CHENNAI: Green initiatives like energy or waste management make business sense and help companies improve bottom line, according to a senior official of Brakes India Limited.
Part of the diversified business conglomerate TVS Group, Brakes India’s foundry division, says ‘green’ measures help reduce the cost of production. “We were able to reduce our energy costs from about 20 per cent to 14 per cent now,” V Narasimhan, Executive Director, Foundry division, Brakes India told Express on Wednesday.
The Rs 1,100-crore company gets 25 per cent of its total foundry business’ energy requirement from wind and 9 per cent from solar power (it runs a 8 mw captive solar plant). “We will increase solar power production as and when necessary,” he added.
Foundry businesses need to be environment conscious as they emanate pollutants and the plants are given permission under the red category. “It is estimated that 4 per cent of the top line goes as ‘waste.’ If adequate steps are taken, it can improve bottom line,” Narasimhan said.
Taking innovation to the next level, Brakes India has even filed a patent in waste management. “It’s a continuous process to see how best we can re-use and re-cycle,” he said.
Brakes India operates 10 foundries including 6 in Tamil Nadu, with a cumulative production capacity of 1,40,000 tonne per year. “We are running at full capacity now and expansion will be based on demand-supply requirement,” Narasimhan added.
Meanwhile, according to Narasimhan, foundries in India, currently have under utilisation of capacities. The industry is also fragmented with over 5,000 players producing nearly 10 million metric tonnes per annum.