The first solar-powered airplane to fly around the world, powered only by the sun's rays has been hosted in India by the Aditya Birla Group.

1. ADITYA BIRLA GROUP: SOLAR IMPULSE - 2
Ahmedabad, March 11, 2015
The first solar-powered airplane to fly around the world, powered only by the
sun's rays has been hosted in India by the Aditya Birla Group.
Commenting on SI-2’s landing in Ahmedabad on the 10th
of March, Mr. Kumar
Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, detailing the rationale said
- “The Aditya Birla Group is delighted to be the India host to Solar Impulse 2 on
its groundbreaking flight around the world. Our Group’s sustainability strategy
is to integrate sustainability issues into our business strategies for the future. To
do this, we endeavour to link with leading thinkers and practitioners who stoke
out-of-the-box approaches to ensure that businesses get geared to meet the
demands of the future. Solar Impulse fits in with our strategy. Creativity,
innovation and drive are the defining features for success. Solar Impulse
epitomizes these characteristics, and most importantly drives the message of
synergizing growth with responsibility. This is our common philosophy which will
guide us as we aspire to be the leading Indian conglomerate in sustainable
business practices across our global operations”.
The Aditya Birla Group is already into Solar Power. The Group’s Solar business,
which commenced operations in 2011, represents the first step in renewable
energy, a pivot towards a green world. Up until now, the Solar business has
completed 7 projects totalling 80 MW in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Telengana, way
ahead of schedule. These are ranked among the top performing plants in the
country. On the anvil are the Group’s plans to take the capacities to a far higher
level as a measure of its commitment to alternate energy sources.
Speaking at the media conference on the 11th
of March at Ahmedabad, Mr. Rajiv
Dube, Director, Group Corporate Services, highlighted the principle of
sustainability as embedded in the Group’s businesses – “At Novelis, the largest
drink can stock supplier in the world, we have set an ambitious target to use 80%
recycled aluminium for our raw material input by 2020. This has the significant
advantage of reducing the CO2 footprint by 95% compared to using prime metal.
We are already seeing the benefit of reaching 50% recycled content and have
been awarded a major contract to supply body panels for the new Ford F150 all
aluminium body pickup truck”.

2. Likewise, at its Pulp and Fibre business, which is the world’s largest producer of
Viscose Staple Fibre for clothing, certifying its forests to the Sustainable Forestry
Initiative and Forest Stewardship Council standards, have been accomplished.
By doing so, Aditya Birla Group ensures not only that the fibre will be available
indefinitely due to the cropping rotation but that they also manage to maintain
the forests as a substantial carbon sink.
At UltraTech, India’s largest cement producer is benchmarked as one of the
most energy efficient plants in the world. UltraTech is improving further by
locating and introducing larger percentages of slag and fly ash and by developing
consistent supply sources for alternative kiln fuels such as biomass, used tires
and municipal waste.
In all of the Aditya Birla Group’s operations sustainability is on top of the agenda,
concluded Mr. Dube.
About Aditya Birla Group
The Aditya Birla Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate operating in 36
countries with over 120,000 employees worldwide. A US$ 40 billion corporation,
The Aditya Birla Group is in the league of Fortune 500. Over 50% of its revenues
come from its global operations. The Group enjoys a leadership position in the
sectors in which it operates, such as metals, carbon black, cement, viscose staple
fibers, chemicals, insulators, telecom, branded apparels, fertilizers, financial
services and retail among others. It is the largest Indian multinational with
manufacturing operations in the USA. Beyond business, the Aditya Birla Group
reaches out to 7 million people in 3,000 villages largely in India, South East Asia,
Brazil and Egypt through its community outreach. www.adityabirla.com