The award recognises its best-in-class energy management efforts in its Salt Lake plant in Kolkata, West Bengal. Schneider Electric’s Salt Lake Works (SLW) has made a remarkable achievement of reducing its Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) by 44 per cent in the last three years, which is equivalent to 4,900 tonnes of avoided CO2 emissions over the three years. It has invested over Rs 29 lakh in the last two years on energy efficiency measures with a payback of less than two years.

The award was presented by Hon'ble Justice Mr Kurian Joseph, Judge, Supreme Court of India, and Lt Gen J S Ahluwalia, PVSM (Retd), President, Institute of Directors, India during the 19th World Congress on Environment Management in Hyderabad. Venkat Garimella, VP – Energy Efficiency & CSR, Schneider Electric India, Mr Amal Bhattacherjee, General Manager – EHS, and Mr Sudip Mondal, Assistant Manager – SLW received the award on behalf of Schneider Electric.

Receiving the award, Venkat Garimella, VP Energy Efficiency and CSR, Schneider Electric India stated, “We are delighted to receive this honour, which shows that energy efficiency is central to Schneider Electric’s business in India. I congratulate the SLW/ETO, Schneider Energy Action and EE teams for helping us successfully position Schneider Electric as a leader in energy management and demonstrating our belief of embedding energy efficiency in our DNA. The award further strengthens our commitment towards creating the New World of Energy that is more sustainable, connected, efficient and reliable.”

The Golden Peacock Awards, established in 1991 by the Institute of Directors (IOD), India, are regarded as a benchmark of corporate excellence worldwide in various award categories such as training, CSR and sustainability. Every year, the Secretariat receives over 400 responses, for annual Golden Peacock Awards. During the review process, an assessment group comprising of Environment, Health & Safety, Energy and Climate Change experts is set up. Each of the applications gets scrutinised by assessors independently, and discussed by the committee for normalization of assessments/reviews. The jury also comprises eminent organisations from across industries.

Based on the energy performance improvement at the plant over the last three years, the Energy Efficiency (EE) team of Schneider Electric India chose SLW, which is one of Schneider Electric’s 10 most energy intensive facilities in India, for the award application.