
candidates (a total of %) were moved into new roles in July with candidates
across levels, were declared during FY and were placed of whom % had been already
as Green and ready for the in corporate positions (ABMs evaluated in the month of
next role. and Senior Executive roles). March .
Visual Merchandising (VM) Academy Store Managers Academy
In line with our strategy pillar to 'create a great place to Store Managers Academy provides comprehensive We are now looking forward to % closure in May and are in the process of establishing the LMS (Learning
work', we embarked on a journey of strengthening our capability building path to store managers throughout Management System).
learning & development offerings from a functional their journey in stages. This academy enables new store
programmes perspective. One of the key offerings we managers to manage the store effectively, progressively
launched was, building Visual Merchandising (VM) prepares them to handle larger and complex territories,
Performance and Career Development Reviews of Employees and Workers
functional capability & operational excellence - critical making them ready for next level leadership roles.
to developing and retaining best-in-class VM talent. In FY FY
the rst phase, store and area visual merchandisers Total (A) No.s done (B) % (B / A) Total (C) No.s done (D) % (D / C)
enrolled for VM Academy, and were taught tips to Employees
enhance customer experience.
Male , , % , , %
Female , , % , , %
SPRINT Leadership Development Programme
Total , , % , , %
A leadership development programme, SPRINT, was
Workers
launched to groom talent for senior leadership roles in
ABFRL. This programme focussed on working with Male , , % , , %
leaders to turn today's challenges into opportunities and Female , , % , , %
lead with con dence, clarity, and a sense of optimism.
Total , , % , , %
69 70
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REPORT 2021-22
Madura University
Details of minimum wages paid to employees and workers
In a bid to keep the learning process alive during the
pandemic, Madura University was constituted as a way of FY FY
formalising the treasure trove of internal knowledge that Equal to More than Equal to More than
exists within Madura Clothing. The intent was to tap into Total Minimum Wage Minimum Wage Total Minimum Wage Minimum Wage
(A) (D)
this ready repository and enhance the learning network No.s (B) % (B/A) No.s (C) % (C/A) No.s (E) % (E/D) No.s (F) % (F/D)
by identifying and on-boarding in-house SMEs who , , , , ,
Permanent Male % % % %
would work together to break down silos and drive cross-
employees Female , % , % , % , %
functional learning. With this idea in place, HR for Non-
HR and Finance for Non-Finance learning series were Permanent Male , % , % , % , %
launched. During the year, enriching and interactive workers Female , , % , % , , % , %
sessions led by voluntary participation from NIPM-
certi ed HR professionals and quali ed chartered
accountants as instructors were held.
Details of median and average remuneration
71 72
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REPORT 2021-22
73 74
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GEMS Awards Employee Wellness has always been one of the priority
areas in enriching life and strengthening the Employee
The GEMS Awards at Pantaloons celebrate the Value Proposition at ABFRL. With the pandemic and its
contributions of employees while displaying the cultural rami cations still looming, this has become an even
tenets of result orientation, customer centricity and bigger priority for us.
collaboration. They were felicitated at the quarterly
leadership town halls in the presence of all employees. ABFRL's COVID Assistance & Emergency Response
(CAER) Programme, is an industry- rst programme
initiated by a Corporate. Subsequently, many
PingMe
organisations including other Aditya Birla Group
A real-time feedback platform, it gives employees a companies have adopted and adapted similar
platform to communicate/seek instant feedback to or programmes. CAER aims to offer organisational support
from anyone in ABG. It opens a channel for cross- to employees through access to resources and
functional teams to provide feedback to each other to information, to respond to situations with quality care
bring in more rhythm in collaborative ways of working. and empathy.
During FY, PingMe achieved an We adopted a % Work from Home approach for a
large part of the office-based workforce, save for a few
adoption rate of more than % and selected functions, and occasionally, strictly on a needs-
+ unique users. only basis, people were required to report at the office.
There was daily tracking of COVID- cases across all
units. Robust SOP formulation and adherence
Womb-to-Cradle
mechanism was put in place for stores, factories and
offices covering enhanced safety and hygiene protocols Madura Manufacturing has an employee base of about
for operations. , employees, of which % are women, having an
More details at the end of this chapter average age of years. The Womb-to-Cradle
Programme is a crucial part of the larger wellness
initiative of Sanjeevni, focussing on the needs of a
woman as she steps into the role of a mother for the rst
time. It encompasses pre-natal and post-natal care, and
includes not just medical care but also personal and
social aspects.
Counselling
Counselling at workplace is an essential support
intervention. Welfare officers appointed in factories,
identify employees to provide individual counselling and
group counselling using various methods depending on
the need and area of concern. Counselling is also used as
a tool to reduce the rate of attrition, and to analyse the
reasons for attrition or absenteeism.
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It is a holistic programme that focusses on wholesome well-being through four key dimensions -
of the reasons for leave. massive coverage of all the employees and their families
was done free of cost through BBMP and Governmental
We also launched Emotional Wellness Programmes -
Self Care & Grief Support wherein employees impacted Health Centres, which included contract employees as well.
with COVID could bene t from the model of group
healing and work on their emotional well-being and The rst dose was administered to Through this and multiple other instances of creativity,
focus on self-care. A number of series on nancial well-
being were held so as to enhance the nancial know-
15,172 employees and the second dose Madura Clothing (MC) was able to provide employment to
employees and generate revenue.
how of our women in the workforce. Many wellness was administered to 15,013 employees. The effort involved , employees
initiatives like Well-O-Mania, adopting a wellness app -
Multiply, etc., were also taken. Even Madura conducted The medical teams' overall efforts had kept the case working with customised machines to
its annual Madura Championship on a virtual mode this fatality rate very low during both waves of the pandemic
( in st wave and in nd wave), with the infection rate manufacture over lakh coveralls and
time, which was a much-celebrated event.
limited to an average of .% throughout. Close lakh masks, leading to INR million
monitoring of all severe/hospitalisation cases and home
We have an annual, comprehensive health check-up
isolation cases were done daily - severe out of
in revenue and INR million in pro ts.
for all our employees that are managed by a third-party
positive cases were reported in st wave and severe out MC also manufactured widely recognised masks for our
vendor to maintain con dentiality. It includes physicals,
of in the nd wave, including all employees and their brands like Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England, Jaypore
checking blood sugar levels, ECG, echocardiogram,
families, located across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Orissa. and Louis Phillippe in various designs.
taking X-rays when needed, and more. A few businesses
also adopted a policy of allowing employees to take a
-day break from work and do something purposeful, Manufacturing Masks Gig Workforce Model
something which allows them to follow their passion,
like voluntary teaching, donating, investing in It is imperative for a business to secure nancial The pandemic pushed organisations to relook at their
self-learning and development etc. sustenance at an individual and organisational level productivity measures, move towards leaner models and
through resilience and adaptability. Our production implement more effective productivity norms. One such
COVID-proo ng & Vaccinations teams took on the challenge and through innovation initiative driven by Team Pantaloons was to introduce a
Apart from a total of months of work stoppage, combined with resourcefulness, commenced footfall-based Gig Workforce Model at their stores.
Madura factories were functional in mass-producing manufacturing masks and coveralls that were the need of
the hour. The team developed the systems and processes The Gig Project was piloted by Pantaloons after its
PPE components. In resuming work in the middle of the
to meet the stringent quality standards and received analysis revealed that footfalls during the weekends go
pandemic, much care and caution was practiced to
certi cation by SITRA (a Govt. nominated lab). Based on up signi cantly. Hence, a dynamic deployment model
enable building and maintaining a rigorous and safe
this approval, we received massive orders, one of the was introduced to have exible Gig Workforce that caters
working protocol for employees. A team of doctors,
highest across any company in India. To overcome the to the increased workload during the target period. As
nurses and ambulance drivers spread over all the
challenge of a two-month lead time on machinery, our part of the initiative, we on-boarded + Gigs in ~
units, were engaged full-time in ensuring a medically
production and engineering teams developed in-house stores with % repeat workforce. Apart from efficiencies
sound and responsible working of the factories.
machines and delivered orders on time and in full. on cost and manpower, the experiment also provided
Supervisors at factories called each of their line workers
operational agility and would soon be expanded to other
to check on their well-being, pursing hard-to-reach rural
parts of the organisation.
residents through text messages and even visits.
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In order to have a consistent nger on the pulse of Equal Opportunity Employer Whistle Blower Policy
employees' satisfaction and feedback on important,
as well as new policies/practices, there are multiple At ABFRL, we do not discriminate against any employee All employees are expected to adhere to the
surveys for different employee segments. FY was on the grounds of race, colour, religion, caste, gender, organisation's Values Framework and Code of Conduct to
another challenging year with the spread of a new age, marital status, disability, nationality, or any other ensure prevalence of a common minimum standard of
wave of the pandemic. factor under applicable laws and contemporary practices professional behaviour in the workplace. The Whistle
at the workplace. Blower Policy provides a platform and mechanism for
Employee Feedback Session employees to voice genuine concerns or grievances
Occupational Wellness about unprofessional conduct without the fear of
We regularly conducted open houses, chaired reprisal. In FY, Value Violation cases were reported.
by HR Leadership, CEOs or the MD. These were The ambience and atmosphere of the offices, as well as
anchored on speci c topics ranging from its ergonomics, have been designed such that it is open,
Child Labour
inclusion at workplace to making work spacious, relaxed and well lit. Also, all our offices,
processes efficient. This was followed by manufacturing sites and retail outlets are compliant to We strongly prohibit child labour at all our facilities and
requisite action planning and review. re safety norms. Every employee is briefed on in our suppliers' premises. We also prohibit any form of
emergency procedures and evacuation routes. We also forced or compulsory labour. To enforce this, we ensure
Town Hall conduct regular safety drills to check emergency stringent, regular audit checks of vendors. The robust
preparedness and accordingly take corrective actions, if implementation of our Code of Conduct (CoC) further
CEO town halls were conducted frequently (on monthly Vibes Survey
required. forti es human rights protection across our value chain.
and quarterly basis) to reiterate our mission, relay Vibes is an enterprise level, engagement survey that is
updates on the business's direction, and most conducted biennially. It measures employee satisfaction Policy on Sexual Harassment (POSH) Freedom of Association
importantly, give rise to hope during this difficult year. against dimensions, including engagement, alignment,
Used for sharing key milestones, hits and misses, policy ABFRL has adopted the POSH framework, which ensures An association of employees, which is for their
performance culture, managerial effectiveness, agility
updates as well as recognising good performers, many a work environment that is professional, mature, and free betterment under the overall goals of the business, is
and more. ABFRL's engagement index witnessed an
new formats of town halls / leadership connect sessions from animosity, while simultaneously reinforcing given its due credit. At present, there is a management-
increase from % in FY to % in FY. Our employee
were conducted in FY on virtual platforms like Yours integrity and respect for the individual. It is applicable to recognised employee association in our factories, which
engagement scores of Vibes were very well received and
Truly Sandeep, CEO - Anything you can ask Sangeeta, etc. all the employees of ABFRL, as well as our vendors. As a covers .% of our employee membership.
we were rated very high by our employees on all
regular practice, all the POSH committee members have For more details on polices and processes followed,
parameters in comparison to ABG scores.
Participative Discussion undergone refresher training by an external facilitator in please refer our website & annual report.
FY. Detailed investigations are conducted by the
At ABFRL, we follow deep operational rigor to ensure Actively engaged employees based on your designated POSH committee members governed by the
that we do not lose sight of our targets and to speedily company's scaled employee engagement surveys. principles of natural justice and within prescribed
resolve concerns. Weekly, monthly and quarterly review timelines. In FY, cases of POSH were reported and all
Target for
meetings were held, wherein the functional, FY FY FY
FY were closed.
departmental and/or organisational leadership Actively engaged % NA % %
reviewed their respective team's progress. employees based Successful Work from Home Policy
on your company's
Employee Engagement The Work from Home Policy was rolled out to
scaled employee
ensure the emotional well-being of employees
Through our engagement programmes, we encourage engagement
and to help cope with the mounting stress of the
a sense of belonging and ownership among employees, survey
pandemic. This policy lays out guidelines on
resulting in workplace satisfaction, retention and Data Coverage exible working hours, effective and productive
, NA , %
enhanced productivity. Across our offices and stores, (% total Employees) ways of working, and wellness leave. Periodic
there is an employee engagement calendar that lists surveys are also conducted to gauge the
the events and celebrations planned. successful implementation of the policy.
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Workforce Snapshot
Workforce FY FY FY Workforce Snapshot FY FY
Total permanent employees , , , Number of security personnel trained
Total contractual employees , , , Total number of security personnel
Total permanent women employees , , , Percentage of security personnel trained in the organisation's
policies or procedures concerning aspects of human rights that are
New employees joined in the reporting period , , ,
relevant to operations (%)
Specially-abled employees
Employees undergoing special training ,
Percentage of employee under the age of years . . .
CASE STUDY
Response (CAER) Programme
Human Rights
ABFRL respects human rights and believes that everyone Global Compact Principles of Human Rights and Labour,
must be treated with dignity. To ensure this, we aim to Social Accountability International Standard and its
protect human rights and uphold labour standards not associated international instruments. The COVID- pandemic presented an unprecedented challenge to human life. The economic and social
only within our premises, but also across our supply disruption caused by the pandemic, over the course of three waves, was devastating. The steps taken during the
chains. Our commitment entails respecting human rights and
rst wave to ensure safety of our employees across offices, stores and factories against COVID- included:
seeking to avoid involvement in human rights abuses;
We, at ABFRL, are committed to respecting human rights. identifying, assessing and minimising potential adverse
Our business units, factories and offices are committed to impacts through due diligence and management of COVID TESTING CENTRE TIE-UP
respecting the human rights of our workforce, issues; and effectively resolving grievances received from Ÿ Onboarded additional partners to support testing infrastructure PAN India
communities and those affected by our operations affected stakeholders. We have initiated a Human Rights Ÿ Due to surge in cases, city wise local lab tie-ups were done to fasten the TAT
wherever we do business (including our contractors and Assessment Framework for all our facilities where in Ÿ Enabled mass testing services especially for corporate offices & manufacturing units
suppliers). Our Human Rights Policy is in line with assessment of human rights-related risks were also a part
internationally recognised frameworks, including the UN of our supplier evaluation process.
DIGITAL DOCTOR CONSULTATION
Ÿ Extended the digital consultant services from (General Physician & Paediatrician)
to specialisations
Ÿ Empanelled specialist doctors (Pulmonologists & Paediatricians) to build an immediate
support mechanism due to stress on medical infrastructure
AMBULANCE SUPPORT
Onboarded new partner to extend Life Support Ambulance Service from PAN India across cities
and towns
For more details about the st wave measures, please see Sustainability Report FY
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CITY / TOWN VOLUNTEER NETWORK Family Assistance on Demise of Employee due vaccination certi cate; if not fully vaccinated negative
Brought together a team of volunteers within ABFRL who were familiar with the local health to COVID-: In case of an unfortunate situation RTPCR / Antigen test report mandatory to enter the
infrastructure / have local networks, to support emerging needs across cities and states of an employee succumbing to the COVID- office premises. Visitors not allowed to meet
and COVID-related complications, additional employees at workstation
TEMPORARY FINANCIAL SUPPORT family assistance elements were introduced over Ÿ Employees needed to complete their double
and above the existing policies in place: vaccination to enable their entry into office. In case
Salary advance of up to three months' salary to cover for immediate liquidity requirement
Ÿ Relocation Assistance employees on the roster have not yet completed
double vaccination due to any medical condition, then
HOSPITAL SUPPORT / QUARANTINE FACILITY Ÿ Children's Education Assistance they need to compulsorily produce a negative RTPCR /
Information and coordination through ABG Code Red for hospitals, quarantine facilities, etc., in Antigen test report while reporting to work
the near vicinity Ÿ Family Medical Insurance
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P E
SAFETY
R F O R M A N C E
Zero
fatality
59
trainings conducted
at workplace on average monthly
14805
,
man-days of
0.07
LTIFR1 (Lost Time Injury
safety training Frequency Rate)
We track LTI and LTIFR on a consolidated basis for both employees and contractors.
Note: A lost time injury is any work-related injury, illness, adverse health condition or exposure which renders the injured person
85 [employee or contractor] temporarily unable to attend the next scheduled work shift after the day on which the injury occurred.
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Management Approach
We aspire to create a zero-harm working environment and are aware that
having a great safety record not only motivates employees but is also
essential in attracting talented and engaged future employees. To ensure
such an environment, our safety management system framework takes Our three-tier approach to safety
performance includes an initial review by
reference from Aditya Birla Group Technical Standards, which includes
compliances to all legal and statutory requirements, Indian and
international standards on safety, and prominent safety frameworks such
the Site Safety Committee, followed by the
as that of International Labour Organisation (ILO), Global Reporting
Initiative (GRI), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and International Business Safety Committee/Sub-Committee
Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) - all of which helps us make our
safety framework exhaustive. and nally, by the Business Review Council.
GOAL
ABFRL shall commit to pursue the goal of
'Zero Harm' and demonstrate visible progress.
TARGET 2025
Incorporated BIS, Adopting ILO,
Adherence to all applicable Global standards
NBC and NSC to adopt GRI, IFC, ISO, etc. to
legal requirements such as OSHA, ANSI,
best local practices move beyond safety
BSI, ASTM, NFPA, etc.
We aim to achieve zero severity level *
incidents at the workplace. In order to
ensure this, we have instituted various
mechanisms to assess, manage and
improve safety practices.
*Note: Level - work related injuries resulting in
VISION
Maintain a safe and healthy
workplace for employees, customers
and contractors in compliance with
ABFRL REFERENCE FRAMEWORK applicable laws and regulations.
Promote a positive attitude towards
Why ABG Encompasses all Covers best Strives for Aligns
safety by providing industry-leading
Technical legal and statutory practices in domestic best global safety with
Standards? requirements business paradigm safety practices sustainability training.
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This year, our facilities transitioned from OHSAS Training & Model warehouse
Vision, Policy Safety
18001:2007 to ISO 45001:2018 - Occupational Health and and Framework Orientation Procedures concept
Capacity building
TRAINING & of employees is key to
AWARENESS our safety approach to
Safety assessment
INCIDENT is conducted and
MANAGEMENT improvement
plan developed REACTIVE Safe Environment / Safe People / Safe Products PROACTIVE
Safety assessment
is conducted and
ASSESSMENTS improvement
plan developed
At ABFRL, our safety culture has shifted from band-aid We have also implemented a Risk Assessment and
Safety Committees are formed solutions to a more comprehensive and proactive Management Process as an integral component of
SAFETY to monitor and review the approach. In the light of this shift and with guidance from our Safety Management System (SMS).
GOVERNANCE safety management system our top leadership, we implemented a comprehensive
SYSTEM implementation. We believe that Hazard Identi cation and Risk
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) policy across all
operations. This was followed by the establishment of Assessments are strategic tools that give us
POLICY, Safety Policy is
implemented and central and regional OHS committees, along with necessary information about workplace
OBJECTIVE safety objectives are hazards and the risks related to the health &
committees at our factories, warehouses, regional and
AND TARGETS framed for business
corporate offices to monitor our safety performance. We safety of our employees, enabling us to take
hold monthly meetings and reviews to track safety corrective actions and mitigate or eliminate
performance and x any gaps to remain vigilant. expected impacts.
All injuries and near misses are investigated, and corrective and preventive actions are implemented to eliminate
the root cause. All safety observations reported by employees are monitored, addressed and closed on priority.
Additionally, we carry out regular audits and third-party assessments to identify any possible gaps and take
corrective actions. These constant assessments, as well as monitoring and upgrading our safety interventions, help
us build a safe working environment for our employees.
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Cultivating a safe work culture is not something we do as an afterthought, but aim to instil it as a re ex. Hence, at ABFRL,
we are in constant pursuit of improvement and excellence. To ensure our employees are not exposed to high-risk incidents
or high-risk diseases related to their occupation, we insist on continuous monitoring, reviewing and upgrading of our
safety mechanisms and practices. Some of the key activities undertaken in this reporting year to promote a safe workplace:
THIRD PARTY FIRE AND ELECTRICAL SAFETY AUDIT ABFRL SAFETY HANDBOOK
We conducted an exhaustive re and electrical safety The Handbook serves as a ready reference for our
of all employees, and workers audit for our facilities including factories and employees to understand the ABFRL safety framework,
are covered by OHS warehouses by the world's leading third-party governance system and standards on Fire, Electrical,
management system that has certi cation body TÜV SÜD. All our facilities achieved Height Work, and more.
been internally audited or scores from Amber to Green and none was scored as Red.
certi ed by an external party
SAFETY NEWSLETTER
THERMOGRAPHY AUDIT With the aim of enriching the positive safety culture
We completed the Thermography Audit for stores that among employees, we have initiated a Safety Newsletter
were more than ve years old. Immediate corrective which will provide safety information and insights.
ZERO HARM MEANS NO ALARM actions were taken on high-risk items. Medium and low-
risk items' corrective action plan is under progress. SAFETY KPIs
ABFRL established a Safety Observation Programme that Our well-articulated OHS roadmap and monitoring
instils a proactive safety approach in all employees to framework covers internal capacity building, training, With the introduction of target based KPIs for factories
achieve the safety target of 'Zero Severity'. The implementation of standards & procedures, hazard SAFETY HUDDLES FORUM and warehouses, we have increased the accountability
management is committed to ensure that the safety identi cation & risk assessment, and emergency We conduct monthly meetings with NROM (National and effectiveness of our safety framework.
observation process is practiced at all sites by preparedness. Regular audits and inspections are carried Retail Operation Manager) on a regular basis and discuss
participating in and encouraging a dialogue with the out to identify possible gaps and take corrective actions. all the key safety points. Additionally, the minutes of the SAFETY TRAINING VIDEOS
employees on human behaviour at the workplace. These While gap assessment is done to ensure safer stores, OHS meeting are shared with the leadership team to keep
Continuing our capacity building efforts, we developed
safety observations (i.e. Unsafe Condition, Unsafe Act, is also taken into consideration at the design and them updated with the situation on ground.
safety training videos to train all employees in our retail
and Near Miss) are used to identify gaps and develop a planning stage of new projects.
stores. The impact is gauged through online
strategic improvement plan. SAFETY AUTOMATION assessments.
As part of our endeavour to facilitate
Staying at par with industry best practice, we
Employees have the OBLIGATION and the RIGHT to the creation of a positive safety culture implemented a real-time remote monitoring system for
report unsafe conditions, unrecognised safety hazards, critical safety equipment. This helps us monitor the
or safety violations of others. and achieve our goal of Zero Harm,
critical equipment's working condition and its readiness.
Employees who report unsafe work conditions or
ABFRL has also established Life Saving At present, we have completed the rst phase of
implementation process and will complete the other
practices are protected by ABFRL policies and may do rules, mandatory for all employees. phases by FY.
so without the fear of reprisal.
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In our ongoing efforts of creating a positive safety culture at ABFRL to achieve our
goal of Zero Harm, we have established nine Life Saving Rules, and strict adherence
Safety Training
to them is mandatory for all employees. The rules are:
WORK
All operations must be carried out within the designed
SAFE and safe operational limits
Wearing a seat belt (in -wheelers irrespective of seat The topics covered include -
position) or a crash helmet (in -wheelers, both rider and Fire Safety, Electrical Safety, Ergonomics,
pillion) is compulsory at any time a vehicle engine is running
Slip, Trip & Fall, and Road Safety.
Driving under alcoholic and intoxicated condition,
over speeding, and use of mobile phone while driving Over and above this, we also conducted classroom training and workshops across our retail operations and facilities, and
is prohibited the programmes provided include:
COVID-19
Fire Emergency Electrical Work Permit
Safety
Safety Preparedness Safety System
Awareness
In order to ensure the highest level of safety at all our facilities, there is
Hazard
rigorous implementation of the safety roadmap, consistent and clear Incident Road Safety Machine Lock Out,
Identi cation &
communication from our leadership to employees, integration of safety Reporting Awareness Guarding Tag Out (LOTO)
in all ABFRL trainings, and non-negotiable points for ABG's 'Life Saving' Risk Assessment
rules and consequence matrix.
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Coordinate with the Promote and maintain the Help make health & safety activities an
We conducted regular safety training sessions covering all employees in manufacturing units, warehouses and stores.
management to implement interest of employees in health integral part of the organisation's operating
An average of trainings per month on safety was conducted to enhance awareness and upgrade skills. In FY, we
OHS policy & safety issues procedures, culture and programmes
conducted , man-days of safety training.
Educate managers, supervisors Provide an opportunity for free To reduce the risk of workplace injuries
ABFRL Training Man-days Average No. of Employees Trained Per Month
and employees through awareness discussion of health & safety and illnesses, ensure compliance with
MFL Factories , MFL Factories , and training activities problems, and possible solutions health & safety standards
Ÿ Factory Manager
Ÿ HR Head & Doctor
Ÿ Enhance systems / procedures
SITE SAFETY Ÿ Safety Lead
Ÿ Safety trainings / drills
COMMITTEE Ÿ Maintenance
Monthly Ÿ Data collection across de ned KPIs
Ÿ Department Supervisors
Ÿ Safety events & communication
Ÿ Employees from each department
Ÿ Contractors (Security, Housekeeping)
The prime objective of establishing robust occupational The safety steering committee is responsible in driving
health and safety (OHS) governance framework is to the OHS agenda seamlessly review safety performance
Self-Assessment Questionnaires
foster conducive and safe workplace which we at ABFRL across facilities and also acts as a bridge between Site
believe is critical to drive positive impact and enhance Safety Committee and Safety Management committee.
productivity. Our OHS management systems coupled Lastly, the site safety committees have been formed
with effective and robust governance assures that our across all facilities to improve our systems / procedures,
employees and infrastructure are not exposed to high- conduct adequate safety trainings / drills, collect data With the intention to identify gaps in our existing system, self-assessment questionnaires are being followed in our
risk incidents and illnesses at the workplace. The across de ned KPIs periodically and also recommend factories and warehouses for Safety Management System, Fire Risk Management, Emergency Preparedness & Response,
governance structure comprises the Board of Directors, action items for enhancing workplace safety. and Road & Driving Safety. Through the feedback of the questionnaires, we have discovered opportunities for
Safety Management Committee, Safety Steering improvement to achieve our goal of zero harm.
Committee and Site Safety Committee, with speci c roles Our Safety Committee members are selected from the
and responsibilities. shop oor employees through election process
maintaining transparency. The meetings record active
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REPORT 2021-22
Incident Management
FY22
Categories Description
Number Rate Description
properly
Ÿ LOTO for electrical maintenance
Ÿ Machine guarding and fencing
Ÿ Daily and monthly workplace inspections
Ÿ SOP's and OCP's for all tasks
All incidents including near Any actions taken or underway to eliminate other
work-related hazards and minimise risks using the
Other hazards which have medium and low-
risks are being controlled as per the hierarchy of
misses shall be reported hierarchy of controls controls as mentioned above.
regardless of the severity of Whether the rates have been calculated based on
, or ,, hours worked
,, hours
injury, and duly investigated Whether and, if so, why any workers have been excluded
Nil
from this disclosure, including the types of worker excluded
All incident investigations We have used HIRA for identifying hazards at the sites; physical Post incident, we do a RCA and there after
shall be conducted based on hazards have caused maximum injuries. After the incident takes corrective actions are taken by using hierarchy
prevention and not on the place a root cause analysis is done, and the gaps are identi ed.
We also look at elimination of the hazards by using different and
of control. The rate has been calculated using
,, hours worked and we have not
basis of attributing fault appropriate hierarchy control. For e.g. there was an incident of a excluded any type of worker from the scope.
person falling from a height where he had mistaken the ACP hard
sheet to be the true ooring. The ACP sheet could not hold his We are using BIS Standards
(IS: 3786-1983), OSHA, and Factory
weight. When checked with the Store Manager, it was learnt that
there was no work permit used. We have thereafter done training,
and introduced work permit system. This is an example for Act as standard methodology.
99 administrative control. 100
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Safety posters displayed across the facilities to create Basic Fire Fighting and First Aid training organised for
awareness employees
ECOSYSTEMS
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REPORT 2021-22
Employee Health I N I T I AT I V E S
Anaemia Management
facilitate a healthier approach to work
tasks, we have adopted the principles of
We conducted an in-house anaemia camp to improve the health of our women workforce at all our factories ergonomics in our operations.
including the micro manufacturing units, in association with the Department of Factories and Boilers,
Karnataka. Through our research, we found that % of our women employees were anaemic (haemoglobin These include:
below gm.) leading us to set up counselling for employees to focus on eating right and healthy.
Maintaining a neutral posture
Going a step further, we also provide
employees who wish to eat at the Allowing breaks for stretching
canteen, with balanced and nutritional and other simple exercises
meals during the lunch break.
Our lunch menus are carefully curated based on Providing adequate lighting
the health check-ups and monthly-consolidated
to minimise straining of eyes
reports of OPD from OHC of the respective factory
canteen. Furthermore, to supplement the anaemia
campaign, every morning our employees are provided We have implemented the following
delicious Ragi Malt - an energy drink with a initiatives to prevent ergonomics
combination of dry fruits, multi grains, milk and water. related issues:
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P E
SOCIAL
R F O R M A N C E
3.09
T crore spent on Corporate
Social Responsibility in FY22
Total
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Introduction
CSR MISSION PROGRESS FY
8,100 9,987
(Tree plantation etc.)
ABFRL implements its CSR initiatives under pillars, i.e.,
20,000 18,011
(Hrs) (Hrs)
Volunteering Education
2,000 2,743
(Employees) (Employees)
Sustainable Livelihood
107 108
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SDG- SDG-
Key stakeholders of our business are treated with the To actively contribute to the social and economic
utmost respect and the communities around us are no development of the communities in which we operate. In SDG-, which is to end poverty is an overarching goal SDG- pertains to ensuring healthy lives and promoting
less. We strongly believe that for a business to ourish, so doing, be in sync with the United Nations Sustainable that's connected to all the other goals. In this regard, our well-being for all, at all ages. With initiatives addressing
we must drive positive change in the society by Development Goals to build a better, sustainable way of initiatives include providing employability and the basic healthcare needs of the underprivileged, we are
addressing their needs the best we can. Corporate Social life for the weaker sections of society and raise the entrepreneurship opportunities to rural youth through extremely proud of our work towards this goal. More
Responsibility (CSR) is integrated into our business country's Human Development Index. skilling courses such as Customer Resource Management than one and a half lakh people across villages, have
strategy and we undertake a number of initiatives to (CRM), Warehouse Pickers & Digital Marketing, Self- bene tted from our projects.
address crucial developmental challenges. Our robust employed Tailor Training and Career Readiness Trainings.
CSR policy guides us in formulating effective CSR We have trained youths and linked youths with
Holistic Development
livelihood opportunities. We have also provided nancial
programmes and sets up ambitious but attainable
assistance to Self Help Groups (SHGs), who are SDG-
targets for the betterment of our surrounding
communities. involved in trades like Mushroom cultivation, Badi-Papad
making, Cattle rearing, Bag making etc. Through our SDG- focusses on inclusive, equitable and quality
To monitor our programmes and progress, once in every Sustainable Livelihood initiatives, we have helped lift education, and promotes lifelong learning opportunities,
three years we conduct impact assessments and SROI some of the most marginalised community members out for all. Our proactive initiatives to foster education in
Triggering positive action on a macro level, is achievable
studies of CSR projects to identify any gaps and of poverty. villages, schools and colleges in Maharashtra, Karnataka,
only through a focus on micro and local interventions.
implement corrective actions. The last study was Designed to empower communities in a holistic Tamil Nadu and Odisha have yielded encouraging results
conducted in FY. manner, these interventions aim to create sustainable and bene ted , students.
societies in alignment with the Sustainable SDG-
Development Goals (SDGs).
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SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
We have developed a robust CSR value chain, which designs and implements effective strategies based on the shared
vision with our partners. With these efforts, we have reaped positive outcomes, which are valued by all our stakeholders.
SUSTAINABLE
LIVELIHOOD
CSR COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD Empowering people and
Ÿ Ensures compliance of CSR initiatives to the law of the land providing them pathways
for sustainable livelihoods
Ÿ Provides strategic direction for CSR initiatives
through coaching at skill
Ÿ Approves the CSR plan and monitors its progress
training centres as a part of
the Kaushalya initiative, and
ABFRL MANCOM training youth in career
Ÿ Ensures alignment of CSR initiatives to ABG's CSR policy readiness and supporting
Self Help Groups (SHGs)
Ÿ Provides direction and funds
and Persons with Disability
Ÿ Onboarding of new partners and ensuring execution as per for Income Generation
the Board approved CSR plan activities.
DIGITALISATION
ABFRL CSR TEAM
Ÿ Ensures execution of the CSR plan WATER & WATERSHED
Ÿ Monitors CSR partners, reports progress to MANCOM Safeguarding water sources for Our interventions include digitalising
communities through rainwater villages to mainstreaming its residents
Ÿ Formulates MOUs with partners (in consultation with
harvesting, bore well recharge pits to use the latest technology through
Legal and Finance teams)
and by recharging water bodies in Village Information Centres and SMART
water-stressed villages. Providing Classrooms. These facilities provide
EMPLOYEES access to E-health, E-education, E-
safe drinking water for villages by
Ÿ Volunteer their skills and expertise for banking and E-employment among
installing water-purifying plants,
CSR activities other digital services.
called Water ATMs.
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17,333 students
Sustainable Livelihood
Ÿ Project Kaushalya
Ÿ Bag making project
3 across four states.
5
Employee
quality of education and health of the students. communities to online classes. Special efforts were taken
Through the programme, we aimed to create a to lay emphasis on Mohalla and online extra-curricular
Volunteering nurturing environment for young students by providing activities as well by engaging students through art and
age-appropriate academic skills. To achieve the same, craft activities.
quali ed teachers were appointed at the schools.
6
COVID-19 Crisis Online English Classes Online/Offline Art Classes
Response Initiated with the aid of the Education Department, With school's shutdown due to the pandemic, we
PMC, ABFRL's support teachers had the rapt attention of improvised and conducted a hybrid model of
students through online Storytelling Sessions. During Online/Offline Art Classes in Panvel, to engage children
the sessions, the children would listen to the stories and in Art and Craft activities that included organising
participate in a lively Q&A session. This initiative drawing competitions. The daily sessions lasted -
bene tted children. hours with , children participating in these classes.
ECOSYSTEMS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Village Development
Programme
For a nation to prosper, its villages must thrive. And in a The village development project is currently
country with a % rural population, the need to develop implemented in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odisha and
our villages is even greater. Built upon the framework of has bene tted ,, individuals.
Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY) guidelines, our Village
Development Programme is a unique and innovative
initiative that aims to transform villages through
KARNATAKA AND
integrated and holistic development. The model adapts TAMIL NADU PROGRAMME
the hub and spoke system to accelerate its impact on
maximum bene ciaries. The Project was initiated in eight villages around our
factory location in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu with a focus
The project interventions are categorised as per the on two primary purposes - to scale up ongoing
SAGY attributes of personal, social, economic, and initiatives, and to take up new initiatives that contribute
environmental development, and strategies have been to the growth of the village. The eight villages in
developed to mitigate challenges faced by these villages, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu serve as a HUB to seven
speci cally in the areas of Education, Health & Sanitation, SPOKE villages (catering to villages).
PROJECT GYANARJAN Sustainable Livelihood, Water & Watershed and
Digitalisation. To build a sense of ownership over the In the journey to become a model village,
Our successful value addition programme for rural girls in Karnataka, 'Gyanarjan', seeks to aid them in their crucial initiative, each village is assigned with a community tutor
and health worker. These villages serve as Model Centres
one village has attained % of the
educational years in Classes , and . Since , through the programme, we have offered special coaching classes to
girl students to prepare them for competitive exams such as CET/NEET. and help to provide the foundation we require to relevant attributes and two villages have
replicate it in other spoke villages as well.
We are proud to mention that during Board Exams, Gyanarjan students have achieved % results in Class and . attained % of the relevant attributes as
In FY, we supported , students in three centres, the Channapatna Government Girls PU College, Maharani
per the SAGY guidelines.
Government Girls Junior College in Mysore, and RV Institute of Management, Jayanagar, Bengaluru.
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A vast number of issues in underserved communities are The lack of awareness on cancer in India is shockingly
tackled through simple awareness programmes wherein low, especially in rural communities. Cervical cancer
we use effective tools, educate community members on accounts for an estimated % of India's cancer cases
preventive measures and resilience building techniques. among women and evidence shows it is more common
Often, imparting such knowledge doesn't end at these among the lower economic strata. The lack of awareness
sessions, but participants carry their learnings forward, about the disease compounded by limited access to
educating those around them. prevention and treatment facilities, makes this a grim
situation.
During the reporting period, health workers reached
out to , community members through various Our aim is to sensitise the target group, by organising
awareness programmes. cancer awareness programmes on how to detect cancer
and the treatment options available.
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Water ATMs Watershed Programme Rainwater harvesting units were established in two
government schools at Mayaganahalli and Marsur Through this e ort
300 children
All eight Model Villages and the focus villages have A world without water is an unimaginable one. But at the Villages. Through this initiative, at an average
access to % pure drinking water facilities through rate we are progressing, it is becoming more and more of , kl of water was conserved this year.
Water ATMs, bene tting , community members. a grim reality. In such a scenario it becomes imperative
bene tted
The recycled water was
The community as well as panchayat members are self- we do all that we can to prevent water loss. In this regard
mostly used for washing
reliant in managing the Water ATMs. the integrated watershed programme aims to manage
hands, in toilets as well as
and utilise runoff water for useful purpose, enhance
in the kitchen gardens.
groundwater storage, increase crop intensity in
The harvesting systems
watershed areas and improve the socio-economic status
have proven to be a boon
of farmers.
for these schools, as it has
Other than awareness sessions on water conservation, helped reduce their
the following programmes were commenced to dependency on bore wells.
conserve water and improve agricultural yields.
DIGITALISATION
Village Information Centre
Additionally, Computer
Water Structures Agricultural Activities Literacy classes were
Water absorption Green manure organised, bene tting
trenches cultivation
Farm ponds Mulching
302 students. Sollepura
Gully plugs Weed management and Madiwala villages are
Masonry check Micronutrient mixture 100% digitally literate
dams application
Sunken ponds Vermicompost units
villages. In all, the
In FY, the watershed programme has Bore well recharge pits Deep ploughing digitalisation initiatives
helped save/recharge around , kl of Renovation of traditional have bene ted 15,011
people.
ponds
water, bene tting , community
members.
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ECOSYSTEMS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Odisha Programme
OTHERS Solid Waste Management
Garbage disposal just got greener, as we provided four e-
Solar Lights Rickshaws to the Panchayat to facilitate garbage disposal
in the dumping yard km away from the intervention
ABFRJKT has installed Solar Street Lights in
Madiwala village. ABFRJKT undertook an extensive Need Assessment in villages. This initiative is bene tting , community
Janla Gram Panchayat Khurda, Odisha to understand members from all three villages.
the immediate and long-term needs of the community.
This initiative will save , kilogram
Our ndings have led us to initiate the village
CO emission for years. development project. The project interventions target
three villages and these villages will bring a ripple SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD
impact to two other villages.
Livelihood programme though SHGs
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REPORT 2021-22
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ECOSYSTEMS
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In FY, ABFRL initiated awareness programmes to prepare community members to deal with this crisis and
reached out to , community members.
In FY22, we saw
2,743 employees
contributing
18,011 hours in
volunteering.
Social Impact Assessment (SIA)
Once in every three years, we carry out impact Benchmark Social Impact Score @
assessments of the CSR projects we undertake in order to
identify gaps and implement corrective measures. In
FY, we conducted the SIA with Bluesky Sustainable
Business LLP. The impact assessment was conducted 94
92
using the accredited Bluesky CSR Inspection Framework 90
(BSCIF) methodology. 88 87
82
The assessment done in May comprised of a
combination of documentation review, validation, and
sample stakeholder interaction through online video
calls, conference calls, online group discussion and
mobile surveys across selected sites.
Overall Final CSR Project Comm.
Employee volunteering is a key part of our CSR strategy. Score Information & Involvement &
COMMUNITY INITIATIVES In June , ABFRJKT CSR Programme has been Process Dev.
By fostering collaboration and teamwork, we strengthen
stakeholder engagement and relationships and involve
BY PANTALOONS awarded a Platinum Rating and the Highest Score in
India. The Platinum Rating signi es: 18-19 20-21
our employees in the noble cause of uplifting
volunteers from Pantaloons stores from North, East,
communities. We recognise the contribution that Innovative initiative with a strategic intent for
volunteers make to the community and are committed
West and South regions engaged in community SOCIAL RETURN
initiatives and clocked volunteering hours. The social change
to provide engagement opportunities. ON INVESTMENT (SROI)
employees organised a range of activities by
collaborating with local NGOs. De ning new solutions to issue management
We undertake SROI study every alternate year. In ,
Some of the key highlights include: we undertook an Evaluative SROI of all CSR Projects
Alliance of multi-organisational stakeholder
implemented. Social Return on Investment is an
INITIATIVES AT relationships
VIRTUAL EMPLOYEE internationally recognised, principles-based approach
MANUFACTURING UNITS for understanding and measuring the impacts of a
VOLUNTEERING PROGRAMME The graph below highlights the scoring of the CSR programme or an organisation to understand and
In Odisha, employees contributed by volunteering to programmes under two domains: CSR Project Information measure the social value created by CSR Projects. SROI
The virtual volunteers conducted Art and Music carry out activities such as library sessions for children, & Processes and Community Involvement & Development methodology of Social Value UK International was
Workshops, Online Classes, Mentorship Programme for tree plantation, blood donation camp etc. A total of
deployed for this purpose.
youth, Awareness Sessions on Water Conservation, employees contributed , volunteering hours. In
Environmental Conservation, Personal Hygiene, etc. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu too, employees contributed to Theory of change and seven principles were applied to
employees participated in virtual employee activities like Namma Library sessions, tree plantation, know the outcomes and impacts of the projects.
volunteering activities and clocked hours. blood donation camp as well as distribution of Deadweight, Displacement and Attribution factors
scholarships. , volunteers contributed , hours. were considered to avoid any overclaim. SROI of the
projects is which implies that ABFRL's CSR projects
creates an SROI of INR for every INR invested.
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1:16 1:15
been encouraging Women SHGs to undertake Income
CII-IGBC.
Generation Activities through nancial support. The
leaders Kalpana Moharana and Chitrakala Moharana of
This is one of the rst villages in Tamil Nadu to receive Maa Batabhuasuni SHG have taken a lead to set up a
VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME, the green village status and stands out as an excellent Paper Plate manufacturing unit.
KARNATAKAAND TAMIL NADU example in the country. Green Village is de ned as one
Hinnakki Jakkur Layout Sollepura In Ogalapada village, Odisha, ABFRJKT identi ed SHGs
with access to clean energy, adequate water, basic
1:4 1:4
KAUSHALYA
Anekal Integrated Watershed Programme
1:1.48
After understanding the technique, he got mulching
sheet to cultivate in his one acre of land. He was
surprised with the results of this technique as he got By following mulching sheet technique, Manjunath
Dakhinamundamunha washttps://twitter.com/igbconline/status/1077557120550268928
able to cut down the weeding cost from INR
1:0.81
tonnes of tomato from his one acre of land which is
a whopping % increase in yield. Another major , to INR ,. Manjunath is extremely happy
expense of any farming practices is weed removal. with the support provided and the outcomes.
Ogalapada
1:0.42
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ECOSYSTEMS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
P
PRODUCT
E R F O R M A N C E
SUSTAINABILITY 2.0
Transitioning towards a product-centric and life cycle approach
41 CRITICAL SUPPLIERS
Assessed on Supplier Sustainability Index (SSI)
Usage of
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ECOSYSTEMS
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REPORT 2021-22
SUSTAINABLE
responsibility at each stage of product creation. Our
management systems and processes are structured to ensure
PRODUCT
that our product responsibility goals are achieved and
tracked at regular intervals through transparent evaluation
procedures. We ensure our products remain responsible
post sale and therefore engage with our customers
CIRCULAR
through multiple feedback mechanisms at the point of
sale and post purchase.
CUSTOMER
CENTRICITY
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ECOSYSTEMS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
61.4%
garments (by vol.) of MFL and PFRL
Lifecycle Management (PLM) are helpful in monitoring annually. Individual brand's performance is shared with
and measuring market trends and customer demands, all key stakeholders for their action plan and fuel overall
helping us to maintain our market leadership position. improvement. have at least one out of ve sustainability attributes
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SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
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SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT
Allen Solly Peter England Lifecycle Assessment of Shirt
Duo Defence Face Masks Linen Shirts Infused with Antiviral Technology Product sustainability is at the core of our sustainability strategy. We aim to provide our customers with products that
Allen Solly launched a brand-new range of anti-viral face Peter England unveiled its new spring-summer clothing have less risk to health and improved environmental and social sustainability performance. We identify risks and
masks with a campaign titled 'Power of Two' for the new line 'The Antiviral Linen Project'. opportunities to reduce resource and material consumption through Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) of products from
collection of Duo Defence Masks. It is a -layered mask Cradle to Grave.
with -layered detachable lter, with three melt blown These % linen shirts are breathable, feather-soft
layers providing High Particle Filtration. and infused with antiviral technology powered by ABFRL has implemented numerous process efficiencies that have resulted in reduced
Viroban, a Swiss fabric technology rm.
environmental impacts and we further seek resource efficiency; and are including eco-design
The Duo Defence Mask has been created in India,
with VIROBLOCKTM, a Swiss technology that is tested and decision-making as part of our LCA approach.
to provide resistance against common viruses and
bacteria as per AATCC and ISO global In the current year, we conducted the LCA study of two products (Casual & Formal Shirts) to map their environmental
testing methods. Both the mask and lter are washable footprint across their entire value chains. This study has helped in understanding the hotspots in the value chain and
and recommended to be reused; up to gentle washes explore sustainable options in various phases that can be incorporated to improve the product's environmental
for the mask, and up to gentle washes for the lter. footprint. We have in place a mechanism for continuous monitoring of year-on-year progress of our initiatives by
conducting LCAs periodically.
The Allen Solly Duo Defence face masks also give
enhanced comfort due to their ergonomic shape. The
mask consists of a nose clip that gives a rm xture and Environmental Impacts of a Formal Shirt (Full Sleeve)
ts a person's face while also blocking the aerosol ow. Cradle to Grave
The mask is manufactured with premium woven fabric
with anti-viral nishing such that customers are
comfortable wearing the masks for long durations.
10.17 KG CO2 EQ.
Global Warming Potential (GWP)
179.44 MJ
Primary Energy Demand (PED)
595.94 KG
Blue Water Consumption (BWC)
At ABFRL, we have adopted the BRM module of the Higg Index as an integral part of the brand operation, enabling
brands to strategise and embed the concept of clean by design at the very beginning of the product development.
This enhances with the overarched effort of the brand to devise various sustainability initiatives that assess and reduce
the impact of the brands' product footprint.
Higg self-assessment is carried out year-on-year, to rede ne, outline and manage sustainability priorities, eventually
comparing environmental and social performance at the brand level. In the reporting year, we have done assessments
for brands - Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, PFRL and Van Heusen Inner Wear for Higg BRM.
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ECOSYSTEMS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Circular Fashion
With rising extreme weather events disrupting lives, it is now more critical than ever to move beyond conventional
methods and propel an industry-wide shift from a linear to a circular business model. In alignment with our efforts to move
towards a circular economy, we have set goals for circular innovations and products in our Sustainability Roadmap.
CASE STUDY
LIVA Reviva Shirt
In the reporting year, we explored the following innovations related to circularity:
100% Recycled Polyester Thread ABFRL's brand Peter England and Birla Cellulose
collaborated on a project to promote recycling and the
concept of circularity in the textile value chain with a key
imperative to co-launch a programme in the Indian retail
At present, the use of virgin Polyester thread is a norm in the apparel industry. However, sourcing of polyester is
market as a sustainable model.
dependent on petroleum which is a nite natural resource. In our circular fashion journey, to promote sustainable
alternatives without compromise, we collaborated with thread manufacturer – Coats and did a pilot run using
To create high impact with a marketing and
their innovative product 'Epic EcoVerde' which is % recycled premium polyester core spun sewing thread.
promotion campaign that put a greater
Coats EcoVerde is the rst globally focus on circularity, Birla Cellulose and
available % recycled line of Peter England agreed on co-branding,
premium core spun and textured design input and new product development
sewing threads, delivering the using LIVA Reviva bre.
same proven level of performance
LIVA Reviva is made using % pre-consumer textile
as the industry's leading non- industrial waste and % FSC certi ed wood pulp at bre
recycled threads. manufacturing stage. LIVA Reviva is certi ed as per
Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) and garments made from
To create this product, waste plastic is Liva Reviva have a better hand feel. The blockchain-based
collected from various industrial and post- GreenTrack platform allows tracking of Birla's bres along
consumer sources, sorted, cleaned, ground the supply chain in real time – from certi ed forests to
into akes and then melted down and the end consumer. By simply scanning a QR code, this
extruded into the bre and laments from journey of a garment can also be viewed by consumers.
which EcoVerde sewing threads are made.
Our extensive pilot was implemented for a LIVA REVIVA – UNIQUE USAGE OF WASTE
continuous months, and we produced
approximately lakh garments across Liva Reviva has low Viscose is widely adopted in the women's With the consumer being
multiple categories. The encouraging results water consumption wear category. The big idea for both Birla more and more mindful
of the pilot has motivated us to move towards and is offers source Cellulose and ABFRL's Peter England was towards sustainability
traceability, thereby to offer it in the shirt and other product performance of the products,
exploring options where we produce all MFL
it has very less categories to bring newness to the LIVA Reviva is a game-
garments with Recycled Polyester thread
impact on the existing bases with the unique feature of changer by solving the issues
from FY onwards.
environment. being recycled. of waste and recycling.
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Packaging
Ensuring safe and damage-free delivery of our products
makes packaging as essential as the product itself.
Apparel packaging consists of multiple types of materials
like paper, carton, plastic, textile and metal. While some of
CASE STUDY
Sustainable Polybags
the packaging materials are non-polluting in nature and
biodegradable, a few materials like plastic do not
disintegrate. Across the globe, signi cant steps are being
taken to reduce the impact of plastic on the environment.
To achieve our target of % sustainable packaging, we BIOPLASTICS LIFECYCLE
As a leader in the apparel retail sector, continuously explore new opportunities. In , ABFRL and
ABFRL has made a commitment to use 100% Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF) jointly launched the
86.3%
reduce pollutant content. Pantaloons has moved away for HDPE/PP polybags.
from plastic bags and ships all products in either paper
bags or corrugated boxes, which is also more customer- LIFE CYCLE OF BIOPLASTIC BAGS
friendly. By the end of FY, we were able to achieve
.% sustainable packaging.
sustainable Bioplastics are a type of plastic that are made
packaging COMPOSTABLE
from natural resources like PLA-based materials MATERIAL
ABFRL Packaging Trend Non-Pollutant Pollutant and are biodegradable and compostable.
In an industrial composting environment, it has
88.3 86.9 87.0 86.3 a compost-ability duration of days.
To check the authenticity of biodegradability, we assessed the
vendor and on the basis of the certi cate issued by the Central COMPOSTABLE
Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) and BAGS
11.7 13.1 11.9 13.7 Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), they have been
empaneled as approved suppliers.
ECOSYSTEMS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Plastic-free packaging
CASE STUDY
CASE STUDY
One Garment, One Tag
We continuously explore various options to
reduce our packaging footprint. This year, we
in Louis Philippe Green Crest
have implemented a design optimisation
Packaging is necessary to safeguard the products against
exercise for various hang tags and were able to
damage during transportation. Speci cally, for the shirts
reduce the number of tags to one per garment.
there are a number of primary packaging materials used
Usage of multiple tags in a product requires
such as collar traveler, butter y etc. to avoid damage and
more packaging material and also increases the
a crushed look. These materials are made of plastic and
cost. On average, brands have been using tags
are always preferred because of their stability and
for products - bar code tag and brand
hardness.
information tag. To reduce the number of tags a
new integrated tag was introduced. This is Keeping in mind our transition towards sustainable
designed in such a way that it covers all the packaging, we brainstormed and held multiple trials to
information such as a barcode, branding, special substitute the plastic with more sustainable materials like
feature, storyline, etc. recycled paper. This year, we were able to develop a new-
collar support which is made of % recycled paper
As a result of this initiative, we were board. This helps to eliminate the plastic collar traveler
and butter y and makes the LP crest product line
able to reduce paper usage for tags
completely plastic-free and more sustainable.
by almost %.
EXTENDED PRODUCER
RESPONSIBILITY (EPR)
EPR is an environmental protection strategy that makes
the manufacturer, brand owners and producers
responsible for recycling and nal disposal of plastic
packaging material. EPR also encourages brand owners
to gradually decrease the plastic they introduce in the
market and adopt alternate non-polluting packaging.
Before After
At ABFRL, all our plastic packaging materials are single-layered plastic and recyclable in
nature. To ensure % recyclability, last year we started working towards the Extended
The potential saving in terms of Producer Responsibility (EPR) commitment to ensure that nothing goes to land ll.
cost from this project is approximate
INR 2.31 Crore per annum across the In the reporting year, we registered ourselves with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for EPR to comply with
the latest Plastic Waste Management Rules. This will help us in collecting state-wise post-consumer plastic waste
MFL brands and products. and recycling through proper channels with complete transparency and traceability.
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REPORT 2021-22
Chemical Management
prefer to use the Higg Index FEM & FSLM module for our the supply chain.
supplier evaluation, in case it is not available with the
supplier, we use self-assessment questionnaires. These We have completed self-assessment of the Facility
Quality Management
self-assessment questionnaires include environmental Environment Module and Facility Social Labour Module
and social parameters and are developed in line with for all our in-house manufacturing facilities. Higg FEM
globally recognised standards. veri cation was carried out at of our factories (FCL,
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ECOSYSTEMS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
100%
To achieve this, we have implemented a due diligence programme - the 'Vendor Code of Conduct' that is aligned with
PFRL businesses. This year we have expanded our scope to other businesses like Forever' and
globally established legal and statutory requirements. The objective of the Vendor Code of Conduct (Vendor CoC) is to
VH innerwear. With regular training and monitoring mechanism, signi cant number of vendors
mitigate risks associated with supply chain, comply with legal and statutory requirements and ensure workers' health,
was transited from non-complied (red category) to compliance level (green category).
safe work environment, minimum wages and other social responsibilities as outlined by the Indian Factories Act ,
International Labour Organization (ILO), SA and WRAP standards. In this reporting year, we assessed suppliers for social impacts in accordance to our vendor new suppliers
Our Vendor Code of Conduct covers principles and falls under ve core focus areas of social responsibility.
code of conduct. Out of the assessed, % i.e., suppliers were identi ed as having signi cant
negative social impacts (i.e., issues limited to excessive working hours and remuneration). Post
screened using
assessment, action plan was devised and agreed with all the identi ed suppliers for the areas social criteria
of negative impacts.
LEGAL COMPLIANCE
All vendors should respect the law
of the land and obtain all the
required approval and permits
CODE OF CONDUCT
CORE FOCUS AREAS
EMPLOYEE RIGHTS
No Child Labour
No Forced, Bonded, Compulsory Labour
No Discrimination
No Harassment & Inhuman Treatment
Legal Working Hours
Equal Remuneration
Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining
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Human Rights
At ABFRL, we have a robust quality appraisal system,
which is devised through the lens of customer-centricity
In the reporting year, we collaborated with
to ensure that the customer receives only the highest
Assessment
Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals quality product. Our quality management system
enables us to consistently maintain quality according to
(ZDHC) as 'Friends of ZDHC' to strengthen
prede ned standards. We conduct multiple quality
our leadership and commitment to appraisals/audits that include raw material testing,
In the reporting year, we completed the rst The methodology considers requirements of national process quality audits, supplier performance evaluation
sustainable practices and ensure product and nished goods inspection to ensure we deliver only
human rights rd party due diligence and legislation, sector speci c human rights risks and global
assessment for select units which includes our frameworks and best practices on human rights. It is a safety with zero harm to the environment. the best quality.
Head Office, In-house Manufacturing Units, multi-layered approach and probes adherence to current Suppliers are a key stakeholder in our value chain and
Warehouse and Outsourced Supplier. The human rights best practices at various operational levels play a crucial role in delivering high quality products and
objective of this study was to prioritise the of our value chain. The methodology evaluates the level services. We, at ABFRL, continuously engage and
salient human rights issue, evaluate the of awareness and alignment with the policy intent at the collaborate with our suppliers to establish a culture
consistent application of Company policies, operational level through a detailed assessment where we all are driven by the ethos – 'exceeding the
ascertain the current level of policy awareness checklist. customer expectation'.
and identify control mechanisms.
The assessment was administered through a blended To assess the quality of the products from our suppliers,
The framework used for assessment was 'The UN approach encompassing site visits and focussed The collaboration with ZDHC will pivot us towards we regularly use various tools like the Vendor Quality
transforming the value chain and delivering sustainable Performance Index (VPQI) and Quality Index Number
Guiding Principles (UNGP)' on Business and interviews undertaken by assessors. The assessment has
fashion by going beyond traditional approaches. This (QIN) and share the results with the suppliers. These
Human Rights. The assessment methodology identi ed prevailing human rights practices and serves
programme will help us leverage cleaner inputs, reduce scores allow us to have informed interactions with our
was built on a risk-based approach emphasising as a foundation to further explore the human rights
chemical footprint, deliver safer products, enable suppliers, by means of assessing their facilities and
action of identi ed human rights thrust areas. impact of the Company.
transparency and mitigate environmental impact within sharing leading industry-practices for improvement. The
the supply chain and the broader environment. results of the appraisals are given to the relevant teams
for immediate action.
PROTECT RESPECT AND REMEDY FRAMEWORK
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SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Customer Centricity
VENDOR DEVELOPMENT & COLLABORATION Customer-centricity is the key to long-term business
sustainability. For us, it is a means to become the
Collaboration is the crux of our approach towards our vendors. Through regular engagements and development preferred choice for our customers and achieve long-
programmes we foster a culture cooperation and consensus that leads to swifter decision-making and reduced lead lasting competitive advantage in the industry. At ABFRL,
times. Some of the key initiatives undertaken for vendor development and collaboration in reporting year are: we aim to build consistent customer satisfaction by
providing high-quality customer experience that delivers
superior value.
Green Channel Partnership Vendor and Front-end Staff Skill Development
By continuously innovating and developing products
Green Channel Partnership (GCP) is a unique initiative We conduct regular training sessions and workshops based on a thorough analysis of consumer feedback, we
that offers a supplier quality system certi cation for for vendors in various geographical regions. These have developed a repertoire of lifestyle brands that cater
accepting merchandise quality, based on the supplier trainings are crucial to identify and eliminate to every consumer's needs across multiple occasions.
quality report and self-certi cation. It encourages a manufacturing issues and improve productivity and
collaborative partnership between buyers and suppliers quality and to reduce defects. For the last two years, Our customer-centricity approach
in order to create a better alignment with sourcing due to COVID- restrictions we did not conduct any revolves around:
strategies and expectations. This partnership establishes in-person training programmes. However, to keep the
Mission Happiness
a common understanding of the quality of products and momentum going, the QA team designed multiple
processes between MFL and suppliers. This results in online training modules and conducted virtual training
Post Purchase Survey
consistent availability of quality raw materials, on-time sessions for more than garmenting vendors across
delivery and minimum inventory by operating within India and the world.
limited resources. Customer Voice
This year, QA team also conducted an exclusive
In the reporting year, garment factories were training programme for our front-end retail stores staff Response System (CVRS)
certi ed as GCP which contribute % of garments including store manager and CCA. This programme
(by volume) to MFL across categories. In raw enabled us to connect with more than , store Customer Delight Through
Quality Improvement
materials, % of fabrics (by volume) have been teams across India.
procured through Green Channel Partnership.
Resulting in ne or penalty
Resulting in warning
153 154
RESTORING ABFRL
ECOSYSTEMS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
through Mission Happiness in the Ÿ Pilling in formal suit and bottom weights in woolen
blends was a major concern in recent years. A detailed
reporting year and collected 3 lakh+ analysis has been done on the trend and nature of
customer complaints and a customised in-house test of
feedback across in-store and Martindale pilling was developed. Simultaneously,
online channels.
product development and fabric sourcing team worked
together with the mills to improve fabric quality
through better yarn quality, fabric re-engineering and
better chemical and mechanical nishes.
155 156
ISING TRENDS
RECOGN
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
c ia l co g in identifying
ac ru
e r E n gagement is
Stak e h o ld
e m e rg in g trends early
hing
e d s as w ell as uneart
underserved
n e
s in g th e m yriad sections
pas
ita lis e o n them. Encom ess
enough to c a p
s, th e c o n ventional proc
cern
c ap tu re real-world con
of society to ers w e ll on the former.
eliv
h o ld e r e ngagement d
of s ta k e
n g re s u lts w hen it comes
veri
e ve r, it o u nders on deli
How
ing a tre n d well before
to ascertain
-SPREAD PH ENOMENON.
TO A WIDE
IT EVOLVES IN with
, engage
We, therefore
STRY EXPERTS
INDU D G E. T H IS LA YERING OF
D EE P D OM AIN KNOWLE TS IN HIGH
HO USE TH EIR IA LIT Y R ESU L
W
E M EN T W ITH MATER
STAKEHOLDER
EN GA G
PUS H TH E B ENCHMARK.
LITY P AR TN ER SHIPS THAT
QUA
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TRENDS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Management Approach
The pandemic has forced all of us to take a step back and reset our
priorities. One key takeaway that has clearly emerged is that a resilient
business model that embraces sustainable practices shall have an edge
over the traditional business models. The fashion industry being one of the
fastest moving sectors has signi cantly accelerated its progress through a
-degree transformation. This has been made possible through
EXTENSIVE INTERACTION
WITH A DIVERSE RANGE OF
STAKEHOLDERS AND THEN
ALIGNING THEIR VISION
We have adopted a structured
Over the years, we have developed rm-level processes
approach to materiality
stakeholders. It reinforces our understanding of relevant
COMMITMENT OF THE
matters and helps us identify those attributes of
159 160
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TRENDS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Engagement Mechanism
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT FRAMEWORK Stakeholder Engagement helps us decide, de ne and develop our future roadmap detailing our long-term, mid-term
and short-term strategies. We also participate in various forums and discussions to benchmark our stakeholder
Our sustainability programme brings together stakeholders from across the value chain to identify and address the
engagement practices and sustainability performance with our global and domestic peers.
industry's most pressing environmental issues. One-on-one meetings, annual general meeting, training, group
discussions, surveys, and supplier and custodial relationships are all examples of systematic channels of interaction with Our Group level guiding principles and policies help us in drafting an effective and efficient mechanism for stakeholder
our stakeholders, integrated throughout our business operations. engagement. Some of our important ways that help us capture key inputs and concerns of our stakeholders, as well as
their frequency, can be found in the table below. It also summarises the key issues of interest of the stakeholder groups.
Stakeholders are identi ed from respective stakeholder groups relevant for our business. These include investors,
employees, customers, suppliers, regulatory authorities, media, industry associations, communities, NGOs and peer
companies. Stakeholder engagement exercise is carried out to engage with prioritised stakeholders from each of these
Stakeholder Frequency of
groups through deliberation. The exercise helped us understand their concerns and feedback. Groups Mode of Engagement Engagement Key issues of interest
In , we carried out a detailed materiality analysis, focussing on development of our strategy for ReEarth's
SUPPLIERS Periodic vendor communications, Continual Ÿ Supply chain mapping & traceability
Sustainability .. It involved extensive stakeholder engagement with senior management, employees, functional heads, supplier meets/summits Ÿ Integration of sustainability aspects in
suppliers, customers, local community and industry associations. Inputs from various sector trends, peer performance
supplier assessment process
and internal strategy documents were also collected. A list of material issues were identi ed and prioritised through
Ÿ Less packaging and/or recycled
consultation with different stakeholder groups. The outcome of the process was a comprehensive materiality analysis packaging material
along with qualitative outputs that helped in the sustainability strategy development process.
Ÿ Factories certi ed as per international
standards (such as ISO, Green
In recent times, we have been witness to a large scale shifting of consumer perceptions Building)
Ÿ Business ethics and transparency
and expectations at a global level, leading us to tap into the insights from domain experts,
Ÿ Training and development of
to make informed choices on styles, materials, colours and marketing communications. partners and suppliers
INVESTORS Annual report, Annual General Continual Ÿ Performance and growth with respect
Meeting, company website, analyst to revenue and market share
S
IDENTIFICATION All the issues from different sources speci c to
Importance of Stakeholders
P
STAKEHOLDER Prioritise stakeholders and assess to what extent each Ÿ Increased manufacturing efficiency
ANALYSIS stakeholder group identi es the issues as important
Ÿ Internal and external communication
about sustainability practices
Assess the importance of each issue with respect to
S
EXTERNAL external reporting requirements - both generic and
REQUIREMENTS GOVERNMENT Mandatory lings with regulators Quarterly/ Ÿ Lesser usage of chemicals or
sector speci c
AND REGULATORY (including SEBI) Half - yearly/ alternatives for hazardous / toxic
Importance to ABFRL BODIES Annual chemicals
Assess to what extent each of the issues identi ed Ÿ Less packaging and/or recycled
P S
BUSINESS contribute to the achievement of the strategic
OBJECTIVES packaging material
business objectives
Ÿ Focus on occupational health and
safety of all individuals at the
workplace
P S
RISK Assess to what extent each of the issues identi ed
ASSESSMENT contribute to the mitigation of key business risks Ÿ Ensuring compliance with local laws
and regulations
P
SIGNIFICANCE Determined by assessing the 'Magnitude' and
OF ISSUES 'Probability' of occurrence of each issue MEDIA Press Releases, Media Interactions Continual Ÿ Internal and external communication
by Senior Management, PR agency about sustainability practices
partnerships
P Primary Research (Stakeholder Consultation) S Secondary Research (Document Analysis)
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TRENDS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
SUPPLIERS
Stakeholder Frequency of It is our suppliers who power our operations and
Groups Mode of Engagement Engagement Key issues of interest
ensure that we deliver on our promise as a business.
EMPLOYEES On-ground employee engagement Continual Ÿ Occupational health and safety As our growth partners, suppliers are instrumental in
platforms like Retail Sports Meet, Ÿ Career planning and development
contributing towards our economic, social, and
Retail Premier League, Retail Got environmental sustainability.
Talent, and other such structured Ÿ Market-based compensation, bene ts
platforms for top-down, bottom-up and amenities
We interact with a broad range of suppliers based on
and horizontal communications Ÿ Employee welfare programmes
domain, sector, geography and supplied material type.
Ÿ Collective bargaining/freedom of To encourage vendors to improve and grow along with
association
us, we support them in optimising their performance,
Ÿ Code of Conduct and corporate
reducing costs, mitigating risks, and aligning with global
policies
standards.
Ÿ Sustainability performance, especially
environment, health and safety Some of the initiatives that strengthen our relationship
Ÿ Work - life balance with our suppliers and enhance their capacities on
Ÿ Promotion and action on diversity sustainability are as follows:
and equal opportunities
Ÿ Training, skill up-gradation and
continuous learning
Samanvay - Vendor
Partnership Summit
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TRENDS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
CUSTOMERS
I N I T I AT I V E S
At ABFRL, customer centricity is the key to product centricity. We keep in mind the expectations and concerns our
customers have, especially with regards to being a responsible corporate citizen with a positive impact on the
communities and the planet. Our ReEarth journey is calibrated according to these customer expectations.
Partner Innovation Summit We stay in tune with customer expectation by continuously interacting with them.
It is a platform for our suppliers that lets them network and interact with the key decision makers of all our
brands. This encourages them to develop new collections and ideas while also inspiring brands to adopt Our customers belong to di erent age groups, lifestyles, genders, cultures, and
geographies, and we map their needs accordingly.
new concepts. Partners across the value chain participate in The Summit, from trims to fabric to accessories
suppliers, to showcase their innovations, products and designs.
We welcome customer feedback and are open to ideas for delivering the best products and create a memorable brand
experiences. Customer ideas and feedback are garnered using various media to understand their mindsets and
expectations. Some of the initiatives include:
In the reporting year, a total garment factories were certi ed as GCP which contributes
% of garments (by volume) for MFL across categories. In fabrics, % of fabrics (by volume)
came through Green Channel Partnership.
There have been no complaints and none pending against the Company regarding unfair trade practices,
To know more about our other initiatives with suppliers and vendors, please refer to the 'Product Responsibility' section of this report
irresponsible advertising, and/or anti-competitive behaviour during the last ve years, as of st March .
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TRENDS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Materiality
EMPLOYEES STRATEGIC COLLABORATIONS
At ABFRL, the knowledge, talent and passion of our As one of the largest players in the apparel and We believe materiality assessment is one of the most Post gathering of inputs from all the assessments, each
employees is crucial to our success. In these testing garment sector, we believe it is our responsibility to crucial activity in devising a tailor-made sustainability universe of issue is reviewed in the short, mid and long-
times, it is the ability of our employees to innovate and play an active part in collaborating with various strategy for a business. Our material assessment and term time frame to assess the 'Magnitude' and
their willingness to embrace agility, that drive us forward. industry bodies and strengthen sustainability across extensive stakeholder engagement enabled us to 'Probability' of occurrence of each issue. Basis the
As we continue to strengthen our position, we focus on the value chain. This not only helps us contribute to identify, review, and analyse potential aspects that could determined probability and magnitude, the universe of
enhancing the capabilities and enthusiasm of our policies that impact the industry, but also enables us impact our operations and in uence our stakeholders. issues are plotted in a by matrix, i.e., In uence on
people. to remain updated on the latest norms and trends. Stakeholders and Signi cance to Business, for identifying
We initiated our materiality assessment by identifying and prioritising material issues for ABFRL.
It is important for us to ensure our employees are in tune We have taken a signi cant stride in our circularity potential material topics i.e., universal aspects obtained
with the organisation's purpose and values. Employee by analysing mega trends and from global peer group,
journey through our collaboration with 'GIZ' -
performance is critical to the overall success of the and gleaned our previous engagements and research
a German Government agency, in a 'public-private
studies including the one with Forum for Future. Post
company, and employees who are content and happy development partnership project'.
identi cation, the universal issues were assessed for their
with their organisation can help them grow and succeed.
This collaboration focusses on material innovation, contribution to achievement of business objectives and
ABFRL cultivates a positive work environment by
reduction of harmful substances at the input stage, mitigation of risks identi ed under Risk Management
rewarding high-performance employees with incentives
increase in textile-to-textile recycling, development of Framework.
and providing constructive feedback to all employees.
Moreover, through our engagement programmes, we try alternatives to plastic packaging, and fostering
and build a sense of belonging and ownership among traceability. This will support the industry to match A stakeholder engagement exercise
supply and demand which witnesses pressure due to
of ~300 internal and external
employees, resulting in workplace satisfaction, retention,
and enhanced productivity. resource constraints.
Across our offices and stores, there is also an We have also collaborated with ZDHC Foundation with stakeholders was conducted involving
the Leadership, Senior Management,
employee engagement calendar that lists the events the objective to drive good chemical management
and celebrations planned. We are consistently practices across the supply chain, as this helps to
working towards creating a supportive, friendly, and assure our end customer on the sustainability of our
value chain.
Key Internal Stakeholders, Industry
happy workplace while maintaining a healthy work-
life balance. To strengthen our aim towards imbibing and
Associations, Suppliers, Customers
quantifying our sustainability targets, we will commit and Local Community Stakeholders,
to Science-Based Target initiative (SBTi) speci c to the
apparel and footwear sector developed by World to understand their perspective,
vision and concerns about the
Resources Institute (WRI).
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TRENDS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
For each identi ed material aspect, strategic approach adopted and action taken have been mapped below.
SUSTAINABLE Creating products by embracing lifecycle Ÿ Focus on sustainable raw material &
PRODUCT thinking, designing out waste and processes
pollution, keeping material is use and Ÿ Sustainable manufacturing
enabling regenerative natural systems.
Ÿ Product Sustainability Assessment tools
like Sustainability attribute, Higg Index
Importance to Stakeholders
PACKAGING Exploring environment-friendly substitutes Ÿ One garment one tag
for packaging while continuing the rigor Ÿ Leveraging on plastic crates to enhance
on standardizing, eliminating, and
minimizing the primary, secondary and
reuse and eliminate carton consumption
for the same
tertiary packaging of the product
Ÿ Sustainable alternatives like
Biodegradable plastics
INNOVATION Investing in innovation and technology to Ÿ Partner Innovation Summit
accelerate the journey ahead across Ÿ Innovation Workshop Series
product development, manufacturing,
supply chain, and consumer engagement Ÿ Product Innovation & Digital Quality Check
Ÿ Digital Transformation Initiatives
Ÿ Technology platforms
WASTE Establishing integrated waste Ÿ Operational efficiency measures
MANAGEMENT management system with a focus to Ÿ Waste traceability assessments
reduce overall waste generation,
encourage circularity, dispose zero waste Ÿ Vendor Self-certi cation
to land ll and drive last mile traceability Ÿ Material exchange matrix
Importance to ABFRL
Ÿ Waste Zero certi cation
Note: Size of the bubble indicates signi cance Key material issues
WATER Conserving and rejuvenating water sources Ÿ Operational efficiency measures
MANAGEMENT through reducing fresh water withdrawal Ÿ Recycle & Reuse
and enhance share of alternate water i.e.,
NO. MATERIAL ISSUE NO. MATERIAL ISSUE rainwater, recycled water Ÿ Rainwater harvesting (onsite / offsite)
169 170
ING BUSINESS
REDESIGN
FUTURE PROOFING
o f th e w o rld we live in.
re a reality
Disruptions a sters, the rap
id
na tu ra l d isa
frequency of
The enhanced ro wing challen
ges
g ie s, th e g
ital technolo tical issue,
spread of dig e to ge op oli
du
u lti-polar world
e to g lob alisation or m
-h eld so c ial contracts,
du long
n c es, the splintering of
sumer prefere , and society
.
changing con e e co n om y
business, th
are all roiling ,
ICIPA TE D IS R UPTIONS
T
HILE W E C A N'T ALWAYS AN M . IT WAS THIS
W OR T H E
N A N D SH O ULD PREPARE F A S TRUCTURED,
WE CA D UC E
T HA T LED ABFRL TO INTRO
PHILOSOPH Y
N-GO ING P RACTICE OF
O
DYNAMIC AND
URE PROOFING
FUT THAN A DECADE AGO.
MORE
OUR BUSINESS
171 172
REDESIGNING ABFRL
BUSINESS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Disruptions are a constant in this fast-changing world. In the last two years, we have seen The sheer velocity, intensity, and unpredictability with
the pandemic disrupting lives, economies, businesses, and supply chains. This year, the which disruptive events have unfolded over the past few
Russia-Ukraine war led to increase in commodity prices, energy costs, and in ationary years have made future proo ng even more vital. Being
pressure that added to the set of challenges, while climate change remains a persistent ready provides us with the scope to nd opportunities in
disruptor impacting people and the planet in a big way. times of adversities.
Future proo ng is ABFRL's structured way to safeguard the Our core modules of future proo ng continue to be
Diversi ed Product Portfolio, Risk Management, Scenario
business from getting caught o -guard during such Planning, Circularity, Climate Change and Lifecycle
Approach, Product and Customer Centricity and
social, environmental, and economic dimensions. The Indian Apparel industry is set for long-term growth
due to the strong fundamentals of a large and growing
middle class, favourable demographics, rising disposable
MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS
SUCH AS COSO AND TCFD.
173 174
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SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Risk Management
ABFRL proactively identi es and manages risks. This GOVERNANCE AND CULTURE STRATEGY AND OBJECTIVE SETTING
year, we adopted the globally recognised COSO
The Board is responsible for oversight of the We have considered both internal and external Performance
Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework along
organisation's ERM programme and the Management of challenges and opportunities to determine risks: the Identi ed risks are prioritised based on a uniform
with its ve components –
its design and operation. The Board convenes half-yearly organisation's strategy, external business environment, scoring mechanism arrived at as a multiple of impact
to review risks, including climate-related risks, strategies, industry benchmarks, socio-political factors, regulatory and likelihood. The risk criteria for impact consider
GOVERNANCE AND CULTURE risk policies and performance. environment, climate, and sustainability trends. both quantitative and qualitative aspects and scores
Enterprise risks are integrated with the strategy and range from minor to critical across eight elements
The overall corporate governance is executed through performance of ABFRL across large spectrums – namely, nancial, strategy, operations, compliance,
STRATEGY AND OBJECTIVE-SETTING four levels of management: strategic, nancial, environmental, social, operations and information security, technology, people and brand.
compliance. Key steps in the risk management process.
PERFORMANCE Risk management and The RMSC consolidates and monitors the top risks
at an entity level including the implementation of
sustainability committee (RMSC)
action plans. Based on the severity of the risks, the
RMSC is the top governing body entrusted with the
REVIEW AND REVISION responsibility of continual management of applicable
KEY STEPS IN THE
RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS
functional level risks are consolidated at a business
unit level and entity level risks are consolidated at
risks, including ESG risks, to the organisation. The
the entity level. Entity level risks are monitored from
INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, committee appraises the Board on emerging key
enterprise and sustainability risks during the half-
the entity level.
AND REPORTING yearly meetings.
IDENTIFY Review and Revision
This year, we have also aligned our climate-related The RMSC continually reviews the external business
Entity level risk management
risks and opportunities with Task Force on Climate and regulatory environment, the organisation's
steering committee (RSC)
Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). strategies, objectives, people, process, and
Each business within ABFRL has a designated RSC
technology to assess if any changes are to be made
responsible for the management of risks and assessing
to the Company's risk framework.
The COSO ERM framework is one of the
ASSESS
the effectiveness of mitigation plans for the identi ed
risks. The RSC reports the status of the key risks to the
widely accepted risk management Three Lines Model
RMSC quarterly.
standards organisations use to help We have established the Three Lines Model as
prescribed by the Institute of Internal Auditors for
manage risks in an increasingly turbulent, Group Risk Team
the effective management of risks, represented by
Headed by the Chief Risk Officer, the team is
unpredictable business landscape. management control as the rst line, risk and control
responsible for the successful implementation of the
PRIORITIZE monitoring as the second, and independent
Group risk methodology across ABFRL for key risks
For more details refer to Annexure - TCFD Alignment. assurance through the internal audit function as the
that matter and for overseeing risk management
third.
activities.
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SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Circular Ecosystem
Our strategic focus of creating sustainable products is rooted in enabling circularity - designing out waste and pollution, OTHER COLLABORATIONS
keeping material in use, and regenerating natural systems.
Our drive to embrace Circular Economy saw the
Principles of 'Lifecycle Thinking' power our design and development. We are enhancing the sustainability attributes of strengthening of our ongoing collaborations with the
our products by adopting alternate materials, eliminating single-use plastic, embracing sustainable production Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Circular Apparel
processes and encouraging sustainable farming practices. Innovation Factory (CAIF).
Innovation and technology act as a catalyst in enhancing circularity. Over the years, we have used innovative technology Through these collaborations, we intend to bring forth
solutions to foster circularity both in developing sustainable products and operating facilities in a smart and ideas and innovations that will add more impetus to our
environmentally friendly way. Our recent collaboration with GIZ is a testament to our continued efforts and value chain pioneering work around sustainability.
focus to boost circular economy.
This unique initiative is part of the 'DeveloPPP programme' and is being implemented by ABFRL and GIZ on
behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
Increased Development of Setup of the working Adoption of Good
implementation of new circular group on the circular Industry Practices by
circular business solutions suited textile and key stakeholders
practices in the industry to India apparelindustry across the industry
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BUSINESS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
VALUE
FORAY INTO DC
At ABFRL, we want to build the next set of iconic
Reinforcing and constantly updating this portfolio in line with new markets and evolving consumer tastes is a vital brands in the digital space as we evolve with our
component of our future-proo ng strategy. changing consumers. This year, we announced our
ambitious plan of setting up a dedicated company to
Ÿ During the year, we launched premium men's ethnic wear brand 'Tasva' and women's ethnic wear brand 'Marigold enter the Direct to Consumer (DC) business, as part of
Lane'. Today, ABFRL has one of the strongest and most comprehensive ethnic wear portfolios comprising brands our strategy to build a portfolio of new-age, digital
across price points, consumer segments and occasions. We have a constellation of partnerships with leading brands across categories in fashion, beauty and
designers like Sabyasachi, Tarun Tahiliani, and Shantanu & Nikhil. lifestyle segments. We strongly believe that the overall
Ÿ We acquired Reebok's India operations to build a strong play in sportswear. DC market opportunity in India will be close to USD
billion by .
Ÿ We also acquired a majority stake in the brand House of Masaba. This will strengthen our play into fashion for
young and digitally native consumers along with marking a foray into the branded beauty & personal care segment.
Ÿ Introduced kids segment in Peter England and scaled it up in Allen Solly and Pantaloons.
Ÿ Strengthened Pantaloons private label play with home decor, sarees and athleisure.
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SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Digitalisation
A comprehensive digital transformation programme is underway to drive ecommerce, enhance sustainability, build UPGRADING TO FUTURE-READY INFRASTRUCTURE
stronger engagement and affinity for our brands, harness efficiencies and manage risks.
If there is one industry that changes at a similar speed as the fashion industry, it is IT and to retain one's competitive
The initiatives which were focused on and are explained in detail come under strategic levels: edge, it is vital to upgrade IT infrastructure to meet the new demands of the digital world. Utilising the full potential of
interconnected devices and other smart technologies requires next-gen secure network connectivity, the ability to scale
services with automation, and advanced analytics that enable timely, data-driven decisions.
Some of the key milestone projects undertaken to upgrade IT infrastructure across ABFRL include:
1 2 3
Improve prediction of Reduce data's Make sustainability ABFRL's MFL/Pantaloons Digitalisation brings ABFRL's S/ VB HANA, a Pantaloons was the rst
style demand to reduce energy footprint reporting traceable, digital, and other business units transparency and 'single digital core' large format retailer to
migrated from the existing accountability to project platform is vertically replace physical paper
wastage of resources and redundancy and accessible for all
offline POS version to an management. From integrated from invoices with digital ones,
Online POS application product development to manufacturing to integrating customer
through D MPOS. The the sale in stores/online, wholesale to retail, information and feedback
DECODING DEMAND Demand Forecasting
application helps easy we are digitalising PLM bringing more at stores. This simple
The objective of this project is to build a system that
The statistics around the fashion industry's levels of scalability as per business across the new and transparency and and well-executed
forecasts Sales at a granular level (Style pack and
waste are alarming from every angle: environmentally, growth needs. The upcoming business units accountability to all digitalisation step led to a
Location level). The system uses historical sales data, and
economically, and ethically. Precise demand forecasting initiative helped remove like Tasva, Pantaloons, etc. stakeholders. Being an contactless shopping
product master data to forecast future sales. The system
is the need of the hour. Aligning demand and supply servers from our data This deployment provides integrated platform, it experience for our
also allows automated work ow and approval process
means sustainable supply chains, massively reduced centres and reduced the -degree seamless reduces energy use, customers during the
which simpli es the business process of planning.
waste, and increased pro ts. In a changing and power consumption connectivity amongst all prevents data duplication, pandemic. It also
Another bene t is that the tool provides sharper sales
increasingly fraught market, this could be a mega leading to reduction in stakeholders (internal and removes unneeded continues to serve our
forecasts over a longer period. This will help brand teams
competitive advantage at best and the difference carbon emissions. the external supplier storage, and repurposes purpose of
in planning for production, supply and inventory.
between survival and closure, at the least. ecosystem) operating hidden space. communicating and
Sharper forecasts will lead to optimal planning and
across the concept-to- capturing customer
To future proof our business, we have started leveraging hence, optimal usage of inventory space and
shelf spectrum. feedback. We have
data and advanced software algorithms to enhance the transportation.
generated over crore
accuracy of our demand forecasting, ensuring that the
Fabric Grading System digital invoices so far.
voice of customers is heard better, and the learnings are
passed on to the teams throughout the value chain. Our team rolled-out a BB app to gather feedback from a
network of over , stores. The feedback was gathered
To this end, some of the key projects include: on upcoming fabric designs via D high-de nition
SUSTAINABILITY DIGITAL DASHBOARD
visuals for the products which would be delivered in We launched a cloud-based digital dashboard that tracks sustainability from end to end. It captures sustainability KPI
stores in another months. This feedback helps us in data from various sources such as factories, stores, warehouses and offices, consolidates the data and generates
creating products to be at par with the market demand reports and data trends. The data is captured in real-time and all sustainability KPIs and metrics are available for
and hence, minimise wastage while maximising analysis in one dashboard, enabling timely and informed decisions based on hard data. This in-turn helps accelerate
deployment of resources for manufacturing. sustainability and to course correct in time if an initiative is veering off-course.
For more information on Sustainability Digital Dashboard, please refer to the environmental performance section of the report page no 33.
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SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT CENTRE (KMC)
KMC channelises best practices and drives product
benchmarking, development and innovation.
MANUFACTURING
CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
Centre of Excellence's have been established across
all our manufacturing units to seamlessly drive
product innovation, prototyping, sustainability and
quality. CoE's also conduct periodic benchmarking
assessment to identify and embed best practices in Products Luxure Denim Shoes Polybags Packaging
Linen Shirts, Linen End-to-end Formal Shoes sourced from All polybags in the
garmenting processes and the nal product.
Blazers, Linen Trousers sustainable Gold Rated Tannery certi ed brand have been shifted
under Luxure by the leather working group to recycled versions
All of the above products are available at the Louis Phillippe store and have been well received by the customers.
183 184
REDESIGNING ABFRL
BUSINESS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Future Pipeline
Exploring options to cover the entire bottomwear range
with recycled poly, viscose and shoes with recycled PU Van Heusen Denim Labs to move towards environmentally Peter England has taken up multiple initiatives to
responsible line delivering sustainable fashion. reduce pollution, conserve water and contribute to
Ÿ Moving the washing process of the denim, shirts, jeans
create a better environment.
and tees to cleaner processes Ÿ Conversion of the Denim washing into a cleaner
Sustainable Packaging process; Certain proportion of denims processed at
Ÿ Using zero liquid discharge plants and certi ed laundries
% of paper raw material is sourced for washing purposes ZLD plants and certi ed laundries
organically. FSC Certi ed. Recyclable Ÿ Sustainable Packaging across products in
Ÿ Embracing sustainable packaging – single tag / no
biodegradable, % PCW. biodegradable bags / single tag per garment
lamination tags / minimum color usage / biodegradable
product bags Ÿ Using laser treatment for the washed look on Denim
Ÿ Sewing with Secura/Epic Eco-sewing thread made from Ÿ Eco Sewing thread made from recycled material
Sustainable Back patch & Lables recycled material Ÿ Using recycled cotton / recycled poly / organic
Recycled bonded leather and Recycled Ÿ Enhancing communication – in store / website page / cotton
poly inner labels wash care label Ÿ Usage of zero discharge chemicals
Made with hazardous components. products & care Ÿ Signature differentiated trims
Meets the human ecological Ÿ Vendor Code of Conduct for all VH partners
Ÿ Exchange of old garments to stores and tie-up with
requirement as per the test performed Ÿ No air shipments mills for extraction of bres
under STANDARD by OEKO-TEX(R)
Ÿ Transport partners for electric vehicles Ÿ Reusable shopping bags (Initiated in FY)
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REDESIGNING ABFRL
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SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
CASE STUDY
Upcycling Vintage
Ÿ Focus on investing in better yarn and dyes for better
product quality and durability
Sustainable Process
Ÿ Adopting laser treatment in denim washes with an
objective to reduce water consumption across % of
Packaging
Ÿ Jaypore has adopted corrugated packaging for outer
Brocade Sarees
packaging and reusable muslin bags for inner
total denims
packaging instead of polythene bags to ensure CHALLENGE
responsible packaging.
Sustainable Supply Chain Indian women's wardrobe is incomplete without a
Ÿ The recovery rate for old, corrugated containers from
Ÿ Ensuring enhanced transparency and traceability by brocade saree. These sarees are passed on for generations
recycling has hovered around % over the years. It is
working exclusively with vendors who rank high on till they reach the end of their life, and later in the land ll
noteworthy that despite heavy volumes as an
sustainability or at the scrap vendor.
aggregator, we ensure the sustainability of packaging
even if it comes at a high cost and expects the same
from our partners. ACTION
Ÿ All brands selling on our portal have found unique Jaypore came up with a sustainable solution to solve this
ways to ensure sustainable packaging. However, due to problem. The brand upcycled a series of brocade sarees
the nature of some fragile Home products and to to create a new range of products under the collection
prevent oxidation of silver, we are forced to use plastic name Kalyaji- the Vintage Brocade Collection. The brand
in a few places. We are committed to nd alternatives utilised USED sarees into making clothing essentials such
for the limited current use of plastic as well. as Lehenga, Jacket and Kurta.
Product
Ÿ More than % of the fabrics used in our products are
OUTCOMES
made up of natural bres, especially cotton and silk. This brocade collection was admired, and a
These are renewable resources, can biodegrade and
use less water, chemicals and energy than most other % sell-through collection was achieved.
bres. A large part of the business is handloom-based
and continues to remain so even as the brand grows.
This holds true for other brands and categories we sell
on our platform as well. A lot of our product range
adopts Upcycling and Recycling using older pre-
loved/pre-owned fabrics, clothes and trims.
187 188
REDESIGNING ABFRL
BUSINESS
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
At Shantanu & Nikhil, our efforts are directed towards making a positive difference to society and the environment. Societal Sustainability - At Sabyasachi, we keep 'societal TASVA – Global Indian, seeks to see Indian celebrations
Design thinking, which was till now an undercurrent, has moved to the centre of our decision-making process. sustainability' very close to our hearts. Besides making changed forever
quality products, we empower our artisans and weavers Ÿ Promoting the handloom sector of Benaras
at the grassroots level by providing training in quality
Ÿ Working with small weavers
aspects and reducing waste, round the year.
Ÿ No use of plastic in the tags - replaced it with jute string
We follow our cluster management cycle to keep the
concept of sustainability alive through our products.
Following our success in Benaras and Kanchipuram Accelerating action going forward
clusters, we now plan to connect with artisans, women Ÿ Going de-plastic, the aim is to reduce the usage of
workers, weavers, and other nishing artisans of Srinagar plastic shrouds
in FY for an exclusive cluster of Pashmina. Ÿ Sustainable packaging for garments
Buy-Back Programme
The programme allows
consumers to exchange their
old Shantanu & Nikhil out ts
for credit values that they can
use on their next purchase.
This drives responsible
consumerism and ensures
controlled production at our
end. Going forward, we will
continue such efforts to
become more circular and
sustainable.
189 190
ABFRL
ANNEXURES
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
TCFD Alignment
Climate Change is accelerating at an alarming rate with clear scienti c evidence, and it is very likely that the needs of a Summary of Physical Risks
sustainable world shall have impact on business to act proactively self-regulating the business ecosystem. We at ABFRL
adopted a 'product-led' sustainability strategy taking into account the climate change impact across our business
operations in accordance with global and national commitments including Paris Agreement on Climate Change, UN Karnataka, West Bengal, West Bengal,
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Haryana, and and and
Tamil Nadu Maharashtra Maharashtra
In this journey, we at ABFRL are committed to implementing recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-Related
Financial Disclosures (TCFD) around thematic areas-governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets. West Bengal,
HIGH
and
Maharashtra
GOVERNANCE
Governance is the foundation for ABFRL's framework for The last layer comprises Format level teams where bi-
overseeing climate-related issues. The overall corporate monthly meetings are held with business unit heads
governance of ABFRL is executed through multi-tier from factories, warehouses, brand level managers and West Bengal, West Bengal,
sustainability governance mechanism that ensure the retail to monitor sustainability and climate-related issues. Odisha, and Odisha, and Haryana
Maharashtra Maharashtra Haryana
effective monitoring of climate-related risks with a focus
Risk Rating
West Bengal, West Bengal,
MEDIUM
on enabling robust, effective, transparent and an ethical Odisha, Odisha,
Maharashtra Maharashtra
ecosystem. West Bengal, and Haryana and Haryana
and
Maharashtra
The sustainability governance structure comprises West Bengal, West Bengal,
the Board of Directors, Risk Management and and Haryana and Haryana
STRATEGY
Sustainability Committee, Chief Sustainability
ABFRL has adopted a sustainability strategy developed West Bengal, West Bengal,
Officer, and Format level teams, with speci c roles and Odisha, and
and responsibilities. for under Re-Earth's Sustainability .. programme Maharashtra Maharashtra
with a vision 'to give back more than what we take from
Operating within the structure of a well-de ned our ecosystem'. We have successfully transitioned to
responsibility matrix, the Board is the apex committee sustainability . - from 'Process-led to Product-led', with
instrumental in the adoption and overseeing the a focus on product design and development, customer
sustainability strategy, policies, and advising senior centricity and supply chain. Climate risk assessment is
management regarding ESG initiatives of the accounted to further enhance sustainability actions and
LOW
organisation. The Board convenes half-yearly to discuss its future projections assisted in identifying the potential
and decide on climate-related risks, strategies, and threats that may occur across operations.
policies and reviews the performance of the Company.
In accordance with TCFD guidelines, we at ABFRL have
The second layer constitutes the Risk Management & analysed the two integral risks i.e., Physical Risks and
Sustainability Committee (RMSC) to monitor Transition Risks. The assessment of the associated
performance of ESG-related issues. The committee physical and transition risks was carried out for all assets
appraise the board of directors headed by the chairman which included manufacturing units, warehouses, and
on ESG-related issues during half-yearly meetings. retail stores. At ABFRL, we considered three-time
horizons for assessing climate-related risks; risks arising
The Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) leads the up to were considered as short term, - as
Sustainability Strategy and reviews the progress of medium-term, and above as long term. The
Sustainability and CSR initiatives implementation across associated physical risks were identi ed, and scenario Drought Wind Speed Rise in Sea Level Tropical Cyclone*
the business length and breadth and reviews the analyses were performed considering the Representative
performance through periodic quarterly meeting. CSO Concentration Pathway (RCP) and Shared Socioeconomic
also presents the updates to the RMSC and CSRC during Pathways (SSP).
the respective board committee meetings. The board Riverine Floods Coastal Floods
Water Stress Heatwaves
committees grant sustainability and CSR budgets based
on the inputs from the CSO.
191 *Note: Tropical Cyclone Risk classification is from the perspective of whole of India
192
ABFRL
ANNEXURES
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Ÿ Increased cost Ÿ Increased cost Ÿ Store operation Efficient Ÿ Further enhancing harnessing
of resources of resources & maintenance use of rainwater across operations &
Drought
problems due water communities nearby
HIGH
Riverine ood
production Ÿ Increased clean- stores Ÿ Detailed business continuity plan
Ÿ Supply chain up costs post Ÿ Looting and Ÿ Use of early warning system
disruptions oods theft due to Ÿ Insurance against ood risk
Acute Risk
Ÿ Increased cost Ÿ Supply chain civic unrest
of resources disruption post oods
Risk Rating
MEDIUM
post oods
Tropical cyclone
damage due to Ÿ Property shutdown of buildings structures
high-speed damage stores Ÿ Adopting guidelines to build an
winds Ÿ Supply chain Ÿ Power shut engineered structure, while
Ÿ Supply chain disruption down for developing or selecting new assets
disruptions several days or Ÿ Use of prediction and early
months warning system
Ÿ Increase in the Ÿ Warehouse & Ÿ Building
Wind hazard
cost of power inventory damage
backup damage Ÿ Temporary
Ÿ Temporary Ÿ Temporary shutdown of
shutdown shutdown stores
LOW
Acute Risk
chain disruption stores due to
disruption ooding in
low-lying areas
Carbon Emerging Transition Resource Prolonged Change in Failure Changes in Stricter Ÿ Heat stress and Ÿ Heat stress and Ÿ Lower footfall developme measures
pricing regulations to low scarcity climate consumer to meet investor ESG worker's fatigue worker's fatigue to stores nt like solar Ÿ Prediction and preparedness for
AC and heatwaves
mechanism & standards carbon change demand consumer preferences evaluation boost for
technology demand standards solar
rooftop
193 194
ABFRL
ANNEXURES
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Risk Risk description Opportunity Opportunity Description Risk Risk description Opportunity Opportunity Description
Manufacturing Warehouse Stores
Changes in Ÿ Decline in sales for not Ÿ Increase in demand for Increased demand for products that
Ÿ Asset damage Ÿ Inventory loss Ÿ Property Increased Ÿ Coastal hazard zoning and future consumer meeting low carbon product sustainable products address environmental change
Market
Coastal Floods
Ÿ Supply chain Ÿ Signi cant damage and resiliency prediction on sea-level rise demand for requirement Ÿ New product and
disruptions impact on inundation of and Ÿ Insurance against coastal ood risk low carbon Ÿ Reduction in demand for service development
supply chain low-lying areas moving to products and conventional products
Ÿ Increased Ÿ Development of engineered
disruption safe services
procurement structures such as ood barrier
costs due to an locations walls, levees, and sea walls Failure to Ÿ Reputation damage for not Ÿ Early adoption of the Early adoption and development of
increase in the meet meeting the shift in sustainable sustainable products enhance the
cost of port consumer consumer demand for manufacturing process company's reputation
Chronic Risk
Ÿ Increased water Ÿ Increased water Ÿ Store operation Enhanced Ÿ Installation of rainwater harvesting A shift in Ÿ Increasing awareness of Ÿ Better stakeholder Opportunity to carry out
sourcing costs sourcing costs & maintenance water structures in buildings consumer and environmental impacts may engagement stakeholder engagement and
Water Stress
Ÿ Workforce Ÿ Operation & problems due efficiency Ÿ Identify the potential to use investor lead to negative stakeholder Ÿ New product and develop a holistic mitigation
Reputation
migration maintenance to shortage of treated wastewater behaviour and responses to the rm's service development measure
Ÿ Competition & problems water Ÿ Watershed development
preferences actions toward adverse Opportunity to enhance brand
con icts Ÿ Decreased climate incidents reputation by introducing products
regarding sales & revenue in line with the customer preference
sharing of
available water Stricter ESG Ÿ Decline in reputation due to Ÿ Consistent disclosure to Sustainability disclosures on a
resources evaluation non-reporting or the stakeholders on regular basis (annually) increase the
standards or inappropriate disclosure of non- nancial Key trust among the stakeholders
disclosure sustainability data on public Performance Indicators
Transition Risk & Opportunity requirements platforms (KPI)
Risk Risk description Opportunity Opportunity Description
Carbon Ÿ Imposition of policy and Ÿ Renewable energy Cost control rises in the supply chain
pricing regulatory controls on carbon resources due to a reduction in variable costs
mechanism emissions Ÿ Boost towards low by promoting resource efficiency,
and carbon Ÿ Increased operational carbon technology introducing renewable energy, and
taxation obligation Ÿ Capitalizing carbon
reducing overall production costs RISK MANAGEMENT
Policy & legal
Ÿ Increased xed costs in market Peer assessment and scenario analysis are conducted to identify climate-related risks using various tools. The physical
operations
and transition risks are analysed under multiple RCP scenarios (RCP ., RCP ., RCP , RCP .), SSP scenarios (SSP-.,
New Ÿ Increased cost of operation Ÿ Boost towards low Strict regulations to promote low SSP-., SSP-., SSP-., SSP-.) and WEO scenarios (Net Zero Emissions by Scenario (NZE), the Announced
environmental due to the requirement of carbon technology carbon technology development Pledges Scenario (APS), the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS), and the Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS)). The
regulations pollution control equipment
identi ed risks are mapped as a low, medium, and high based on their potential impact and likelihood. This mapping
and standards Ÿ Increased regulatory costs
leading to an increase in also includes stakeholder consultation from different departments and internal experts' consideration of applicable
product cost existing and emerging regulatory requirements. Apart from scenario analysis, at ABFRL we have a robust Enterprise Risk
Management framework that helps identify, evaluate, mitigate, and report risks. Please refer Risk Management, Future
Technology
Transition to Ÿ Initial capital investment for Ÿ Increase in sales volume Using low carbon technology Proo ng
low carbon installation or replacement Ÿ Better lead time enhances the company's reputation
technology costs for efficient low-carbon and leads to an increase in sales
technologies volume due to green marketing
Resource Ÿ Resource scarcity may Ÿ Alternate raw materials Promotes research and METRICS AND TARGETS
Scarcity & necessitate transportation development towards environment-
growing from alternate/neighbouring friendly substitute raw materials Our sustainability strategy is well supported by yearly targets, efficient monitoring and evaluation framework and
demand geography resulting in which may be locally made or clear responsibilities that help align and steer day-to-day business operations across the organization.
increased production cost available
Market
and scope emissions At ABFRL, our climate strategy and respective targets are well-de ned in alignment with Science Based Target Initiative
Prolonged Ÿ Asset damage Ÿ New product and Appropriate product-market t, (SBTi) approach and further cascaded to respective facilities and functions. Our climate targets which drive climate
changing Ÿ Disruption in supply chain service development resilient operations and supply chain change agenda across the business operations, performance across Scope , and emissions and respective targets can
climate and will give the company an edge over be referred through 'ReEarth Mission - Status Dashboard FY' and 'Climate Strategy, Environment Stewardship'.
extreme its competitors and lead to an
weather increase in market share
195 situations
196
ABFRL
ANNEXURES
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
SDG Mapping
Clean Water
and Sanitation Reduced inequalities
No Poverty
Our Action Plan: We are safeguarding water To ensure equal opportunity and reduce
Our Action plan: Through our vendor sources for communities through rainwater inequalities of outcome, including laws
code of conduct, we ensure that our harvesting, bore well recharge pits and by relevant to region we have our Vendor code
suppliers pay their employees' salaries recharging water bodies in water stressed of conduct and human rights policy.
adhering to the mandate as per law of the villages. Providing safe drinking water for
land. Additionally, creating sustainable villages by installing water purifying plants. ABFRL Human Rights Policy:
livelihoods one of the key focus areas of http://www.abfrl.com/docs/corporate_govern
our CSR programme. ance/policies/Human-Rights-Policy.pdf
Responsible
Quality Education consumption and
Affordable and
Clean Energy production
Our Action Plan: CSR interventions,
ABFRL executes quality education
Our Action Plan: We are promoting Our Action Plan: We have a committed focus
interventions in a life cycle approach,
renewable energy and energy efficiency on product responsibility - through ethical
which focus on creating a nurturing
in our operations. We have installed sourcing practices, sustainable raw materials,
environment while providing age
MWp Solar rooftop plants operational technologies to reduce the environmental
appropriate academic skills.
across our facilities. footprint, sustainable packaging, zero waste
to land ll certi ed facilities, along with
management systems to measure and
manage product sustainability.
197 198
ABFRL
ANNEXURES
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Assurance Statement
199 200
ABFRL
ANNEXURES
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
201 202
ABFRL
ANNEXURES
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
102-5 Ownership and legal form ABFRL is a public limited Company Reported 5
registered under the Companies Act, 1956
102-9 Supply chain Financial and Product Performance Reported 60, 147
102-10 Signi cant changes to the organization and its There were no signi cant change during Reported 12, 147
supply chain reporting period regarding size, structure
or ownership
Strategy
102-14 Statement from senior decision-maker Message from the Chairman, the Managing Reported 1- 4
Director and the Chief Sustainability Officer
203 204
ABFRL
ANNEXURES
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
Governance
ECONOMIC DISCLOSURE ( SERIES)
102-18 Governance structure Corporate Governance Reported 27
Economic Performance
102-20 Executive level responsibility for economic, TCFD Annexure Reported 191
environmental, and social topics 201-1 Direct economic value generated and Financial Performance Reported 57
distributed
102-21 Consulting stakeholders on economic, Stakeholder Engagement Reported 161
environmental, and social topic 201-2 Financial implications and other risks and Annexures: TCFD Alignment Reported 193
opportunities due to climate change
102-22 Composition of the highest governance body Corporate Governance Reported 28
and its committees 201-3 De ned bene t plan obligations and other People Performance Reported 73
retirement plans
102-29 Identifying and managing economic, Stakeholder Engagement - Materiality Reported 169
environmental, and social impacts
Market Presence
102-30 Effectiveness of risk management processes TCFD Annexure Reported 175, 196
202-1 Ratios of standard entry level wage by gender People Performance Reported 72
102-31 Review of economic, environmental, TCFD Annexure Reported 191 compared to local minimum wage
and social topics
205-3 Con rmed incidents of corruption and Management Approach Reported 80
102 -32 Highest governance body's role in TCFD Annexure Reported 191 actions taken
sustainability reporting
206-1 Legal actions for anti-competitive behaviour, Stakeholder Engagement Reported 166
anti-trust, and monopoly practices
Stakeholder Engagement
102-40 List of stakeholder groups Stakeholder Engagement Reported 162
ENVIRONMENT DISCLOSURES ( SERIES)
102-41 Collective bargaining agreements People and Product Performance Reported 80, 149, 162
Energy
102-42 Identifying and selecting stakeholders Stakeholder Engagement Reported 161
302-1 Energy consumption within the organization Environment Performance Reported 40
102-43 Approach to stakeholder engagement Stakeholder Engagement Reported 161
302-2 Energy consumption outside of the organization Environment Performance Reported 40
102-44 Key topics and concerns raised Stakeholder Engagement Reported 162
302-3 Energy intensity Environment Performance Reported 40
102-45 Entities included in the consolidated nancial All entities covered in: Reported Water
statements https://www.abfrl.com/investors/
nancial-and-other-reports/ 103-1 Explanation of the material topic and Water Mission Reported 42
its Boundary
102-46 De ning report content and topic Boundaries Reporting Scope & Boundary Reported 12
103-2 The management approach and its Water Mission Reported 42
102-47 List of material topics Stakeholder Engagement Reported 169 components
102-48 Restatements of information Financial Performance Reported 57 103-3 Evaluation of the management approach Water Mission Reported 42
102-49 Changes in reporting Reporting Scope & Boundary Reported 12 303-1 Interactions with water as a shared resource Water Mission Reported 43
102-50 Reporting period Financial Year 2021-22 Reported 12 303-3 Water withdrawal Water Mission Reported 42
102-51 Date of most recent report Sustainability Report 2020-21 Reported 12 303-4 Water Discharge Water Mission Reported 42
102-52 Reporting cycle Annual Reported 12 303-5 Water Consumption Water Mission Reported 42
102-53 Contact point for questions regarding the report Reporting Scope Boundary and Framework Reported 12
Emissions
102-54 Claims of reporting in accordance with the Reporting Scope Boundary and Framework Reported 12
GRI Standards 305-1 Direct (Scope 1) GHG emissions Climate Strategy Reported 54
102-55 GRI content index GRI Standard Content Index Reported 205 305-2 Energy indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions Climate Strategy Reported 54
102-56 External assurance Assurance Statement Reported 199 305-3 Other indirect (Scope 3) GHG emissions Climate Strategy Reported 54
305-7 Nitrogen oxides (NOX), sulfur oxides (SOX), Climate Strategy Reported 54
and other signi cant air emissions
205 206
ABFRL
ANNEXURES
SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021-22
103-2 The management approach and its components Circular Economy Reported 50 103-2 The management approach and its components Safety Performance Reported 89
103-3 Evaluation of the management approach Circular Economy Reported 50 403-1 Occupational health and safety Safety Performance Reported 93
management system
306-1 Waste generation and signi cant Circular Economy Reported 51
waste-related impacts 403-4 Worker participation, consultation, and Safety Performance Reported 93
communication on occupational health
306-2 Management of signi cant waste-related Circular Economy Reported 51 and safety
impacts
403-5 Worker training on occupational health Safety Performance Reported 96
306-3 Waste generated Circular Economy Reported 51 and safety
306-4 Waste diverted from disposal Circular Economy Reported 51 403-6 Promotion of worker health Safety Performance Reported 103
306-5 Waste directed to disposal Circular Economy Reported 51 403-8 Workers covered by an occupational health Safety Performance Reported 99
and safety management system
Environmental Compliance- Regulatory Requirements
403-9 Work-related injuries Safety Performance Reported 99
307-1 Non-compliance with environmental laws Environment Performance Reported 38
and regulations 403-10 Work-related ill health Safety Performance Reported 103
103-1 Explanation of the material topic and Product Responsibility Reported 135 404-2 Programmes for upgrading employee skills and People Performance Reported 68
its Boundary transition assistance programmes
103-2 The management approach and its components Product Responsibility Reported 135 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular People Performance Reported 70
performance and career development reviews
103-3 Evaluation of the management approach Product Responsibility Reported 135
Non GRI Sustainable Product Product Responsibility Reported 135 Diversity and Equal Opportunity
405-1 Diversity of governance bodies and employees Organization Structure Reported 28
Packaging
405-2 Ratio of basic salary and remuneration of People Performance Reported 72
103-1 Explanation of the material topic Product Responsibility Reported 143 women to men
and its Boundary
103-2 The management approach and its components Product Responsibility Reported 143 Child Labor
103-3 Evaluation of the management approach Product Responsibility Reported 143 408-1 Operations and suppliers at signi cant risk Product Performance Reported 149
for incidents of child labor
Non GRI Packaging Product Responsibility Reported 143
Security Practices
410-1 Security personnel trained in human People Performance Reported 82
rights policies or procedures
SOCIAL DISCLOSURES
Employee Engagement Forced or Compulsory Labour
401-1 New employee hires and employee turnover People Performance Reported 65, 81 412-1 Operations that have been subject to Product Performance Reported 149
human rights reviews or impact assessments
401-2 Bene ts provided to full-time employees that People Performance Reported 73
are not provided to temporary or part-time
Local Communities
employees
413-1 Operations with local community Social Performance Reported 109
401-3 Parental leave People Performance Reported 73
engagement, impact assessments, and
development programs
207 208
ANNEXURES
414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain Supply Chain Sustainability Reported 150
and actions taken
Customer Privacy
418-1 Substantiated complaints concerning Customer Centricity Reported 154
breaches of customer privacy and losses
of customer data
209
Registered Office
Piramal Agastya Corporate Park, Building 'A', 4th and 5th Floor, Unit No. 401, 403, 501, 502,
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