NEW DELHI: Indian companies are adopting eco-conscious practices, including low-emission flights, eco-friendly hotels and electric vehicles for daily commute, as they look to achieve sustainable growth and net-zero carbon footprint, industry executives said. chase emissions.
“Increasingly, corporates are asking what is my carbon footprint on each flight. We are showing them the carbon footprint they spend on IndiGo, Vistara, SpiceJet or any other airline. Especially information technology-enabled services, There has been an increase in queries from sectors such as consulting firms, manufacturing, banks and financial institutions,” said Sabina Chopra, co-founder and chief operating officer and head of industry relations for Corporate Travel, travel.com.
A search on travel portals on a narrow-body (Airbus 320 or Boeing 737) flight between Delhi and Mumbai shows that GoFIRST is the most eco-friendly – GoFirst compared to IndiGo’s 136 kgs and Akasa Air’s 142 kgs Emits 129 kg of carbon dioxide. per flight. Full-service carriers Vistara and Air India—the preferred option for corporates—emit emissions in the range of 136-142 kg of carbon dioxide for a single flight, reveals a search on Yatra.com’s website. SpiceJet’s carbon footprint per flight is 164 kg.
Travel portals have seen an increase in conversations about sustainability and awareness about carbon footprint since the Covid pandemic, but from this year onwards large groups are using their travel bookings to implement plans about carbon emission reduction. has begun engaging with partners, said two people familiar with the development.
In March, travel services company Thomas Cook (India) Ltd and its group company SOTC Travel announced a partnership with LTIMindtree, to launch “Green Carpet” – a platform for monitoring and managing business travel emissions.
This comes against the backdrop of the market regulator mandating the top 1,000 listed companies in India by market capitalization to file as per Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) from FY23.
“Over 50% of these are already our existing customers. But the idea is to start with 50% of the 1,000 companies and then take it to the other companies that are out there. A client of ours, A Group, wants to be able to capture, benchmark, and report Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions to SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India). We are helping companies to report in a unified manner. Fairfax Financial Chairman and CEO Sanjay Tugnait said, L&T Group of Companies, Mindtree and some of our Fairfax companies in India who have visualized interest will be on this platform.
Essentially, Scope 1 and 2 are emissions that are directly or indirectly owned or controlled by a company, while Scope 3 emissions are a result of the company’s activities, but originate from sources that are not owned or controlled by it. are not.
As a result, companies are also keeping an eye on emissions from the transportation of business parcels and deliveries.
“Five years ago nobody was asking about it. Some of them are talking about it now,” said RS Subramaniam, senior vice president for South Asia at logistics company DHL Express.
The company took delivery of the first Tata Motors Ace electric vehicle, and three of these vehicles are currently on trial at its Pune facility. It is also pursuing electric vehicle manufacturers to make air-conditioned vehicles suitable for courier carriages.
“Traditional views used to be offset; I’m going to burn carbon; I will go to plant 10 trees. He’s out now. The real story is in-setting, which is to say, how do you reduce carbon footprint and what actions can you take and at what cost? As a service provider I cannot bear that cost unless the business that is asking me to carry the shipment is willing to bear the cost. So, I am telling them let’s partner, and we will create a carbon footprint that will be good for both of us,” Subramanian said.
While corporates mainly move towards sustainability due to global and national guidelines and policies, even individuals have shown a similar trend, though in a smaller percentage for now.
“Nearly 40% travelers are saying that while planning summer travel this year, sustainability is going to be the key criteria for the destination or airline they choose or hotel or resort they go ahead with. We are also manufacturing products like Low Carbon Dioxide Sorter. We also have an index for mindful travelers,” said Tarun Tahiliani, India country manager, Kayak.
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