Institute for Sustainable Communities partners Mahindra & Mahindra to launch India EHS+ Centre

The Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) and Mahindra & Mahindra have announced their partnership to support the new EHS+ Centre in Pune.

The EHS+ Centre, which began trainings for factory managers earlier this year, is India’s first training centre for environment, health and safety plus energy (EHS+) training designed to help managers improve worker safety as well as energy management and environmental performance.

Mahindra & Mahindra has made a $1 million (US) commitment to support the EHS⁺ Center over the next four years. With this donation, Mahindra & Mahindra joins The Walt Disney Company and the GE Foundation as donors in a public-private partnership with ISC and the Symbiosis Institute of International Business. Representatives from GE, the Walt Disney Company, and Symbiosis University joined Mahindra Group president Rajeev Dubey and ISC President George Hamilton at a partnership ceremony on October 14, 2015 at Mahindra Towers.

Rajeev Dubey, Mahindra & Mahindra’s Group President of HR & Corporate Services, and CEO of the Aftermarket Sector, said: “It is exciting for Mahindra to be involved in helping India's small and medium enterprises get the skills they need to lead in sustainable manufacturing. Environment, health and safety training is critical to India's economic success, and equally essential to protecting our environment. As part of our deep commitment to corporate social responsibility, we are delighted to partner with the ISC to build these strengths in India, and look forward to the impact this commitment will have on building EHS leadership in India.”

George Hamilton, president of ISC, said: “Our work to advance environment, health and safety training in India is critical to building a strong local commitment to sustainable manufacturing. We are very proud to be partnering with such a leading company as Mahindra & Mahindra to grow the EHS⁺ Centre and usher in a new era of resource efficiency and responsible management.”

India is pursuing an aggressive economic growth strategy predicated on attracting domestic and foreign investment in a strong manufacturing sector. The vast majority of India’s recent growth has come from manufacturing, and the government has set an objective to expand the share of manufacturing in overall GDP from a current level of 15% to 22% by 2022. The objective is to accelerate development and expand economic opportunities for Indian citizens.

This rapid growth of Indian industry presents a critical opportunity to pursue growth which is inclusive, environmentally friendly and leads to overall sustainable development. To achieve such growth, factories need to integrate environment, health and safety practices into their business operations. Small and medium enterprises need affordable and industry-relevant EHS training and technical assistance. The EHS⁺ Centre strengthens the ability of India’s manufacturing sector to reduce water and energy waste, reduce GHG and toxic pollution, and serve as a high-quality partner to Indian and global businesses.

The India EHS⁺ Center is part of ISC’s EHS⁺ Network, which also includes two EHS⁺ Centers in China and one in Bangladesh. The EHS⁺ Network has completed over 20,000 instances of training and has partnered with leading global brands such as Adidas, Walmart, Pfizer and many others.