Hindustan Zinc wins ‘5th CII National HR Circle Competition

 Hindustan Zinc wins ‘5^th CII National HR Circle Competition 2021’ Award for Best HR Practices in Inclusion and Social Impact

·        Efforts in promoting Diversity & Inclusiveness, People Practices, and Employee Involvement in a socially impactful way were recognized with the top award

·        Company had 15% female diversity in the executive workforce

 

Hindustan Zinc (HZL) the leading producer of Zinc, Lead, and Silver in India, has won ‘5th CII National HR Circle Competition 2021’ under the category of ‘Best HR Practices in Inclusion and Social Impact’. As a people-first organization, the company firmly believes that people are their biggest assets and are committed to making a diverse, inclusive, and digitally advanced workplace.

The CII jury panel examined the participant organizations on several criteria, inclusive of - policy and practices to promote diversity and inclusiveness to achieve competitive business advantage; HR practices concerning the social impact in the current scenario; employee involvement in socially impactful initiatives and leveraging diversity and inclusiveness to build employee brand. 

 

Commenting on the achievement, Mr. Arun Misra, CEO, Hindustan Zinc said, “As part of our core philosophy, we at Hindustan Zinc believe that inclusivity strengthens our commitment towards empowering and engaging work culture, instilled with a value system on collective growth. Our people development initiatives reinforce a culture where everyone feels valued and respected by providing equal opportunities to one and all. This is a proud moment that our company has won the ‘5th CII National HR Circle Competition 2021’ under the category of ‘Best HR Practices in Inclusion and Social Impact' that motivates us to continue our efforts to enable stronger and more inclusive growth.”

Hindustan Zinc is a firm believer in the people-first aspect. The company has always been curating various initiatives to serve its employees and workers. The women employees at Hindustan Zinc have always been breaking barriers and stereotypical norms. Company’s two women employees went from breaking grounds to breaking barriers during the year. Sandhya Rasakatla became India’s first woman mine manager and Yogeshwari Rane became India’s first woman to win a first-class certificate in both restricted and unrestricted categories. The company also has 15% female diversity in the executive workforce and further has formed various Women Councils intending to engage, collaborate, unleash potential and develop future leaders among these female powerhouses.

Hindustan Zinc, as a responsible corporate has always been committed to the cause of promoting diversity and inclusion within the organization and also among their business associations. The aim is to achieve equality across all levels, beginning from their Board. The company’s vision is to eventually create an everlasting workplace culture where teams of mixed gender, ethnicity, regional affiliations, physical ability, age, color, marital status, nationality, race, religion and sexual orientation are representative of a variety of perspectives and experiences. One of their Sustainability Goal 2025 is to achieve 30% Diversity in an inclusive workplace. The company has always been coming up with various initiatives to serve this vision and this, has led the company win the Best HR Practices in Inclusion and Social Impact award.

HZL’s Sewage Treatment Plants expands

HZL’s Sewage Treatment Plants expands capacity to 55 MLD

HZL has established an additional 10 MLD STP plant to make Udaipur’s lake and river free from pollution by sewage inflow & develop alternative source of use and conserve potable water. The plant is commissioned and now producing treated water, which is being sent to Aayad River.

Hindustan Zinc had set-up Udaipur’s first ‘Sewage Treatment Plant (STP)’ under Public-Private-Partnership model in 2014. Initially this STP had a capacity to treat 20 million litres of sewage per day which was expanded by setting up another 25 MLD plant during FY 2019, taking the capacity to a total of 45 MLD.

In another 15 MLD capacity expansion, a 10 MLD (million litres per day) plant has been established taking the overall capacity to 55 million litres of sewage treatment per day. With this expanded capacity, the Company expects to treat maximum of Udaipur’s domestic sewage, helping reduce the dependencies on fresh water.

Commenting on the initiative, Mr. Sunil Duggal, CEO, Hindustan Zinc & Vedanta Limited, said, “We at Hindustan Zinc have always believed in empowering communities through ideas, resources and efforts. In 2014, we set-up Udaipur’s first sewage treatment plant with a capacity of 20 MLD under Public-Private-Partnership model. Over the past six years, we are inching towards tripling this capacity. This state of the art 10 MLD plant will further boost our efforts in pursuing our dream of a cleaner and water positive city.”

Commenting on the same, Mr. Ankit Kumar Sing, IAS, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation Udaipur said, “We appreciate the efforts of HZL management for setting and completion of 55 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) including 10 MLD STP at Udaipur city, within the scheduled period, in accordance to the agreement. Vedanta’s Hindustan Zinc has always been one of the most preferred partners of Udaipur Municipal Corporation for all social development projects, and we appreciate the efforts they have done.” 

Udaipur generates roughly 70 Million Litres per Day (MLD) of sewage. Part of the cities selected under the Government of India’s Smart City Mission, Udaipur has benefitted from HZL’s endeavour to treat the city’s domestic sewage. Sewage inflow into Udaipur’s lakes was one of the biggest problems plaguing the 'City of Lakes' giving rise to high volumes of pollution. There was a need to develop alternative sources of potable water and conserve the same. HZL’s units operate on the principle of ‘zero discharge’ and the Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) represent a significant action taken towards conserving water as well as reducing discharge into the lakes.

The latest STP plant is designed on sequential batch reactors (SBR) technology. Sewage water is treated through various steps that include chemical free and biological processes, wherein the end product consists of clean treated water, part of which is sent to the rivers.

Following the commissioning of the new STP, 50% of the treated water will be sent to the rivers. The SBR technology has a better energy conservation rate whilst also providing chemical free treated water. The energy consumption has reduced on account of fully automated plant running on a hydraulics mechanism. The process of treatment is environment-friendly as well, since no hazardous emissions are generated during the process.

An additional contribution to green and renewable energy also comes from the fact that Hindustan Zinc has efficiently utilised the space for these STP’s by developing solar panels in close vicinity.

HZL is also in the last leg of commissioning an additional 5 MLD plant, taking the STPs total capacity to 60 MLD, thereby treating almost the entire sewage of Udaipur city and recirculating clean water.