Jindal Stainless were recognised by Environmental Finance judges in two categories in this year's Sustainable Company Awards – Energy efficiency initiative of the year, APAC and Sustainable business leader of the year, APAC for chief sustainability officer Kalyan Bhattacherjee. Overall, the entries by Jindal Stainless were described as "impressive" by judges.
Appointed chief sustainability officer in January 2023, Bhattacherjee is responsible for leading the Jindal Stainless efforts to achieve its goal of net zero by 2050 and driving sustainability across the group.
Among his recent achievements include the formation and implementation of a comprehensive ESG governance structure spanning that reaches from the board level to operations. In addition, he has led the review of all ESG committees and targets.
Bhattacherjee has spearheaded projects aimed at increasing renewable energy usage and overall sustainability across the group and implementing its decarbonisation strategy, including a 50% reduction in emission intensity by 2035.
Under his oversight, Jindal Stainless has committed to the Science-Based Targets initiative to develop near-term and long-term targets for net zero in alignment with the Paris Agreement aims.
As one of the most energy-intensive industries, decarbonisation initiatives in the steel industry can have a significant impact. As such, Jindal Stainless' efforts were singled out by judges this year as particularly noteworthy enough to be win this year's Energy efficiency initiative of the year, APAC.
Its winning energy efficiency initiative involves the feeding of freshly made steel slabs directly to a reheating furnace to reduce heat loss and fuel consumption compared with the heating of cold slabs.
It said by optimising fuel and energy consumption, the system decreases the operational cost by 30% in cold roll mills and also allows for easy scaling and adaptation for different manufacturing set-ups and industries. Furthermore, the project has contributed to a 1.6% reduction in annual energy consumption.
"Excellent level of detail and evidence of impact through direct innovation in the company's operations," one judge noted. "It seems the approach can be scaled as genuine innovation in this field."