Water is a critical resource for our business operations and, therefore, a material topic.
Water stewardship is an essential element of our sustainability efforts at Asian Paints. As a
responsible paint manufacturer, we bring together water conservation, quality management,
and community engagement to safeguard this resource. We have developed a comprehensive
water management strategy that includes risk assessment, water conservation, and
replenishment both within and outside our factories.
Our sites in India are assessed on water stress risk in line with guidance from the Central
Ground Water Board (CGWB) groundwater block classification as recommended by SEBI under
BRSR disclosure. As of 31st March 2024, none of our manufacturing plants falls under the
water-stressed area as per assessment report released by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB)
in December 2022. Further, as part of the climate risk assessment, we evaluated RCP 4.5 and
RCP 8.5 scenarios for all our decorative paint manufacturing locations. The outcome of that
has been discussed in the climate adaptation section.
Across our operations, water withdrawal occurs through two primary sources: groundwater and third-party water. We have augmented rainwater harvesting capacity within the plant in the form of reservoirs which than being used in our processes. A part of the total water withdrawn is used in the product, while the remainder is directed towards domestic, utility, and gardening purposes. Our worldclass water treatment infrastructure, along with our dedication to water reuse and recycling within the premises, ensures Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD).
During the year, we consumed 1,125
megalitres water in our decorative paint
manufacturing units. At the standalone
level, we withdrew 1,334 megalitres of total
water including harvested and consumed
67 megalitres of rainwater. The water
withdrawal with Total Dissolved Solids
>=1,000 mg/L was 6.3 megalitres.
At Asian Paints, we have undertaken extensive efforts to drive
water conservation within our plants. Conservation efforts
within our factories comprise of use of contextualised indicators
to monitor efficiency, rainwater utilisation, maximising reuse
& recycling, and adoption of innovative technologies. These
efforts are ably supported by awareness campaigns and
trainings towards water conservation and efficiency.
Harvesting and utilising rainwater in our processes is an
important focus area along with efficiency improvement.
However, during the year, lower rainfall across different plant
locations resulted in the reduction of rainwater use in plants.
For over a decade now, we have been focussing on the
reduction of our non-process water consumption. Our efforts
have resulted in a reduction of specific non-process water by
54% from the baseline year of FY 2013-14.
The water consumption for the year includes increased
consumption on account of expansion projects in multiple
existing sites. Additionally, the lower rainfall during the year
resulted in increased consumption on account of cooling and
gardening requirements as compared to previous years.
