Godrej Interio Reveals Its Sustainability Goals Ahead Of World Environment Day

* As part of Godrej & Boyce’s EP100 commitment, Godrej Interio will also be doubling energy productivity and aim to reduce carbon intensity by 60% by 2030 

* Plans to invest 60 million Rs. in renewable energy projects in next 3 years and targets 45% revenue share from Good & Green products y-o-y till 2031 

Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group, announced that its business Godrej Interio, India’s leading furniture brand in-home and institutional segments revealed its sustainability goals in areas of energy efficiency, water conservation, carbon neutrality, increasing renewable energy share. In alignment with Godrej & Boyce’s EP100 commitment, Godrej Interio has also committed to doubling its energy productivity by 2030.

As part of its sustainability goals, Godrej Interio aims to have a third of its portfolio revenues comprising good and green products and services. In FY2020-21, 22 products were added to the Good & Green products offerings thus taking the cumulative count to 120. They plan to increase number of Good & Green products from 120 to 130 in FY 21-22. While Godrej Interio has already achieved 45% revenue share from Good & Green products in F.Y. 2020-21, it aims to continue to target 45% revenue share from Good & Green for the foreseeable future.

Commenting on the sustainability goals, Mr. Anil Sain Mathur, COO, Godrej Interio, “At Godrej Interio, our sustainability strategy is aligned with Godrej & Boyce’s ‘Good & Green’ initiative which underscores our deep and abiding belief that innovation and sustainability must go hand-in-hand. Combining the two will promote our journey to ensuring employability, energy efficiency, promotion of a circular economy and greater community development. We are proud to be part of a company that commits to global causes such as EP100 initiative and that as Godrej Interio, we can help further this commitment thus helping lead the way on smarter energy usage.”

As a part of its sustainable manufacturing initiatives, Godrej Interio has adopted various technologies across all the manufacturing locations to reduce energy consumption. These technologies include use of VFDs on pumps and blowers, use of waste recovery technologies such as heat pipes, use of heat pumps, installation of energy efficient machines and energy efficient lighting, etc.  As of FY2020-21, Godrej Interio has reduced its energy consumption by 49.5% and water consumption by 43% based on its Good & Green Vision baseline of FY2010-11. It also achieved renewable energy share of 23% in FY20-21.

The company plans to invest Rs 60 million in next 3 years in renewable energy projects.

Similarly, the recycling of water at Godrej Interio’s plants is being done through Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) or Effluent treatment plants (ETP). The water recycled through ETP is made process ready for re-use in the manufacturing processes through advanced technologies such as reverse osmosis at Khalapur, Chennai and Bhagwanpur. In FY2020-21, around 40,440 Kiloliters of water was recycled and reused which is 31% of the total freshwater usage across Interio’s manufacturing plants. They plan on increasing this percentage to more substantial levels in the years to come.

About Godrej Interio:

Godrej Interio (GI) is India’s premium furniture brand in both home and institutional segments with a strong commitment to sustainability and centers of excellence in design, manufacturing, and retail.

Led by the largest in-house design team in the country in the furniture category and awarded with 37 India Design Mark Awards till date, GI aims to transform spaces with its thoughtfully designed furniture to create brighter homes and offices with products that have the highest design quotient in aesthetics, functionality and technology. With consistent pursuit of excellence and a special focus on health and ergonomics, GI’s product portfolio comprises a massive range.

Today, we design and manufacture furniture for office spaces, homes, educational institutes, healthcare facilities, laboratories and more. Along with furniture we offer Audio Visual and 360 Degree Turnkey solutions. Each of our product range revolves around comfort and aesthetics while delivering well-designed, fun and functional furniture solutions. Briefly, Godrej Interio transforms dream spaces to life!

Godrej Interio has 7 manufacturing facilities situated at Mumbai, Khalapur, Haridwar, Shirwal, and Bhagwanpur. GI’s Shirwal Plant is Green Co Platinum Certified, and Mumbai Plants are Green Co Gold Certified. GI is widely known for its comprehensive sustainability certifications for its products in furniture category.

GI commitment to the environment has resulted in manufacturing products with lesser environment footprint. Our pioneering efforts include designing less environment burdening products, usage of eco-friendly materials and setting up less polluting and consuming processes, ensuring eco-friendly packaging and transportation and finally the extended responsibility of recycling/reuse of used furniture and scrap, thus ensuring a lifecycle approach to green. GI has the widest range of green choices for our customers which not only includes products but also services such as green interiors and recycling.

Currently present in over 650 cities with 250 exclusive showrooms and 800 dealers, GI is one of the largest divisions of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., part of the Godrej Group, one of India's largest engineering and customer product groups.

The brand boasts of noteworthy awards received so far- CII Exim Bank Award for Business Excellence 2016, Superbrands 2017-18, Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Brand 2018 Gold (Home Furniture and Modular Kitchen), TRA’s India’s Most Consumer focused brand 2019, GreenCo Star Performer Award 2019, National Energy Leader Award at CII National Award for Excellence in Energy Management 2018.

Happiest Minds Technologies Starts COVID-19 Vaccination Drive For Its Team And Family Members

Happiest Minds Technologies Limited (NSE: HAPPSTMNDS), a ‘Born Digital. Born Agile’, a digital transformation and IT solutions company today announced that it has launched a vaccination drive for Happiest Minds and their immediate family members.

To start with, the vaccination drive will cover the company’s facilities based out of Bengaluru and will later be expanded to cover other locations. Happiest Minds has tied up with Fortis Hospitals for the vaccination drives in Bengaluru and has started the vaccination drive on 2nd June, 2021. 

Ram Mohan C, President & CEO, Infrastructure Management & Security Services, Happiest Minds Technologies, said, “The entire country is facing unprecedented challenges on account of this pandemic. Vaccination is an important measure that can help us tide over the ongoing crisis, also ensuring the safety and well-being of the company’s core assets i.e. our people. We are ensuring that our team and their families are vaccinated at the earliest.”

The latest initiative follows the company’s contribution to COVID 19 relief measures done last year.  Key initiatives toward COVID relief include:

•             Happiest Minds developed VSafe - Vaccination Tracking System application to track the vaccination status of all Happiest Minds and their families

•             Mithra - the Good Samaritan Program consists of a team of volunteers who are committed to counsel Happiest Minds and be available to listen to them, in safety, acceptance and confidentiality

•             Internal First Responders (IFR) Team: The IFR team member assists in guiding the Happiest Mind to the various resources that are available, such as, leave, loan, advance, hospitalization, oxygen, medication, etc.

•             Wellness Programs facilitated by the HappiZest team

•             Medical Tele-consultation for Happiest Minds and their families

•             Procuring Oxygen Concentrators for the use of Happiest Minds and family on a need basis

About Happiest Minds Technologies:

Happiest Minds’ Technologies Limited (NSE: HAPPSTMNDS), a Mindful IT Company, enables digital transformation for enterprises and technology providers by delivering seamless customer experiences, business efficiency and actionable insights. We do this by leveraging a spectrum of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud, digital process automation, internet of things, robotics/drones, security, virtual/augmented reality, and more. Positioned as ‘Born Digital. Born Agile’, our capabilities span digital solutions, infrastructure, product engineering and security. We deliver these services across industry sectors such as automotive, BFSI, consumer packaged goods, e-commerce, edutech, engineering R&D, hi-tech, manufacturing, retail, and travel/transportation/hospitality.

A Great Place to Work-Certified™ company, Happiest Minds is headquartered in Bangalore, India, with operations in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, and the Middle East.

Blue Dart’s Digital Initiatives Go Green This "World Environment Day"

* Introduces paperless transactions in line with the Group’s New Sustainability Roadmap 

Blue Dart, South Asia's premier express air and integrated transportation & distribution company, part of the Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL), announces paperless transactions on their new Digital Portal for all its Vendor Partners this “World Environment Day” on 5th June 2021. The online launch event of this paperless technology is a registered event with UNEP for the celebrations of World Environment Day. Under the Group’s New Sustainability Roadmap, Blue Dart has made significant investments in developing future-ready technology that can protect the environment and at the same time deliver excellence in a sustainable way. 

The United Nations has proclaimed 2021- 2030 as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. With collaborative efforts, efficient risk mitigation strategies and sustainable use of resources; ecosystem restoration is expected to create tremendous business opportunities in line with the environmental, social and governance (ESG) parameters. Blue Dart has committed this decade to its efforts towards ecosystem restoration.  

Blue Dart recognises the importance to fight climate change and is integrating robust ESG mechanisms into this decade of ecosystem restoration. Blue Dart has executed over 50% of its customer invoices online and is working towards achieving a 100% transition. Manufacturing paper is energy-intensive; one A4 sheet requires approximately 50 watt-hours. Going paperless will help conserve energy, reduce CO2 emissions, avoid deforestation, protect the natural habitat and strengthen forest-based livelihood opportunities for the surrounding communities. Through this initiative, Blue Dart will not only protect the environment but also commits to planting a significant number of trees every year. Currently, Blue Dart plants 111,000 trees every year, in order to offset 22,20,000 kg carbon per year on maturity.  

Balfour Manuel, Managing Director, Blue Dart said, “We are a purpose-driven organisation and have always kept sustainability and living responsibility at the centre of all our operations. This initiative is our endeavour to inculcate sustainable business practices and at the same time raise the bar on innovation. Blue Dart is a market leader and we believe that if we navigate through our sustainability roadmap, we will be able to contribute to reducing India’s and in the larger scheme of things, the World’s climate change issue – one step at a time. It is up to the world’s large organizations and the conglomerates to change the future landscape of Global Warming and Blue Dart is proud to be taking several steps forward to aid this cause.” 

Aneel Gambhir, CFO, Blue Dart said, “In the journey of being an ESG compliant organisation, we have identified sustainable ways to carry out business operations. We are committed to giving back to the community in which we operate and at the same time, we are doing all that it takes to restore and protect our environment. The pandemic era combined with climate change emphasises the urgent need for organisations to invest in the ecosystem, before it’s too late.” 

As part of DPDHL, Blue Dart’s New Sustainability Roadmap calls for Clean Operations for Climate Protection, a Great Company to Work for all as well as building a Highly Trusted Company. The Express Logistics Provider has launched many initiatives to ensure it is doing its bit to aid the world in its battle against climate change and global warming. The company aims to make all their owned or leased facilities operate at Net Zero Carbon by 2025, drive increased efficiency and use cleaner fuels within their fleet of 6 Boeing 757 freighters, support customers with sustainable and optimized packaging solutions and design greener products and services through their comprehensive solutions.  

Under its credo of Connecting People, Improving Lives, Blue Dart undertakes ‘Go Programs’ that focuses mainly on three aspects namely GoTeach (Championing education), GoGreen (Protecting the environment) and GoHelp (Disaster management response), all three of which have been successfully impacting communities and the environment. These initiatives are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, a universal call to action by the UN to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. 

Blue Dart aims to achieve Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050 under the DPDHL Goal ‘Mission 2050’, wherein, the brand’s goal is to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius. The brand aims to drive its business towards zero emission logistics as well as set the standard for the future of the express logistics sector and do its part to help the world. Under the Mission 2050 initiative, over four years, Blue Dart has contributed to over 10% of the DPDHL Group’s global target of planting 1 million trees each year. In addition to this, in December 2011, Blue Dart announced India’s first end-to-end GoGreen Carbon Neutral Service across international and domestic markets. This service has been subscribed by over 2,871 environmentally responsible customers till 2020. 

About Blue Dart: 

Blue Dart Express Ltd., South Asia's premier express air and integrated transportation & distribution company, offers secure and reliable delivery of consignments to over 35,000 locations in India. As part of Deutsche Post DHL Group’s DHL eCommerce Solutions division, Blue Dart accesses the largest and most comprehensive express and logistics network worldwide, covering over 220 countries & territories, and offers an entire spectrum of distribution services including air express, freight forwarding, supply chain solutions, customs clearance etc. 

The Blue Dart team drives market leadership through its motivated people, dedicated air and ground capacity, cutting-edge technology, wide range of innovative, vertical specific products and value-added services to deliver unmatched standards of service quality to its customers. Blue Dart's market leadership is further validated by its position as the nation’s most innovative and awarded express logistics company for exhibiting reliability, superior brand experience and sustainability which include recognition as one of ‘India's Best Companies to Work For’ by The Great Place to Work® Institute, India, ranked amongst ‘Best Multinational Workplaces in Asia’ by The Great Place to Work® Institute, Asia,  voted a ‘Superbrand’ and ‘Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Brand’, listed as one of Fortune 500’s ‘India's Largest Corporations’ and Forbes ‘India's Super 50 Companies’ to name a few.  

Under the DHL group motto of “Connecting People, Improving Lives”, we focus our corporate responsibility under three pillars - GoTeach (Championing education), GoGreen (Protecting the environment) and GoHelp (Structures engagement with communities & Disaster management response). 

now.gg launches Mobile Cloud; Brings Gaming To The Next Billion

* Powered by nowCloud OS, now.gg PaaS is already adopted by several leading mobile game developers worldwide

now.gg, the mobile cloud company, today launched a mobile cloud platform for game developers. Mobile cloud Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) from now.gg drastically changes the reach, potential and business model for game developers by solving for accessibility, shareability and monetization. Already adopted by leading game developers like Perfect World, PerBlue and Lilith Games, now.gg’s mobile cloud aims to revolutionize the way mobile game developers reach new users around the world.

For the first time ever, game developers can deliver the same graphics and high performance interactive play regardless of device, OS or regional constraints through the now.gg mobile cloud. Their gaming communities can play games on any mobile device or OS, share games instantly on social channels they already use and make in-game purchases through payment channels they already have.

Today, almost 40 percent of mobile phones cannot keep up with power gaming and 60 percent of the smartphones in the global market are low- or mid-range and cannot handle compute, storage and performance intensive games. By removing the friction previously associated with mobile gaming, it is now possible to bring the next billion users to gaming.

In addition to bringing the next wave of gamers to mobile, now.gg makes games instantly shareable through the click of a link. Instead of waiting for cumbersome downloads and installs, gamers can immediately share, click and access games. Users simply click the link to instantly play the game and make in-app purchases -- no download or install needed until they are ready to commit. They can even play on third-party apps like Discord and Snapchat without leaving the platform. With 1.3 million new users joining social media every day, game developers can reach the next billion mobile gamers as they receive and share their favorite games through their social channels.

Game developers can monetize their new users with the mobile cloud without relying on credit cards. 45 percent of all online purchases are made via digital wallets and this amount is expected to rise to 51 percent by 2024. now.gg gives gamers the freedom to pay through digital payment channels they already have on the cloud, like digital wallets, cryptocurrency or game top-ups. This will enable gamer developers to attract many more new users and to also increase their margins.

Through the cloud deployment of Arm®-based server processors now.gg delivers an exciting new gameplay experience to users and developers that was not possible until now. By serving Arm-native Android or IOS games from AWS Graviton2-powered instances, publishers avoid architecture incompatibility issues, resulting in a seamless end-to-end developer experience. Such instances deliver 40 percent better performance per dollar compared to comparable current generation x86 instances, which can both reduce developer hosting costs and allow them to serve more customers per instance.

“now.gg empowers mobile game developers to acquire an entire spectrum of new users that would otherwise have been constrained by device and app store specs,” said Rosen Sharma, now.gg CEO. “The mobile cloud democratizes access to mobile gaming by removing all friction and device requirements from experiencing a new game. This unleashes an unprecedented new era of possibilities for game developers to acquire the next billion mobile gamers. The next generation of mobile gaming is here.”

now.gg is powered by its proprietary distributed Android stack on Arm-based servers, called nowCloud OS. nowCloud OS allows game developers to easily enable their existing Android apps for the cloud and build cloud native in the future. This lets now.gg adapt to the characteristics of the endpoint, bandwidth, and latency constraints and optimize the cost performance of the cloud. Game developers across the world simply need to host their game on the now.gg cloud and publish the link on their websites to bring global access to their games.

“now.gg has built a platform that leverages the global scale of AWS to provide a valuable business model to game developers worldwide. We see this as one of the most exciting use cases of our ARM servers on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2),” said Johan Broman, EMEA Gaming Solutions, AWS. “By leveraging the mobile cloud from now.gg, and AWS Graviton2 instances, game developers can run mobile games natively, encode the rendered graphics and stream the games directly to a mobile device. This allows game developers to provide a consistent gaming experience for all mobile devices and a much more enjoyable and seamless process for the gamers.”

“Data centers running servers powered by Arm-based processors are helping to eliminate compatibility issues for mobile cloud developers, ensuring smartphone applications are readily available in the cloud,” said Eddie Ramirez, senior director of Marketing, Infrastructure Line of Business, Arm. “Through our collaboration with now.gg, we are solving for this new era of cloud-hosted gaming to enable a rich game play experience, while driving more efficient revenue streams for developers and cloud providers.”

“One of the biggest challenges game developers face is appealing to their existing community, expanding their reach, and providing an excellent experience. now.gg revolutionizes gaming by uniquely solving for user acquisition, game shareability and monetization. Regardless of device or location, gamers can now instantly access any game with a frictionless gaming experience, which is an entirely new and exciting concept. In our pilot with the technology, we saw a significant uptick in both acquisition and retention,” said Bai Xue, producer at Perfect World, a leading game developer known for popular games like Perfect World Mobile.

now.gg mobile cloud is available for use immediately. 

About now.gg:

now.gg is the mobile cloud company changing the gaming experience for game developers and consumers. With the first global mobile platform-as-a-service for game developers, now.gg enables gaming communities to play games on any device or OS, share games instantly on their social channels and pay in-game through payment channels they already have. No longer constrained by geography, device or attribution, now.gg opens the world of consumers to game developers and unlocks entirely new revenue streams. 

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, now.gg shares a parent company with game.tv, the world's No. 1 mobile esports platform, and BlueStacks, the largest Android gaming platform on PC. Leading game developers use now.gg to delight the world with their games. 

Swaraj Tractors Launches ‘Mera Swaraj Education Support Program’

* Supporting students with financial assistance & opportunities to work on live agri-mechanization projects

* Nurturing young engineering talent for industry

Swaraj Tractors, a part of the USD 19.4 billion Mahindra Group, has launched the ‘Mera Swaraj Education Support Program’, an early career development initiative for engineering students across the country that aims to create a future pool of competent engineers. The program is designed to expose first-year engineering students to critical and holistic industry experiences necessary for long-term career development. Students from top engineering colleges offering Agri-engineering will be targeted for this program.

For its first year, Swaraj Tractors has selected thirty-seven students for internships from eight engineering colleges across the country. The students will be subsumed into Swaraj’s final placement process. As a part of their internships, they will also work on live farm- mechanization projects mentored by industry experts.

Harish Chavan, Chief Executive Officer, Swaraj Tractors said, “At Swaraj we aim to nurture and create a competent pool of engineers for the future by engaging students early on in their careers and giving them the opportunity to appreciate varied mechanisation possibilities for new age agriculture. Through the ‘Mera Swaraj Education Support Program’ we not only hope to support deserving students pursuing engineering education but acquaint them with modern tools and technologies through practical exposures in industry.”

Through the ‘Mera Swaraj Education Support Program’, students will receive financial support for four years, subject to consistent academic performance.

This year, students selected for the program primarily have farming backgrounds, in line with Swaraj’s USP of ‘Made by the farmer, and for the Farmer’.

About Swaraj

Swaraj Tractors a division of the USD 19.4 billion Mahindra Group and is India’s second largest and fastest growing tractor brand. Established in 1974, Swaraj has sold over 1.5 million tractors since inception. Based in Punjab, the grain bowl of India, Swaraj is a brand that is made by the farmer, for the farmer as many of its employees are also farmers. They bring real world performance and create an authentic, powerful product with assured performance and enduring quality, designed with one purpose – enabling the Indian farmer to Rise. Swaraj Tractors, consistently ranked among top players in Customer Satisfaction in India, manufactures tractors in the range of 15HP to 65HP and also provides complete farming solutions.  

Tydy Launches “The State Of Digital Onboarding” Report Of 2021

Tydy, an Onboarding Experience Company, has launched The State of Digital Onboarding report- capturing data and trends in global onboarding in the times of the pandemic. The report looks at data from February 2020 to March 2021 giving insights into the trend curve on digital onboarding through the pandemic and beyond. The report highlights onboarding numbers during a year when Work from Home and job losses were reported to be the highest over time and throws light on the ways global businesses automated their people processes. 

The State of Digital Onboarding 2020-21 report is based on data from employers across FMCG, IT & Digital Transformation, Pharma, Manufacturing, Financial Services and Telecom. The digital onboarding trend was seen across a data set of 100,000+ employees who were onboarded from March 2020 to April 2021.

Launching the report, Kiran Menon, Co-Founder, Tydy, said, “Global economic activity, cross-border investments and onboarding numbers were booming until April 2020 and WHO called it a pandemic. The first two quarters were spent in adapting to the new normal and it wasn’t until Q3 2020, that we witnessed a bounce back, when hope reigned supreme for businesses. Digital Onboarding enabled and empowered companies to continue to onboard their new hires in the safest way possible. With zero paperwork, low-code functionalities, automated workflows and intelligent insights - HR and IT teams have been able to onboard anyone, anywhere. Since Q1 2021, Digital Onboarding has seen a 2X growth globally.”

The report brings to light the following insights:

* With the start of pandemic, with hiring freezes, cost cutting and businesses going belly up, there was 25% month-on-month decline in March 2020 with a further 50% decline by May 2020.

* Q3 2020 was the beginning of the plan of revival, witnessing a strong bounce back with August witnessing 65% month-on-month uptick.

* Companies started seriously looking forward to 2021 and thinking about investments that needed to put in to grow their business.

* In Q4, the numbers stabilized. Holiday season brought down hiring but while the curve flattened, it was an optimistic time.

* The optimism reflected in Q1 2021, with Digital onboarding witnessing a 200% growth from January to February 2021

* The upward trend continues through April 2021, despite the second wave. 

Bayer Consumer Health Partners With FICCI To Promote Responsible Self-Care In India

* At the ‘Self-care for a Self-reliant India’ conference, co-convened with FICCI, Bayer Consumer Health Division launched India’s first Self-Care Council and also plans to launch a national self care knowledge service

* Responsible self-care scales access to everyday health solutions for minor ailments, reducing the pressure on healthcare practitioners while bolstering productivity

Bayer Partners With FICCI To Promote Responsible Self Care In India

Bayer Consumer Health Division, along with The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), today convened the ‘Self-care for a Self-reliant India’ conference. The event was graced by key industry representatives and consumer health experts, fostering a discussion on everyday consumer health solutions and the important role they will continue to play in the current pandemic and beyond.

In India, adults have a tendency to overlook minor illnesses, thus failing to prioritize everyday healthcare. This can take a toll on overall health, wellbeing and productivity. An average Indian’s peak productive period lasts only seven years as per a Lancet study, with India ranked 158 among 195 countries in ‘expected human capital’ or the number of years an individual can work at peak productivity is between the ages of 20 and 64.[1] Further, India also ranked below all other countries in the South Asian region in functional health status, which assesses prevalence of impairments and diseases that affect learning and productivity. The advent of responsible self-care can help address these gaps, promoting proactive health-seeking behaviours which can contribute to an optimized quality of life and the maintenance of a healthy workforce. Moreover, given that India may have the world’s largest workforce by 2027,[2] consumer health can play a significant role in bolstering productivity by reducing lost labour time and lowering hospitalization costs.[3],[4]

Self-care solutions, which offer multifold benefits for individuals and the economy, also ease the pressure on healthcare practitioners. There is only one doctor for every 1,511 people in India, against the World Health Organization’s stipulated 1:1000 doctor-patient ratio[5]. Consumer health offerings can reduce the need for clinic visits, thus sustaining proactive everyday healthcare and reaching underserved consumers across the nation. This can enable communities to bounce back beyond the pandemic with enhanced health and productivity.

Addressing the need for a paradigm shift in consumer health in India, Bayer Consumer Health Division has launched India’s first Self-Care Council with the aim to navigate and address pressing topics and misconceptions about health and sustainability. This council, a multi-stakeholder body, will comprise members across a broad spectrum of sectors, including media, industry associations, technology, infrastructure, and other organizations. Through this council, Bayer Consumer Health also plans to launch a national self-care knowledge service,  a first of its kind digitally-enabled solution backed by scientific expertise to empower consumers with uninterrupted access to reliable and credible information on self-care. This service can prompt proactive health management for improved quality of life and increased productivity.

The ‘Self-care for a Self-reliant India’ conference, through panel discussions with eminent speakers including Mr. Sandeep Verma, Country Head, Bayer Consumer Health Division, India, Ms. Manjari Gharat, Academician & President, Indian Pharmaceutical Association, Dr. Avula Laxman, Senior Deputy Director, Indian Council of Medical Research and Dr. VG Somani, Drugs Controller General of India, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation examined the current landscape of self-care in India and the need to accelerate the adoption of responsible self-care practices in the country. Over a fireside chat, Mr. N.K. Ahuja, Drugs Controller, Haryana and Mr. Arun Mishra, FICCI OTC Task Force elaborated on the direction in which regulatory change and a well-developed framework is needed for a comprehensive OTC policy to build a sustainable consumer health sector, setting the foundation for Aatmanirbharta in self-care.

Addressing the conference, Dr VG Somani, Drug Controller General (India), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India said that while there are predictions of a third wave hitting the country, there have been continuous efforts to find newer solutions. “Although the third wave might be milder in nature, it will, probably, effect various age groups. We need to be prepared to deal with this. As India combats the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to accelerate the momentum for adoption of consumer health solutions, to ensure the national health system is supported at this time. By raising health awareness and putting in place well-defined regulations, consumers can be empowered to take proactive measures to manage minor ailments while also undertaking preventive action to boost immunity, thus reducing the need for healthcare practitioner interventions,” he said.

Sandeep Verma, Country Head, Bayer Consumer Health Division – India commented, “The current times have highlighted the need for self-care, which can enhance productivity and one’s quality of life, driving India’s goal towards Atmanirbharta and becoming a $5 trillion economy in the next few years. At this crucial juncture, easing the burden on India’s healthcare infrastructure is imperative, while simultaneously equipping and empowering more than one billion Indians to make informed choices and pursue better health and nutrition. Bayer Consumer Health is committed to working collaboratively with stakeholders through the country’s first Self-Care Council to enable responsible self-care in India, driving forward our vision of ‘Health for All, Hunger for None’. Through this endeavour, we hope to expand access to safe, convenient and effective daily health solutions.”

Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) said, “The advent of self-care in India reflects the emergence of new and sustainable care paradigms that will transform the nation’s healthcare system. We aim to encourage responsible health decisions amongst consumers and the need for accessible consumer health in the country. During these unprecedented times, self-care solutions are needed more than ever, towards positive change and better health outcomes for all.” 

Bayer Consumer Health’s Global Chief Marketing and Digital Officer, Patricia Corsi, who also leads the first Global Creative Council for self-care, highlighted the importance of collaboration. “Globally, the goal of our creative council is to elevate the work done across Consumer Health in order to support and educate consumers, thus promoting optimal health outcomes. We, at Bayer Consumer Health, are excited to extend this mode of collaboration to India with the country’s first-ever Self-Care Council, through which we hope to develop and exchange global insights and best practices to facilitate everyday health and access to care in the nation.”

Bayer’s Consumer Health division in India, encompasses a strong portfolio of 10 trusted and legacy brands across analgesics, nutrition, allergy, and dermatology categories. As a part of its Global Sustainability Goals, Bayer’s  Consumer Health Division aims to expand access to everyday health for 100 million people in underserved communities around the world. The division leverages digital opportunities across the entire value chain to scale access to healthcare and personalized self-care solutions, raise awareness and provide reliable health information.

About Bayer

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to help people and planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to drive sustainable development and generate a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability, and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2020, the Group employed around 100,000 people and had sales of 41.4 billion euros. R&D expenses before special items amounted to 4.9 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.

About FICCI

Established in 1927, FICCI is the largest and oldest apex business organisation in India. A non-government, not-for-profit organisation, FICCI is the voice of India's business and industry. From influencing policy to encouraging debate, engaging with policy makers and civil society, FICCI articulates the views and concerns of industry. It serves its members from the Indian private and public corporate sectors and multinational companies, drawing its strength from diverse regional chambers of commerce and industry across states, reaching out to over 2,50,000 companies.

[1] 15th Finance Commission Report

[1] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31941-X/fulltext

[2] Bloomberg News analsysi of United Nations (2019) Population-Projection data: https://population.un.org/wpp/

[3] The Economics of Self Care in Mexico. (Rep.). (2017). Asociación de Fabricantes de Medicantes de Libre Acceso.

[4] Association Européenne des Spécialités Pharmaceutiques Grand Publi, A. (2004). The Economic And Public Health Value Of Self-Medication (Rep.). Brussels, Belgium: Association of the European Self-Medication Industry.

[5] 15th Finance Commission Report