by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Emerging Businesses, News, SMEs
New Delhi : Businesses in India are adapting to water scarcity. Most sectors are feeling the heat of recent droughts, leading to increased costs of raw materials, says a survey of mega companies operating in India.
It says despite flooding in several states, water storage in reservoirs across India is 55 per cent of total capacity compared with 84 per cent on an average during the same period over the past 10 years.
The survey, of over 10 large Indian and multinational companies with a net annual revenue exceeding $10.5 billion, was released on Friday by CarbonCopy on the sidelines of the two-day Business and Climate Summit here that concluded on Thursday.
Citing the case of food manufacturer Kellogg’s, which depends on agricultural produce, change in climatic conditions and poor monsoon is said to have caused it additional costs in procuring raw material. Last year saw the highest ever price of corn.
Kellogg takes climate change seriously and has increased its water storage capacity at its manufacturing units.
“We are committed to addressing the critical issues of climate and food security, and we’re helping tackle the inter-connected issues of hunger and robust food systems,” Kellogg’s Asia Pacific President Amit Banati said.
Survey participants linked drought, fossil fuel use and climate change, and were concerned about the future effects of climate change on their operations and customers.
Some businesses are taking strong action to cut emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change. Several expressed a desire for the government to introduce regulations and incentives to reduce emissions, and to ensure that water supplies continue to be available.
Last year, the drought in Tamil Nadu was the worst in 140 years, causing a 12 per cent drop in tea production in south India.
A coal power plant in West Bengal had to shut most of its power-generating capacity for 10 days in 2016 because it did not have enough water for cooling — the first time it had done so in its 30-year history.
This year, eight Indian states declared drought, causing the central government to release Rs 25,000 crore prematurely towards its MGNREGA scheme for guaranteed employment.
“We conserve water through water harvesting. We make our plants two to three times water positive by harvesting more water than we use. The government helps us set up water harvesting systems,” said Dalmia Cement Group CEO Mahendra Singhi.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Large Enterprise
Technocrat Vishal Sikka
Bengaluru : Technocrat Vishal Sikka, who logged out of software major Infosys on Thursday after quitting as its first non-founder CEO on August 18, denied joining the US IT major Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), said an Indian business news channel on Saturday.
“Reports of me joining HPE are false. Someone is trying keenly to put me in a box,” Sikka told CNBC-TV18 in a video interview from the US.
Sikka, 50, remarked in the light of reports that Infosys Founder N.R. Narayana Murthy had written to his advisers that “he (Sikka) was more a CTO (Chief Technology Officer) material than a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) material”.
Terming the return of Nandan Nilekani as Infosys’ Board Chairman an excellent idea, Sikka said the latter was an extraordinary leader and an iconic man.
“I offered to quit as Executive Vice-Chairman because I felt it was in the best interests of all concerned so that Nilekani could have a free hand. It also meant that the succession process would be complete,” he noted.
Accepting Sikka’s resignation as CEO, the Infosys Board appointed him as the Executive Vice-Chairman on the same day (August 18) till the new CEO took over by March 31, 2018 and elevated Chief Operating Officer (COO) U.B. Pravin Rao as the interim CEO and Managing Director (MD).
“I wanted to leave Infosys altogether after resigning as CEO last week, but the Board had insisted I stay on for the sake of continuity,” he pointed out.
A huge proponent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its application to make a positive difference in the world, Sikka said he was excited to spend more time with his family at his Palo Alto home in the Silicon Valley of California.
Asked if he would agree to Infosys making the investigative report on the acquisition of the Israeli software firm Panaya Inc public, Sikka said it was up to the Board and he would have gone along with its decision.
Infosys acquired the US-based automation technology firm Panaya for $200 million in February 2015 to offer large-scale enterprise software management as a service to its global clients.
The Panaya buyout became a bone of contention between the co-founders and the Board due to alleged irregularities in its deal value and allegations by an anonymous whistleblower that company executives like Sikka had a personal interest in buying it.
One of the charges was that $20 million invested in Panaya before the deal were distributed to the shareholders, a charge Infosys denied claiming it (Panaya) had $18.6 million cash balance when bought.
“Panaya was looked at as an acquisition candidate based on its strategic fit. There was no conflict of interest due to Sikka’s association with its investor Hasso Plattner, who was his boss in his previous job at the German software major SAP AG,” said Infosys in a statement on February 20.
Though three investigations looked into the claims and found nothing, Murthy kept raising corporate governance issues at the company and asked the Board to consider making the Panaya report public.
“The allegations were baseless, false, wrong. It is a completely nonsensical detour,” claimed Sikka in the television interview.
On the hefty severance package paid to Infosys former Chief Financial Officer Rajiv Bansal, Sikka said he had answered questions on it a thousand times.
Declining to share lessons he learnt at Infosys and if he could have done differently, Sikka hoped the outsourcing firm would move forward and get back to its business.
Asked if his being based out of the US and not Bengaluru was a problem, Sikka said as business was outside India, it was a complex balance of spending time, mostly in airplanes.
Admitting that his stint at Infosys from August 1, 2014 was an incredibly challenging job, Sikka said he was proud of the three years he spent in the iconic firm and was overwhelmed by the thousands of emails and communications he received from employees and clients.
