8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

1/18

Special visitors to three of Ashok Leylands Units

19, Rajaji Salai, Chennai 600 001Ph: (91) 44-25342141 Fax: ( 91) 44-25342493www.ashokleyland.com

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

2/18

We at Ashenvironment through a

proactive approach in

and service activities.

The objective of Asho

To adhere to all a

regulations.

To adopt polluti

manufacture of ou

To conserve all r

compressed air etc.

methods.

To continuously s

possible ways and to

a time bound actio

To provide a clea

contractors and ne

Towards fulfilling t

environmental polic

improvement to all emp

We will strive towards

environment towards a

ENVIRON

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We

are but one thread within it. Whatever we do

to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are

bound together. All things connect.

- CHIEF SEATTLE, 1855

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

3/181

Foreword

By offering economical means of movement for people and goods, the

commercial vehicle industry plays an indispensable role in every economic

activity and developmental process. The Indian commercial vehicle industry

has set for itself a challenging road map of technology upgradation in line

with accelerated emission norms, aimed at improving the quality of air.

Ashok Leyland has led with i nnovations in alt ernate fuels besides off ering

fuel-efficient engines that are at once economical and environment friendly.

Along wit h product t echnology, manufacturing processes have the

potent ial t o make a dif ference. As a resources-int ensive i ndust ry t hat

consumes large quantities of steel, power, water and oil, a reduction in the

consumpti on of t hese resources would not only help in environmental

preservation, but also contribute directly to the balance sheet.

Towards this end, Ashok Leyland has been adopting clean and lean

manufacturing processes at all manufacturi ng locat ions, whil e also

monit oring and guiding suppliers i n establishing Environmental Management

Systems.

This first ever report on sustainability from the Company will be a

springboard for scaling up programmes for resource conservation,

environmental protect ion as also such acti ons with societal i mpact as are

expected of a responsible corporate citizen.

R SESHASAYEE

Managing Director

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

4/182

Ashok Leyland is the flagship company of the Hinduja Group in

India. The Hinduja Group is act ive in over 50 countries, with a

wide range of products and services. The Groups activities are

divided into three core areas namely international trading, investment

banking and global investments. Through it s global investments, Hinduja

Group is a major player in I ndia in automotive manufacturing, financialservices, banking, trading, oil, media & communications, IT, chemicals

and infrastructure project development.

Work to give is at the core of the Groups business philosophy. This

is reflected in t he Hinduja Foundations init iat ives in healt h, educat ion,

arts & culture and social welfare as also in the Group companies.

offerings has been the engine

technology that is both fuel-efficient

and eco-friendly. Decades ahead of

emission regulations, t he Companys

R&D engineers have been working on

alt ernate fuels. The breakthrough

came in 1997 when the Company

launched the CNG-powered bus,

making India one among a handful of

countri es t o t ame this eco-fri endly

fuel to power commercial vehicles.

In 2002, yet another frontier

technology was conquered when the

Company unveil ed India s fi rst

hybrid electri c bus.

Along with purposefully selected

product technology, the Company

Fume killers at thecab weld shop

A commercial vehicle manufac-

turer with a tradition of technologi-

cal leadership for over five decades,

Ashok Leyland has played a fulfilling

part in t he development of I ndias

road transport sector which today

accounts for 65% of goods and 85%

of passenger movement. Keeping in

mind the operating environment for

its products, the Company has

always sought to give appropriate

product configurations that make

economic sense to the customer

even as they offer the equally

important benefits of safety, comfort

and eco-f riendli ness. Central t o t he

Companys customer-centric product

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

5/183

supports its customers with train-

ing, aft er-sales and genuine parts

availability so that the customers

and the society can derive the full

potential of the benefits that

technology offers.

The clean air mantra

Ashok Leyland has been invest-

ing in projects, to reduce the air

emissions and the ecological

footprint of its manufacturing

processes. Apart from operating well

under t he statut ory norms, emission

reduction t argets are set on a

Company-wide basis to reduce air

pollutant emission year on year.

Some of the initiatives include,

Introduction of fume killers and

fume extraction systems in the CO2

welding areas

Pressurised air draft

& scrubberscombine to makethis paint bootheco friendly

Converting the P4 engines

(i ndirect inj ect ion engines) t o S4

engines (direct injection engines)

in the forklifts to reduce the

forklif t emission

Converting the air filters from wettype to dry type in the forklift

engines to reduce emission levels

Installation of filter bags in shot

blast ing machine t o prevent dust

from entering the atmosphere

Changing over from caustic soda

to caust ic lye to eli minate

acid / caustic f umes escaping t o

the atmosphere, while regenera-

tion of anion, cation and mixed

beds in t he deminerali zat ion and

reverse osmosis plants

I ntroducti on of sett ling chamber t o

control the carbon dust emissions

from the burner operations

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

6/184

Water emissionreduction

Having fully realised the impor-

tance of conserving water and

preventing water pollution, Ashok

Leyland has set up at all its loca-

t ions, sewage and eff luent t reatment

plants that provide primary, second-

ary and tertiary treatment, apart

from innovating methods for water

conservation. Over 1.7 million litres

of water are recycled every day for

maint aining t he greenery and

plantations. The treated water is

also used for secondary applications

like toilet flushing, floor washing

and cooli ng t ower uptake.

All five manufacturing units are

zero-discharge-outside-premises,

which means that no wastewater is

pumped outside the factory. The

water from the various treatment

plants is periodically monitored to

check for conformance much wit hin

statutory regulations.

Sow rain water,harvest li fe

With many of its manufacturing

unit s in water-starved areas, water

conservation and ground waterrecharging have been in practice for

over a quarter century.

Ashok Leylands manufacturing

unit at Ennore had installed rain

water harvesting systems more than

a decade ago. Harvest ing methods

like terrace water collection,

percolat ion wells, and ground water

recharging are tried and testedpractices here. Besides fully meeting

it s daily requirement of t hirt een

lakh litres of water, the unit also

supplies 30,000 litres of treated

drinking water to its associate

Company, Ennore Foundries.

Ashok Leylands Hosur I I unit

won the CII National Award forWater Management for t he year

2004- 2005 for having reduced its

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

7/185

Rain water harvesting istaken up as a practice notonly at all units, but also atother Company premisesincluding the ManagementDevelopment Centre (inpicture)

specific water consumption by 48%over the last three years. At the

Bhandara unit, rainwater harvesting

using three ponds and two percola-

tion wells have not only improved

the ground water in the zone, but

also serve as a water hole for the

many wil d animals that have taken

shelter in the large plantation.

Recently, a 4500 kl capacity

percolation pond was constructed at

the Alwar unit, to store and utilize

rainwater.

Driving tree plantationforward

Ashok Leyland has been involved

in t ree plantat ion drives, bot h

within its own premises and outside.Most special occasions are cel-

ebrated with the planting of tree

saplings. Apart from trees, herbal

plants and flower gardens are also

maint ained. Tree plantat ion drives

are also carried out in areas near the

factories in collaborat ion wit h t he

local communities. Saplings are also

donated to neighbouring schools

and villages. Employees of the

Company too are provided with

The tree lives on...A fifteen year old neemtree being transplantedat Ennore to facilitate

expansion

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

8/186

saplings and are encouraged to

plant them near their houses or

areas of l ivi ng.

More than 6,500 trees were

planted in the Hosur I unit in the

last four years. The Hosur II unit,which already has 19,000 trees,

planted 5000 more of them in the

last year alone. The Bhandara unit

boasts of a lush green cover and has

more than 1,84,000 trees inside its

premises, which is also home to

many animals living amidst the

forest cover. Close to a 1,000 trees

were planted in the Alwar unit last

year making it one of the greenest

factories in t hat region.

Responsible hazardouswaste management

Consistent wi t h i t s Environmen-

tal Policy and Social Commitment,

Ashok Leyland has been striving

continuously to reduce the hazard-ous wastes generation f rom it s

units, long before such issues

entered public debate. For instance,

lead shot blasting used for surface

cleaning treatment of rough materi-als and heat t reatment scaling at

Ennore was replaced with sandblast-

ing, to eliminate the hazard of lead

shots way back in the 1960s and

sand replaced with steel shots in

1965, t o eliminate t he possibi lit y of

silicosis. The blasting dust gener-

ated today is collected by heavy-

duty dust collectors and goes into

the making of firecrackers.

Sodium Cyanide was used in salt

bath furnaces for carburising and

hardening of components. This

involved an elaborate process of

handling and disposal of residual

cyanide salts. In 1980, this was

replaced by carbonitriding process

and the four sealed quench furnaces

that do carbonitriding now operate

without any Sodium Cyanide. At all

Ashok Leyland units, modern

scrubbers do duty to trap residual

paint parti cles and cull t hem out t o

prevent their entry into the atmos-

phere.

Trich loroet hylene and Carbon

Tetrachloride - two compounds used

for de-greasing at Ennore - wereeliminated once they were catego-

rised as ozone depleting sub-

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

9/187

Green supply chainmanagement

For Ashok Leyland, its environ-

mental responsibility extends

beyond the walls of i t s plants. I t isreali zed t hat suppliers add value to

the Companys products and so their

environmental performance is also

it s responsibi li t y. Hence, Ashok

Leyland has made a conscious

decision t o extend assistance to

suppliers to set up Environmental

Management Systems. Greening the

Supply Chai n Management (GSCM)consists of the involvement of

purchasing and supplying i n

act ivit ies that include reduction,

recycling, reuse and the substitution

of materials. GSCM activities

include examination of how intra

and inter organizational factors

both drive and constrain the

involvement of supplier and pur-

chaser in greening the supply chain

activities.

This is also necessary to consist-

entl y meet specif ied environmental

performance criterion among the

participants of the supply chain and

to influence more consistent

corporate environmental behaviour

among all players in the chain of

products and services.

Ashok Leylands efforts at GSCM,

kick started with seven of the

stances. At the same location,

introduction of direct induction

hardening has elimi nated t he copper

plating of camshafts before the

carburising operation.

Waste oil and used oil, which areclassified as hazardous by law, are

not only managed scientifically, but

their generation reduced through

phased targets. The used oil goes

into re-processing through author-

ised channels.

Resource consumption

Reduce says the first R of the3Rs denoting Reduce, Reuse,

Recycle. In tune with this philoso-

phy, reducing resource consumption

has been one of the core objectives

of Ashok Leylands operations.

Numerous projects have been

undertaken towards reducing the

consumption of power, oil, water,

metal and other raw materials.

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

10/188

level reducti on, improved shop air

quality and resource conservation.

Inter unit environmentalbenchmarking

After implementation of ISO

14001 throughout the Company, a

need was felt for horizontal deploy-

ment of learnings at dif ferent uni t s.

Further it was also realized that a

competitive atmosphere would

willing level A suppliers, who were

helped with the process of imple-

menting efficient environmental

management systems. It is note

worthy that most of these suppliers

decided to obtain the ISO 14001

certification for their units.The beneficiaries that included

AL-Pump Ltd, Madras Radiators and

Pressings Ltd reported gains such as

reduction i n water wastages, noise

The Green Supply Chain Management model

The Green Shield award

Mr Ashok Chopra, Manufacturing

Manager-Alwar, ( left ) receivingthe f irst int er-unit Green Shield

award from Mr R Seshasayee,MD-Ashok Leyland

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

11/189

accelerate the gains from an

environmental management system

and in the year 2002-2003, a

performance based award called the

Green Shield award was introduced.

The purpose of this award is topromote inter unit environmental

benchmarking and to assess the

units based on their environmental

performance.

Where as ISO 14001 is a generic

system standard t hat provides a

framework for improvement, it is not

a standard that stipulates particular

degrees of improvement. While ISO

14001 is an excellent tool for

achieving improvement; it is not the

ideal tool for assessing performance.

Hence to accelerate improvements

and assess performance, the Green

Shield award became necessary.

The award helps in keeping track

of the improvements, as also

monetary gains that have been

achieved. Given the diversit y among

the units in terms of processes,

products, scales of operation and

pollution load, the criteria for the

award reckons the rate of annual

improvement and not the absolute

quantum of improvement. This

ensures all units an equal chance to

win.

Staying safe,working safe

Accidents in industries can cause

damage to life and property which

should be prevented at all costs. To

reduce accidents and to sensitize

employees towards safe work

practices, safety drives are con-

ducted regularly in the plants. These

safety drives include the conducting

of safety week programmes and

involve

Competitions on safety posters,

quizzes, slogans and essays

Conducting safety exhibitions on

the shop floor where such posters,

slogans and awareness messages

are displayed

Running fire & safety training

programmes at regular intervals

Conducti ng mock drill s to sensit ize

and train personnel on emergency

preparedness

Safety awards and

recognitions

Some of the awards Ashok

Leyland has won for its initiatives in

providing a safe work environment :

CI I Leadership and Excellence

Award in Safety, Health and

Environment 2003 & 2004

State Safety Awards by t he Factory

Inspectorate

The Tamil Nadu Govt ., Safet y

Awards 2002 03, for the highest

reduction in accident rates and for

the longest accident free period.

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

12/1810

Environmental awardsand recognition

Ashok Leylands manufacturing

unit at Bhandara, Maharashtra, won

the Golden Peacock Environment

Management Award, instituted by

the World Environment Foundation

during the year 2002, under the

Large Manufacturing category.

At the inaugural session of the

4th World Congress on Environment

Management held at Palampur,

Himachal Pradesh, His Holiness The

Dalai Lama presented the award to

Ashok Leyland. Some of the other

awards the Company has won for its

His Holiness The Dalai Lama, presenting the Golden Peacock Award toAshok Leyland. Received by Mr J N Amrol ia, ED-HR and

Mr A K Chatterjee GM-Bhandara

Hosur I I team receiving the CI I Leadership Award in Safety, Health andEnvironment 2004, from Mr. T. N. Seshan, former Chief Election Commissioner

environmental performance:

The CI I National Award for

excellence in energy management

2003

The CI I Nati onal Award for excel-

lence in water management 2004

The Best Environmental Upkeep

Award by Hosur I ndustri es

Association

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

13/1811

The trucking community,

constantly in transit and away

from homes for days, has been

identified as one of the most

vulnerable to AIDS. For their

benefit, awareness and preven-

tion programmes were started in

two centers in the Company: at

the two Hosur factories (among

convoy drivers) and at Namakkal

Driver Training Centre (among

driver trainees).

The convoy drivers employed

by Ashok Leylands transportcontractors to drive the vehicles

from the two plants at Hosur to

sales yards all over India are

targeted in this programme. At a

central location, which they visit

for allotment of vehicles, condom

and literature dispensers are kept.

Fifty-six of Ashok Leylands employ-

ees from two plants have undergone

t rainers t raini ng and take turns to

counsel the truck drivers. At one-to-

one sessions, when i ncidence of

medical conditions are suspected,

such drivers are directed t o t he

medical centre for physical examina-

tion. The Company doctor prescribes

the necessary treatments, which are

funded by the transport contractors.

From the very beginning, thecurriculum at Ashok Leylands

Namakkal Driver Training Centre

(NDTC) had included besides func-

tional subjects, health education

including yoga and AIDS awareness.

Employees of t he Company, involved in AI DS awareness among the driver communi ty

Spreading awareness, saving lives

NDTC has integrated itself well

with the community, the various

fleet owners associations and local

NGOs, which has enhanced its

abil it y t o creat e mass awareness

about AI DS. NDTC s cont ri but ion

i s well appreciat ed by APAC (AI DS

Prevention and Control Project)

and AI DS Cont rol societ y.

Over 1,20,000 drivers, who

have been trained under various

courses, have been covered under

AI DS awareness sessions so f ar.

Sessions on AIDS are part of t hestructured training programme and

are supplemented by

videocassett es, leafl ets and

booklets received from the AIDS

Control Society.

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

14/1812

Through Ashok Leylands

interaction with groups who work

with underprivileged children, it

was realized that the differently-

abled and underprivileged children

do not get many opportunities to

explore t he world outside, primarily

due to the lack of appropriate

transport facilities. The seed of this

realization bore fruit in the form of

Ashok Leylands Childrens Day

gift to the children of Chennai -

the FunBus. The FunBus is run by

Ashok Leyland, exclusively for free

use round the year by the childrenOne of the first specialpassengers on the FunBus

FunBus being launched on Chi ldrens Day

of orphanages, corporation

primary schools, and other

underprivileged groups. The

usage of this bus has been

allocated to organizations that

work with such children and the

organizations in turn, use the

FunBus to transport the children

from such schools and institu-

t ions, for one-day out ings. The

bus has been built keeping in

mind the comfort and safety of

the physically challenged and

comes equipped with a hydraulic

lift for the convenience of wheel

chair bound children. The

colourfull y paint ed bus, is meant

to give them a day of joy, high

on memorabili t y.

Children on a joy-filledtrip on the FunBus.

The FunBus; big happiness for the little ones

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

15/1813

Yoga programme at the NamakkalDriver Training Centre

Comprehensive infrastructure to deliver scient if ic driver training

The town of Namakkal is today

the busy hub of trucking activity,

surrounded by a number of trucking

cent res. Namakkals identi fi cat ion

with trucking is so total that every

family is connected with the trade -

often in more ways than one. The

Namakkal Driver Training Centre is

spread over 25 acres and includes

facili t ies li ke classrooms, li brary,

model room, l aboratory, cafeteria

and an open-air theatre. It also

boasts of a driving range with all

conceivable configurat ion of roads.

The driving range consists of

single-lane, two-lane, four-lane and

six-lane roads, S bend, 8 bend and

hair-pin bend, humps and dips with

different gradients, speed breakers,

bye-pass road, Y junction, different

types of parking bays, basic and

variable yards.. . The roads come

complete with electronic signals,

signboards, road markings and

streetlights for night driving.

The curriculum at the centre

goes much beyond the basic

knowledge and skills for obtaining a

driving licence. With an objective to

ready a driver for life on and off the

road, training is imparted on a

multitude of subjects including

techniques for defensive dri ving,

fuel conservat ion, basics of repairs

Training drivers for on and off the road

& maintenance, first aid, fire

fighting and the need for - and ways

of - keeping body and mind in good

healt h. Besides driver t raining and

mechanic training, the centre also

conducts certi fi cate courses in

specialised subjects such as

responsible and safe handling of

hazardous materials.

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

16/1814

Promoting industry,

NGO partnerships

Environment

Ashok Leyland partnered the

Kanchi Health and Education Society,

an NGO working in the Kanchipuram

district on vill age self-sufficiency, t o

recognize eco-consciousness among

indust ries. I t instit uted t he ECO

FIRST award for responsible environ-ment management among industries

in the Kanchipuram district. Besides

sponsorship support, the Company

lent its expertise and human

resources to formulat e and imple-

ment the evaluation process.

The design of the award, with a

leaf on the chimney, has been

conceptualised to highlight the

much-needed synergy between the

industry and the environment.

The winner was arrived at based

on an exhaustive assessment of the

various facets of environment

management, which included positive

process changes, training, material

reuse & recycling and product life

cycle responsibility. Four finalists

were selected and audited by a team

of experts from the Industry and

NGOs.

Safey, the mascot for safety, used forcommunication with children

Mr J N Amrolia, ED-HR,Ashok Leyland, presenting

the Eco-First Award toMr CS Lakshmi Narayanan

SM-Utilities & Services,Hyundai Motor India Ltd.

Hyundai Motor Corporation was

adjudged the winner and received

the ECO FIRST award.

Road safety drives

Ashok Leyland has been involved

in various activities to promote road

safet y by sensit izing drivers and

public on the need for safe road use

practices.

I n partnership wit h various

organizations like Suraksha, aware-

ness on road safety is spread

amongst the public, which includes

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

17/1815

students. The Company has f inan-

cially supported the construction of

sixty-eight school buildings and in

some cases has donated note/ t ext

books and computers. Initiatives like

healt h camps, tree plantat ion

drives, environmental and safet y

Two wheeler safety rally byAshok Leyland employees

School children participat ingin a joint safety awarenessprogramme

more than 25,000 students ofvarious schools and colleges. Road

safety guidelines for cyclists, two/

four wheeler users and pedestrians

are prepared in vernacular languages

and distributed.

Ashok Leyland also participates

in many of the road safety weeks

carried out by the local RTOs and

district administrations across the

country.

Assistance to schools

Ashok Leyland started the

Dharam Hinduja Mat riculat ion

School i n Thiruvot riyur, Chennai, t o

cater to the children of its employ-

ees. Here emphasis is placed on the

all round development of the

Children of the Dharam HindujaMatriculati on school, Chennaiperforming a skit on environmentin the neighbourhood

8/2/2019 CSR 2002-05

18/18

awareness camps have also been

conducted in many schools present

near the various plants of the

Company. Many of the Company s

employees, in their own personal

ways, are involved in supportingschools, orphanages and poor

children through education.

A good neighbour

While expanding its

manufacturing network, the

Company has spearheaded the

industrialization of many

economically backward regions. It

was therefore natural for the

neighbourhoods to look up to the

manufacturing units for assistance

from t ime to t ime. The Company

has always responded to the needs

of the neighbourhoods

inf rast ructural development, medical

outreach programmes, blood

donat ion camps, provision ofambulances and in various ways to

suit the needs.

The Company conducts regular

perception surveys among the

neighbouring communit ies. Not

resting on the overwhelmingly

positive scores, the Company works

on the suggestions from the

communit ies, t o be a responsibl e

neighbour to them.

Lending a helping hand

The employees and managements

of Ashok Leyland and its associate

companies have supported the

tsunami relief work with cash, kind

and physical labour. The Company is

also committed towards long-term

support for the relief operations and

was also involved in supporting

many NGOs carrying out relief. It is

also working through the

Confederation of Indian Industry

(CI I ) f or long-term soluti ons li ke

fishing equipment and community

centers t o t he fi shermen

communities in the Nagapattinamand Cuddalore districts.

On the day the tragedy struck,

the Company threw open its gates

to the residents of the badly

affected fi shermen hamlets near t he

Ennore Unit, which is near the

Northern coastline of Chennai, one

of the badly affected areas. Over a

100 employees, along with buses

and ambulances, were involved in

relief operations including medical

attention and feeding of the

displaced.

Around 30,000 food packets

have been distributed for those

affected. A permanent drinking

water arrangement has been

provided j ust outside the Ennore

factory premises for use by nearby

residents.

Employee volunteerismWhat i s gratif ying about t he

Companys various CSR initiatives is

the role of employee volunteerism in

all of t hem. I nterest ingly, but not

surprisingly, their experience has

encouraged many of them to take on

individually and collectively, a

variety of i nit iati ves that make

sense to their immediate living

environment. An Ashok Leyland

employee runs a 40-strong orphan-

age at his home. Many employees

raise funds to see underprivileged

children through school. Many more

give their time for causes dear to

their hearts, acts that make a

difference to peoples lives.

After all, needs vary. And hence,

responses, t oo.