We continue to invest in communities for their sustainable development. We continue to focus on areas of public health, waste management and nature to build a more inclusive and greener world.
We started Project EMBED (Elimination of Mosquito Borne Endemic Diseases) in 2015 in Madhya Pradesh in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's National Centre for Vector-borne Diseases Control (erstwhile NCVBDC), with a focus on malaria elimination, aligning with the Government of India's mission to eradicate malaria by 2030.
Over the past six years, we expanded our initiative to include Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. Collaborating with the state governments of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra as well as with our NGO partners, we conducted intensive behaviour change programmes in regions with high annual parasite indexes, where the case burden is most significant. We operated in each location for three years, raising awareness among households and vulnerable and marginalised groups.
Furthermore, in the fiscal year 2020-21, we initiated interventions targeting dengue and chikungunya prevention in urban areas of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. In fiscal year 2023-24 we scaled the urban intervention to Maharashtra. Our urban dengue and chikungunya project, spanning eleven cities, aims to heighten awareness among urban poor communities about mosquito-borne diseases and educate them on protecting their families and neighbourhoods. This project currently operates in Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh; Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh; Raipur in Chhattisgarh; and Palghar and Thane in Maharashtra with the objective of reducing dengue and chikungunya cases and associated mortality.
By 2025 we aim to –
As of FY24 we have –
In our rural malaria initiatives, we achieved 80% reduction in cases across 11 districts. Additionally, we observed a 45% increase in testing, with 5,225 villages out of 11,000 villages becoming malaria free in fiscal year 2023-24. Fever testing saw a notable 71% increase, accompanied by a 65% reduction in dengue cases in areas where we implemented interventions in FY 2023-24.
As a global FMCG player and responsible corporate, we commit to reducing waste across all our plants, processes, products, and supply chain. For the past five financial years, we have achieved zero waste to landfills from our manufacturing units. Beyond managing our manufacturing waste, we recognize our responsibility to work with communities to manage waste. We collect 100% of the plastic waste we generate each year, as per Indian EPR laws, and collaborate with civic agencies, social enterprises, and citizens’ groups to promote material reuse and recycling.
We invest in helping communities around our offices and plant locations to identify and address their waste-related issues using circular economy principles. We diverted 7,278 MT of waste from landfills since 2019 and our goal is to transform waste management systems in five municipalities and divert over 8,000 MT of waste from landfills by FY2025-26 through collaborative partnership.
Our integrated watershed development project is dedicated to restoring the ecological balance in the drought-prone district of Siddipet in Telangana. To address the water scarcity issue, we've joined forces with NABARD and a local NGO to rejuvenate the land, replenish groundwater levels, facilitate essential irrigation, prolong cropping cycles, enhance both the quality and quantity of produce, improve livelihoods, and promote sustainable agricultural practices.
We have successfully treated 2,950 hectares of land, covering the total project area. To date, we've distributed over 8.5 lakh saplings for direct planting and seed dibbling. Additionally, the project has established 39 pandals and installed 25 drip irrigation systems on farmers' lands, with a 30% contribution from the beneficiary farmers. We have also trained over 100 farmers in alternative agricultural practices. Through this project we will sequester 30,000 metric tons of CO2 per year and enhancing the entire community's capacity in water management and sustainable agriculture. Through this project we recharge over 15x the water we use in our operations. We also plan to restore 15 hectares of land through local indigenous species and develop local nurseries through biodiversity restoration projects in India.
Annual Action Plan for FY 23-24