Breathing Life into a Brand

GREAT LAKES GUEST LECTURE SERIES – Mr AVIK CHATTOPADHYAY

Co-FOUNDER – EXPEREAL INDIA

27^th July 2018:

Fridays at Great Lakes, Gurgaon, generally mean a session with a seasoned industry expert. Dressed in our formal best, armed with laptops and notepads, the Great Lakes’ PGDM batches, Aztecs and Jaguars, were ready to welcome Mr Avik Chattopadhyay for an interactive session focused on Branding. Being a marketing enthusiast, I was eagerly looking forward to this session.

Mr Avik Chattopadhyay: He is the founder of a brand consultancy firm, Expereal India. The firm deals with building strategy for several brands. He possesses extensive experience of more than a decade in Branding for the automobile industry and has previously worked with giants like Volkswagen, Maruti Suzuki, Apollo Tyres, Peugeot, to name a few, in leadership roles.

The interactive session majorly focused on the characteristics of a brand that keeps it relevant in the long run. Mr Chattopadhyay explained that at the heart of each and every brand, lie some core values and characteristics which derive its purpose and are in-sync with the hearts of the consumers. If a brand cannot connect with its audience, it is eventually and inevitably going to phase out.

He further added that the idea of a brand is applicable to everything, from products and services to organizations, teams and even individuals. In order to substantiate his words, he offered examples of prolific standings like that of the Nalanda University – standing for knowledge, the Pyramids – standing for their engineering marvel, and the Himalayas – standing for both tranquillity and as a symbol of challenge. While these can be perceived as products from a marketing perspective, there are individuals like Elon Musk, Christopher Nolan and Steve Jobs who are nothing short of a brand in themselves.

He explained that in today’s context, a brand is something that is highly misunderstood and many a time is just equated to a bunch of tangibles like a logo, slogan, advertising or maybe a Facebook page. A brand in its entirety is way more than that and is reflected by “what it stands for.” It is something that is promised and delivered consistently.

Having worked with some of the most reputable brands – Maruti Suzuki and Apollo Tyres – he then took the students for a Case Study ride to showcase how these two companies came out from a series of troubles and bad market standing and how they were able to turn around the brand image to what it stands for today.

In the case of Maruti Suzuki, he described the worst couple of years in the company’s timeline i.e. from 2000 to mid-2002 and how that was a major motivation to introduce a product which entirely revolutionised the Indian automobile market. The product was Maruti Suzuki Swift. While Swift was built for a newer target market and was designed as per it, the entire project remained true to the brand idea of Maruti Suzuki, which is – democratization of mobility.

A similar case of Apollo Tyres was discussed. While Maruti Suzuki had a very inside-outside approach to solve its problem, Apollo did just the opposite and succeeded too. He laid out the importance of setting and adhering to benchmarks along with devising a long a term strategy to be truly successful.

The session turned out to be more enlightening than any of us imagined and that was evident by the storm of questions Mr Chattopadhyay received from the knowledge-hungry Great Lakers. To conclude, this was one of the sessions which will be in the memory of everyone who aspires to make a career in Branding.

Author: S SnehanshN

PGDM, Class of 2019, Great Lakes, Gurgaon

The Joy of Giving: Karma Yoga Session 1

July 7^th, 2018

“Don’t give to get. Give to inspire others to give.”

~ Simon Sinek

One such choice we made is to explore the side of our personality which allows us to be generous in giving, without expecting anything in return.

We, the students of PGPM 2019 – NINJAS, started our journey on 7th July 2018 with the same mission in mind. Red walls, lush green compound, enthusiastic students in the uniforms planting trees, joyful teachers; these are the visuals which welcomed us to the Primary Government School of Fazalwas, Haryana. It was euphoria all around; innocent faces, wide smiles, genuine conversations. We were elated by seeing the school kids deeply involved with themselves and maybe this is what it is called “being in present” or “mindfulness”.

After a quick introduction, we were pleased to witness various performances by students such as dancing, singing, and mimicry. Post the icebreaking session, we were quick in executing our plans for the day. Teaching tables through Vedic mathematics technique, unleashing the talent hidden in the students by asking different questions about their likes and interests, engaging them by playing games with them. We clapped, danced and laughed along with them and got lost in the moment forgetting all the worries, assignments or projects. There was a sense of belonging and blissfulness in those tiny classrooms with minimum facilities. It gave us immense pleasure to have connected with these kids when they were over the moon sharing with us their fantasies, friends, and little playful fights they had amidst strong bonding. At that moment, we felt there is a lot of selfishness in giving back to society which is the immense satisfaction and happiness you experience in the process.

Giving back to society not only makes us generous, it also adds purpose to our life and happiness in doing something for others who need it more. Giving back to society is de-stressing too, it helps us to realize our own self and manage our inner relationships to make us live a more balanced life, allowing us to keep a balance between our daily chaos and our need to become a more responsible citizen and an individual.

Seeing the sheer joy and happiness on the kids’ face and knowing that we have been a small reason behind those smiles has been an unparalleled experience. And we are forever in debt to the Karma Yoga initiative of Great Lakes, Gurgaon for introducing us to such joy.

“At the end of the day, it’s not about what you have or what you’ve accomplished. It’s all about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.”

~ Denzel Washington

Author: Urvi Sehrawat

PGPM, Class of 2019, Great Lakes, Gurgaon

What does Great Lakes Institute of Management look for in a Candidate

“Do I possess the qualities required to get into a top B-School?”

This is the question that goes through the minds of all professionals a few years into their careers. Great Lakes Institute of Management goes through thousands of applications each year and only a select few get accepted.

So, what differentiates the selected applicants from the rejected ones?

Before answering this question, one must understand the fact that entrance exams like CAT, XAT, GMAT, etc. are just the tools for primary filtration. If a good test score is the only weapon in your arsenal then you’re in for a surprise as the final selection depends on a candidate’s performance in the subsequent stages that include PI, essays, group discussions etc. The basic idea behind such a rigorous admission process is that a candidate must be able to justify his/her test score with something more substantial.

The Great Lakes admissions committee is always on the lookout for that one factor in the applicants which makes them stand out from the crowd and if you possess even one of the following qualities, you’ll gain a significant advantage over rest of the applicants.

Potential to drive Business Impact through Leadership

Leadership potential is the top box to check when you apply to Great Lakes. We want to invest in an applicant who’ll go out and make an actual difference in the real world. Therefore, you will have to demonstrate that you possess what it takes to be a leader either in your work experience, academic life, extracurricular activities or elsewhere.

Demonstrated Track Record of Achievement

We keenly seek applicants who have a demonstrable record of achievement. We truly believe that achievement can manifest in many forms, from academic excellence to college extracurricular activities to professional accomplishments, to personal wins.

We value demonstrated achievement irrespective of its scale and sphere; whether you’ve started up a company, headed a project at work, captained a sports team or organized a relief fund, we consider all these as examples of achievement.

Interpersonal and Communication Skills

As an MBA Grad, you’d be expected to not just be good at what you do but also effectively portray that you are good. You need to be able to market yourself and effective communication and interpersonal skills are the key to do that. If you are a brilliant professional but can’t make a pitch for your ideas and opinions or can’t convince others about your potential, then you probably aren’t ready for the big leagues. The essays and personal interviews are the stages of the admission process where you can showcase your communication skills.

Relevant Work Experience

Work experience of minimum 24 months is a mandatory eligibility criterion for applying to the PGPM program. But more than your career choice, you’ll be assessed on the basis of the progress you made professionally vis-a-vis your earlier self. The factors that make you stand out are the consistent upward movement of our career graph, roles & responsibilities on the job, team-building, managerial tasks and proactive approach.

Thought Clarity & Career Aspirations

When you’re applying to Great Lakes, you must have a few choices to help you lay down a foundation. Whether you wish to achieve a leadership role or switch careers or become an entrepreneur post your graduation, you must be able to clearly communicate it to the Admissions Committee. Remember, it’s not just about securing a place in a B-school, it is more about what difference you want to make in the real world and neither is possible without aspirations and ambitions.

Right Fit with the Program

All MBA programs have a personality. For example, the PGPM at Great Lakes is best suited for professionals who have proved their mettle in the industry and are now looking for an accelerated growth. The PGDM, on the other hand, has a completely different approach as it prepares the individuals to face the real world business challenges for the first time. In order to secure a place in Great Lakes or any other B-School, you’ll have to effectively justify that you’re not just compatible with the program but with the culture of the school as well.

We at Great Lakes are looking forward to meeting you. So, Good Luck and May the odds be ever in your favour.

 

Team Admissions

Alumni Speak: “In today’s fast-paced world that thrives on cut-throat competition, a Bachelor’s degree is just not enough to fuel an individual’s ambition.”

Piyush Kant is the Director of Business Development at GCE Group and is responsible for the Indian and South-East Asian market of the Energy Efficiency Consulting Giant. He joined Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon, in 2010 in the first batch of the B-School. We recently sat down with Piyush to find out how the PGPM-Energy program of Great Lakes helped him in his career endeavours.

Here is what he had to say.

Tell me about your professional background before joining Great Lakes and also about what made you pursue MBA?

Piyush: After completing my engineering in Computer Science from Kurukshetra University and before joining Great Lakes, I was working with Cisco Systems as a Network Engineer.

In today’s fast-paced world that thrives on cut-throat competition, a Bachelor’s degree is just not enough to fuel an individual’s ambition. If you have a hunger to make it large in this corporate jungle; knowledge and understanding of the intrinsic factors focused on running a business and managing the people is imperative. This is why I didn’t stop after becoming an engineer and went on to pursue Masters in Business Administration.

Q2. So, why did you choose Great Lakes?

Piyush: I had a keen interest and passion of working in the energy sector and when it comes to energy, Great Lakes’ reputation is unparalleled and unmatched. At the time I joined the institute, it was Great Lakes Institute of Energy Research and Management (IEMR) – a one of a kind B-school with a focus on energy sector and its dedicated disciplines.

Q3. How did the two years spent at Great Lakes help you transform as a person?

Piyush: A lot actually. For starters, it turned a carefree man into a responsible one. I learned the true sense of empathy, the power and benefits of networking, traits necessary to become a leader were imbibed into my personality here, and most importantly, I learnt the art of learning from failures, how to overcome my fears and the thin line difference between confidence and foolishness.

Moreover, the institute helped make me a better person as it taught me that no reward is greater than the feeling of giving back/contributing to the society.

Q4. Mention three key highlights of your Great Lakes experience.

Piyush:

1. Diverse professional background of the students that facilitated learning beyond classrooms
2. Excellent practical exposure and personal interactions with the world renowned industry leaders
3. Highly motivated, energetic and experienced faculty

Q5. Which faculty members/guest speakers impacted your education and learning experience the most?

Piyush: Although the entire staff of Great Lakes holds an extremely special place in my heart as I would have never been where I am today without them, but Dr. S.K. Palhan, Mr. Mohan Lakhamraju and Mr. BVR Vamsi (Powergrid Corp India) had the most lasting impact on my learning.

Q6. Describe the peer learning experience at Great Lakes in and beyond the classroom in one word.

Piyush: Can I use two? “Exceptionally Brilliant.”

Q7. Tell me about your current organisation and job role. How do you think going to a B-school has helped you in your career?

Piyush: GCE Group operates in the sphere of financial consulting, audits, industrial safety, energy efficiency consulting etc. It is the largest Energy efficiency consultant on the globe, headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia. I am currently serving this organisation as its Director of Business Development in the Indian and South-East Asian Region.

As I stated earlier that I have done my graduation in Science from Kurukshetra University, grabbing this job and rising up to this level in the energy sector would have been impossible for me if not for Great Lakes.

Q8. What advice would you like to give to the future Great Lakers?

Piyush: I would like to tell my fellow Great Lakers that – Explore more about yourself, discover what you really want to do and achieve in your life and believe in yourself at all times. Then, start working on your dreams to inspire yourself and keep moving forward. Remember, there is no shortcut to success and there is no such thing as a free lunch. So, always keep working hard for your dreams, spot opportunities, grasp them and keep climbing the ladder, however, slow the pace may be.

Is a dot-com bubble shaping up in general merchandise retailing?

Internet business has definitely altered the way we shop but internet retailing will keep existing along with Brick and Mortar shops in future. Yes, “along with it”, as people will always have socializing needs as well as convenience of shopping online. I predict that brick and mortar shops will soon convert into something like life-style-shops, where people will come to have socializing time in an ambience and environment that will allow them spend quality time along with shopping goods with confidence of touch and feel. For example, there might be Mid-size or large cafes having a small-boutique store inside with a classy-touch so that women can shop while their husbands can sit down, sip a cup of exotic coffee or play games on a play station (A large-scale existing model of this is malls with shopping stores along with food and gaming stores; such models may change but will not erode away) and socialize with other people around in many ways. There can be ways to incentivize customers to socialize, network with people and refer their “experience” further; this can induce exponential demand. The whole idea is about creating user-experience because people don’t just buy products/services now…. they buy experience, whether its offline or online.

I would be delving into the internet retailing business in India to see if it’s another bubble-burst in making, more so for the top-three players that claim 70% of the market share in India viz. Amazon, Flipkart & Snapdeal and analyze who stand to win.  Among these three Amazon seems to be pacing much faster than other two. Each E-retailing company has its own strategy to increase its market share; What would help them to win would be business fundamentals rather than winning the “who-has-better-valuation-race” (based on some model, matrices and cash-flows in future….blah..blah …blah) While they are doing everything from price-slashing-discounts, Faster Delivery, exclusive tie-ups with brands, acquisitions to even backward integration in supply chain, the consumer is clearly able to get a different experience with every new move. Valuations can be subjective, over-optimistic or even completely off-the-track; what I would want to look at is whether this is again a bubble-bust scenario or is there some stability or sanity shaping in the online-retailing industry mostly driven by Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal.

As per industry report from various sources collated by Brand equity forum, Indian Retail Market is poised to grow at 12% per annum to about US$ 1 Trillion till year 2020 from US$ 600 billion in year 2015. Out of this B2C E-commerce is expected to reach US$ 102 billion by 2020 and US$ 220 billion (in terms of Gross Merchandise Value) and 530 million shoppers by 2025. Overall E-commerce market is expected to reach US$ 120 billion by 2020 supported by faster internet speeds and faster adoption of internet services along with increase in app-based customer base.

Brand equity

I strongly believe that any business proposition has to comply to established economic theories; Like how a country cannot keep printing its own currency at will, without substantial products, services & other fundamentals in the economy to back it up, any business also cannot be ascribed a value/assessed without strong fundamentals, products & services to back it up. Brand equity reflects a lot of these parameters as it also covers the perceived confidence of sellers and buyers. While recognition of a Brand as a performing brand, increasing market share and price inelasticity reflect a lot about brand equity, Online retailing industry is not yet  in a price controlling position (Can’t raise their margins, they don’t have any for that matter).

a) Customer’s Side

In B2C online retailing, Amazon has steadily increased its market share and has captured more than 1/3^rd of the market-share, whereas Flipkart and Snapdeal combined have nearly 40% market share. If we talk about most used apps the numbers are still high for Flipkart at 34% along with 11% for Myntra and 6% of Jabong that it already owns. Amazon is installed on 21% of the mobile devices, whereas snapdeal on 16%. Noticeably Amazon seems to have picked up at the app-installation figures since November 2015, the time when Flipkart decided upon the strategy to provide mobile-friendly site for direct browsing rather than from app.

b) Seller’s Side

An important point that I would make is that assessment of any online retailer from sellers’s point is as important as it is from customer’s perspective. As per the results from a study (Neilsen’s E-commerce Sellers study Q1 2016-Jan-March) highlighted by Business Standard, starting point to assess the brand equity  is the brand-recall for most sellers (Amazon-25%, Flipkart-21%, Snapdeal-20%), second is the overall awareness (Amazon-86%, Flipkart-82%, Snapdeal-20%.). Providing a favorable platform to sellers increases the brand equity of an online retailer manifolds.

Fundamentals

Tracxn Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Has its own list of Deadpool companies (online business) in India and has its own matrices (like shrinking team size, , suspended operations and decline in user traffic) to list them. This approach seems logical when we look at recent failures in e-commerce business like askmebazaar that suspended its operations due to lack of funds/Cash and  as reported, left 4000 employees jobless in August 2016 ,was looking out for a potential sell-out.  There have been many dead and walking dead companies in the Deadpool list of Tracxn. Looking at recent sell out of Jabong at much lesser a price than valuation (giving rise to a terminology called Jabonged) and downfall of askme bazaar there are new rounds of discussion on e-commerce bubble.

So simply building an online business & burning cash to achieve figures that help you to make it saleable (be it Plan A or Plan B) is a “well-planned-scam” under the daylight, atleast for the stakeholders (Investors, debtors, vendors, employees…..well not customer… they just have to download another app and shop like a boss). Though finance is fungible and the money can be rolled but there has to be enough cash to be rolled. A business that was not started with intent to run & sustain on its own constructs rather than just the mercy and so called loyalty of its customers is a scam as somebody is going to lose sooner or later. Abidali Neemuchwala, new CEO of Wipro (although from a different industry) interestingly said, in an interview for Mint, “I am not afraid about falling Revenue or profitability, I am excited about profitable growth, we will not buy revenue by sacrificing margins”. Most of the internet businesses focus on growth, expansion, revenues and await success that never happens. Simply put the business has to generate its own cash from margins. On contrary all online retailing companies (taken in this write-up) have negative profits.

In case of internet retailing there are lines of products mostly common across all companies (only Snapdeal, Flipkart & Amazon in this write-up) whereas services, value proposition & operations would definitely vary as per their own common or mutually exclusive strategies because each one of them is trying to differentiate & win maximum market share whether it is volumes, Revenues, Product segments etc. So to have a pulse of the industry and see which company is going which direction, we should look for their past & present operations as well as current strategies that have futuristic approach or scope for profits as well.

FLIPKART

• Flipkart has acquired Myntra and Jabong that have already been leaders in apparel retailing and it is going for strong private brand tie-ups (like how Myntra’s 25% revenue comes through Roadster, Mast & Harbour and Dressberry). HRX by Hrithik Roshan is a lifestyle & sports clothing brand (and some accessories) which is soon going to tie up with Flipkart (Flipkart is targeting the majority stake)
• As per a report by A.T. Kearney and Google; fashion is expected to be dominantly, the largest product category in online retailing by 2020. Fashion segment offers much fatter margins viz a viz books and electronics and in fashion, private brand tie-ups reap larger margins than third party.
• Flipkart is much ahead than everybody else when it comes to fashion segment (with 12 private brands of Myntra). As per a commentary by EY, having private brand tie-ups helps a company learn about merchandising and branding giving them better negotiation power with external brands. Flipkart is aggressively trying to improve in this segment as it offers fat margins and may help them become profitable.

AMAZON

• Amazon is consistently improving on Revenue and market share and surpassed Flipkart in gross sales in July
• Amazon is catching up well in Smartphone segment with Flipkart while it is already a leader in book sales.
• Amazon is coming up with its fulfillment centers in Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai with a total of 5.5 Million square feet storage space (adding to 2.5 million sq-ft. already existing over 21 centers in various states in Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, Telangana, West Bengal) for sellers which shall bring down their fixed costs. This strategy as per my opinion is going to have double impact for Amazon as it will get products at real lower rates (bringing down storage/logistics cost for sellers, also building closer association with them-80% of sellers on amazon use its fulfillment service) and consumers will keep getting lower rates on Amazon with faster delivery (two important factors in user experience). This strategy will have a strong backward integration advantage and strong geographical hold across India in supply chain.
• Amazon Prime is a paid service that gives customer a faster delivery (1 or 2 days). This has seen success in US and other markets. But Indian consumers want more than just the faster delivery. However even a small part of the 50 million user base can be enough to give benefits.
• Fulfillment center and Amazon Prime combined can help Amazon do away with discounts. Any company that can build a strategy around this idea will eventually see the sustainable success (profitable growth). Amazon seems to have taken a formidable position.
• AmazonBasics (by cloudtail India pvt. Ltd.) brand selling headphones, charging cables, bags and various other accessories contributes more than 40% of its business and is set to expand it substantially this year (2016)
• Have aggressive plans in private label offering in electronics accessories, groceries and fashion segments. If this happens they can take Flipkart head-on.

SNAPDEAL

• While GMV (Gross Merchandise Value-Value of goods sold on an online-marketplace company) has remained a dominant metric to monitor the growth, Snapdeal-CEO, Kunal Bahl said Snapdeal is focusing on net revenue rather than GMV. It has cut down discounts and cost of advertisements; helps fight cash-crunch situation.
• Snapdeal has diversified portfolio wherein it has FreeCharge (mobile recharge), Shopo, Vulcan, Gojavas, Rupee power (online financial services platform), exclusively (luxury ecommerce site) etc. in its basket.
• Shopo is a market place for sellers of handicraft products (with zero-commission in revenue, just a fee). It has seen good amount of success with one lakh sellers onboard in just nine months. Shopo can be a promising online shop for small businesses with logistics (connects to logistics companies) and payments tools (freecharge) embedded.
• Vulcanexpress and Gojavas were conceptualized by snapdeal to compete with its rivals flipkart and Amazon as having in-house logistics is more economical for marketplace companies (it makes logistics reliable & scalable) but snapdeal was late to do this and has faced problems with these two ventures.
• Freecharge has much younger customer-base 18 to 25 years (age-bracket), with 10 million app-install-base. Snapdeal has a app-install-base of 20 million and its customers belong to 25 to 35 years age-bracket.
• While Snapdeal seems to have taken a diversified approach, success is yet to be seen in these ventures as well and focus will be shared on all such ventures, whereas its rivals are focusing to improvise on lesser diversified models.

Conclusion

The financials available for the online-retailing companies (on public forums and platforms) do not give a veritable insight. However, I have tried to track the fundamentals and strategies being followed by the major players in the industry.  While Amazon and Flipkart seem to have taken the formidable position of top-two players over last one year, Snapdeal despite its move to focus on profitable growth, is losing market share and its strategy doesn’t seem too focused. Snapdeal is trying to grab everything it can, Flipkart is much focused on its most profitable segment, Amazon has a sound approach of wooing both customers and sellers on its market place and is working towards weaning off the discounts. My personal opinion is that Amazon and Flipkart can be the last survivors with profitable growth. Snapdeal and other players may lose the game. It’s a boom-bust situation for everybody else than Amazon and Flipkart.

Disclaimer: This study is based on use of data from private company database, newspaper articles and internet-trends. The data collated through different sources like “similarweb” etc. have been duly credited to and are indicative in nature. The author doesn’t claim any ownership or the veracity of figures mentioned. The ideas that have been borrowed have been duly credited and other self-proposed ideas are inconsequential and meant only for the academic-engagements of the institute.

Author : Gaurav Chauhan

Senior Research Fellow, Great Lakes

Chairman Emeritus Reconnect 47 “Carbon Neutrality in Industry”

Dear friends,

In today’s scenario of threatening climate change, Industry has responsibility of being carbon-neutral. Any Industry going Carbon Neutral implies that it offsets carbon as much as it produces through its operations directly or indirectly. “For every car produced which would run on petrol, your company should produce another car which would run on ethanol (bio-fuel)” said Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam while visiting a Car manufacturing company abroad. That signifies the concept of a carbon neutral industry in broad terms.

CARBON EMISSION IN INDUSTRY

Any industry is responsible for carbon emission directly or indirectly. Its scope can be categorized by “GHG protocol Corporate Standard” developed by World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) as under:

Scope-1: Direct Carbon Emissions from owned boilers, Diesel generators etc.

Scope-2: Purchased Electricity- Indirect Carbon Emissions at the Generating sources

Scope-3: Other Indirect Carbon Emissions from Waste generated, Business Travel etc.

SITUATION ANALYSIS AND SETTING AGENDA

Any Industry willing to become carbon neutral will have to first assess its Carbon Footprint and then set its agenda for action. A study was conducted by GLIM, Gurugram at Tata Communications in Maharashtra region.

Carbon Foot Print (CFP) of Tata Communications

Scope-1 CFP: Fuel (Diesel) used in backup power

Scope-2 CFP: Electric power usage

[In TATA Communications- Maharashtra, approximately 90% of the Carbon Emission is due to the above.]

Scope-3  CFP : Activities generating carbon indirectly: Waste generated, Business Travel and Employees commuting.

Agenda of Tata Communications towards Carbon Neutrality

Scope-1 Agenda:   Back-up Fuel “High Speed Diesel (HSD)” to be replaced by “Bio-Diesel”

Scope-2 Agenda:

Carbon reduction through:

• Energy efficiency {Efficient usage of power in data centers}
• Innovative techniques to restrict carbon emission
• Geothermal Pumping for Cooling (saving electric power)
• Solar LED standalone street lighting system

Carbon off-set by sourcing Carbon-Free Green Power:

• Solar
• Wind
• Regular & Seasonal Hydro

Scope-3 Agenda:

• Treating Waste generated
• Tele-presence Services to reduce “Business Travel”
• Replacing conventional vehicles by ‘Solar charged battery operated vehicles’ in the Campus to reduce carbon footprint of  “Employees commuting”
• Afforestation to nullify remains of the above three indirect sources of carbon emission
• Promoting Environmental Consciousness

STRATEGIES AND IMPACTS

Scope-1 Strategies & Impacts

Back-up Fuel “High Speed Diesel (HSD)” to be replaced by “Bio-Diesel”

Replacement of High Speed Diesel (HSD) used in power backup generating units by BIO-DIESEL could be very effective in reducing emissions by 90%. Bio-diesel is seamlessly interchangeable with petroleum diesel. It has better lubrication and increased productivity of electricity generators. Bio-diesel needs no change in infrastructure and no engine modifications.

Scope-2 Strategies & Impacts

Electricity is consumed at five different locations of TCL within Maharashtra. At the end of FY 2014-15, the load at TCL Maharashtra was approximately 23.5 MW causing emission of 113096.7 Tonnes of CO_2. Company proposes to expand its business by the end of 2020, for which it has estimated a capacity addition at some of the sites in Maharashtra resulting in 48 MW of net total load in Maharashtra.

CARBON REDUCTION STRATEGIES

Energy efficiency {efficient usage of power in data centers}

Benchmarking of Energy Efficiency of Data Centers is usually done by Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) which is defined as the ratio of Total Facility Energy to Energy used in IT Equipment. At present TCL compares with reputed companies in the world as follows:

                                                PUE in Different Reputed Companies

Company	PUE
GOOGLE	1.09
FACEBOOK	1.2
TCL	1.9

The above shows that there is a scope of improving energy efficiency at TCL. One of the simplest ways to save energy in a data centre is to raise the temperature. It is a myth that data centres need to be kept absolutely chilly. According to most IT equipment manufacturers’ specifications, data centre operators can safely raise their cold aisle to 80°F or higher. By doing so, we significantly reduce facility energy use. At present TCL Data Centres are operated at a temperature of 73.4 ⁰ F which is 6.6 ⁰ F chiller than what Google is operating at present.

The electricity that powers a data centre ultimately turns into heat. Most data centres use chillers or air conditioning units to cool down the equipment, requiring extra energy usage. At Google data centres, they often use water as an energy-efficient way to cool instead. At TCL also we have Chiller and Crack units installed besides air conditioning, which help in cooling whereas at Google they are using natural water based cooling mechanism.

For using natural water based cooling, quality of water needs to be ensured and it may have a cost component associated with purifying it. A feasibility test on the availability of purified water has to be done, which if turns out to be positive for implementation, huge amount of electricity consumption can be reduced.

Innovative Techniques to restrict Carbon Emission: Geothermal Pumping for Cooling (saving electric power)

70% of the total energy used in TCL Maharashtra is used in HVAC load, which basically includes Chillers & Cracks.

In order to drastically reduce the HVAC load of Chillers and Cracks or to eliminate them completely, geothermal pumping can be resorted to. Geothermal technology uses earth to dissipate heat as sink and uses reverse geothermal pumping for cooling purpose. It relies on the fact that the Earth (beneath the surface) remains at a relatively constant temperature throughout the year, very much like a cave. Heat pumps can be deployed using a vapour compression cycle to transport heat from IT Equipment to the earth which becomes a heat sink and in the process cooling the machines. Energy saved in Chillers and Cracks can be enormous contributing to carbon savings.

Solar LED standalone street lighting system

Streetlights, which are being used at TCL Pune facility presently, are having the rating of 250 watts with at least 200 fixtures. Taking round-the-year operation @ 10 hrs. /day, energy implied would be 250 x 200 x 3650/1000 = 182500 kWh. By installing standalone LED solar enabled street lighting system, around 182500 x 0.98 = 178850 Kg= 178.85 Tonnes of CO₂ can be offset annually.

CARBON OFF-SET STRATEGIES

Sourcing Carbon-free Green Power:

• Solar
• Wind
• Regular & Seasonal Hydro

Solar Power

At TCL there is 3 MW of installed solar capacity in Pune which is supposed to provide about 12 % of power used in TCL, Maharashtra. Out of total energy of 129578438 kWh consumed during 2014-15, 14173643 kWh (10.94%) of green power from solar was used in TCL. By adding some more capacity (going up to 5 MW), it is expected to supply about 20% of power from green sources in near future, saving to that extent the emission of CO_{2 .}

Wind Power

Out of the 5 office locations 4 are situated at the seashore where company is planning to install micro windmills for harnessing energy from wind source. They are looking at purchasing the turbines and installing them on the rooftops of the office locations. Power generated from these windmills can be used for general small lighting purpose. On an average these windmills cost Rs. 1-2 Lakh per turbine.

Regular & Seasonal Hydro

At Tata Communications, a paradigm shift in carbon neutrality can be seen by tying up with (carbon free) Hydropower. While seriously attempting to tie up with “Tata Hydro” for entire power requirement, surplus hydro power in Maharashtra Grid during rainy season could be tied up at the first place.

Scope-3 Strategies & Impacts

Following activities were identified under Scope-3 on which the Company did not have much control. However, Company’s limited intervention is possible.

Treating Waste Generated

In Tata Communications, the waste coming out of operations is primarily the waste from Diesel Generating sets during maintenance sent out to third party vendor for disposal. The data is maintained during refills and maintenance cycles for waste lubricating oil. Within the premises of Tata Communications, Pune the company has installed a waste handling unit, which essentially accepts biodegradable waste including kitchen wastes as input and processes it to provide output as manure, which is used for the plantation within the company. The net GHG emission is reduced because the energy intensive fertilizer production and associated GHGs are reduced to that extent.

Tele-presence services to reduce Business Travel

Tele-presence service can optimize travel. Tata’s Tele-presence service encompasses both public room services and private tele-presence managed services. Businesses aiming at reducing their travel costs and minimizing their carbon footprint want to consider adopting tele-presence meeting options such as videoconferencing. Frequent flyers contribute disproportionately to greenhouse gas emissions besides losing working time.

Replacing conventional vehicles by ‘Solar charged battery operated vehicles’ to reduce carbon footprint of ‘Employees Commuting’

On an average around 750 vehicles are daily running within the campus for a distance of around 2 km each. So 1500 km of run of four wheelers at an average of 15 km/litre consumes 100 litres of fuel for commuting. TCL is planning to start battery operated vehicles within the premises and designing a master solar park at the main gate (proposed) which is at ideal location of sun face for solar power. Power generated from this park could be used to charge the batteries of a single vehicle with the sitting capacity of 25 to 30 people and total Run per day 80 to 100 KM.

Afforestation to sink Carbon

Remains of the three identified scope-3 activities can be addressed by creating some forest carbon sinks. On an average 12 trees are needed to sink 1 tonne of CO₂ after 5 years.  According to these statistics if we are planting 10,000 trees in 2015 in TCL’s campus then 833 tonnes of CO₂ emission can be offset by 2020.  Plantation pattern has to be identified, which contributes to offset carbon emission and also adds to the aesthetics of the office premises as per choice of the employees. This approach will help in building green healthy environment around the work place. The office location of TCL Pune is spread over 1100 acres of land, so plantation on this land can be used to create carbon sinks. As per the Government policy a Corporate has to invest 2% of its total annual Profit in CSR activity. Linking this expense with afforestation, plantation can be done in the premises with the help of any NGO.

Promoting Environmental Consciousness

Promoting cycling within the Campus to ‘burn calories not carbon’ will also help in involving each and every employee of TCL in generating awareness towards reducing carbon emission.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

All the above measures of carbon reduction and offsetting would show results in their own magnitude. Besides, it would generate tremendous awareness about carbon neutrality across the organization. Brand value of the Organization with pursuance of carbon neutrality as a corporate goal is going to increase in the emerging environment conscious scenario.  For many firms, the allure of bolstering their corporate or product brand reputation is a key consideration in seeking to go carbon neutral. What is crucial is that the approach adopted by TCL is robust, transparent and based on available standards and protocols. “Achieving Carbon Neutrality by 2020 in TATA Communications Ltd.-Maharashtra” has a great significance.  What is crucial is that it is not to be pursued as a stand-alone exercise, but as part of a broader sustainability strategy that encompasses the whole business.

At Tata Communications, the target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2020 seems possible if most of their input power can be tied up with (carbon free) conventional Hydro. The Group Company has an installed hydro capacity of 576 MW in Maharashtra itself. While the other measures dealt with in this letter may make their own contribution towards Carbon Neutrality, the objective could be fully achieved by dedicating majority of 24 MW now progressing to 48 MW of “Tata Hydro” to Tata Communications in Maharashtra by 2020.

Let us hope, Industry as such takes a step forward towards carbon neutrality.

Best wishes and Regards,

Dr. B.S.K.Naidu

BE(Hons), M.Tech., Ph.D., CBI-Scholar, D.Engg. (Calif.), FNAE, Hon.D.WRE (USA)
Chairman Emeritus, Great Lakes, Gurgaon, NCR, New Delhi, INDIA
Former Director General (NPTI & CPRI) Govt. of India

No job is small or big, the way in which you do, makes it small or big (c)