Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), India’s largest hospitality company reiterated its commitment to drive its sustainability and social impact measures under Paathya. Rolled out a year ago, the comprehensive ESG+ framework of Paathya aims to create sustained outcomes that drive value and fuel growth whilst strengthening environment and societies.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, IHCL said, “Paathya is IHCL’s endeavor to walk a collaborative path towards creating a shared value for all its stakeholders. Embedding ESG at the very heart of our operationswill help us tackle the biggest challenges of today and capture the best opportunities of tomorrow.”
He added, “Recognising that our success is not only measured by our financial performance, but also by the positive impact we have on our stakeholders and the world around us, we will continue to drive positive change and create value for allwith IHCL's dedicated employees across disciplines.”
IHCL’s environmental efforts include increased consumption of renewable energy, EarthCheckCertification for 77 IHCL hotels, installation of (EV) charging stations at 115 of its propertiesandpartnering with IFC's TechEmergeprogramforinnovative cooling technologies. In addition to introducing bottling plants across 20 hotels to replace all plastic water bottles with reusable glass bottles, it has switched to bio degradable wrapping of dry amenities in guest rooms.
Regarded as the custodian of Indian hospitality, IHCL continues to invest in building industry-relevant talent pools with an aim to develop and support deserving youth and their families. With partnership across 16 skill centres, IHCLoffers hospitality training courses across India including Guwahati in Assam to Jaipur in Rajasthan and Chamoli in Uttarakhand.
Transforming the landscape of travel, IHCL has collaborated with UNESCO to help safeguard and promote the intangible cultural heritage of India. From Patachitra - a traditional scroll painting technique in West Bengal, to Ganga Aarti-the prayer ceremony at DasashwamedhGhat at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh,travellers at IHCL hotelscan now experience the living heritage of the country.
IHCL's commitment to sustainability and social impact has not gone unnoticed. The company has received several accolades for its efforts, including Sustaining Employees and Communities through the pandemic and Contributing to the Cultural Heritage of Indiaat the International Convention of WTM Responsible Tourism, an international forum to drive responsible tourism globally.