Businesses should be profitable from point of view of financial returns as well as impact on society: Jamshyd Godrej, Godrej & Boyce

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman & MD, Godrej & Boyce, says: “Our vision is to grow 10-12% a year. That is our long term average growth. That has been that way and will stay that way, we hope. We see that all businesses should be profitable from the point of view of not just financial returns, but also from their impact on society. And I think that as we go along, we have to keep on being innovative. You cannot have a thriving company without having innovative products and innovative people. That is at the core of it. But at the same time, you have to be sustainable also. So this confluence of innovation and sustainability is really what is crucial.”

First off, you are most passionate on the topic of the environment. There are certain initiatives that Godrej & Boyce has started. I would like you to talk to us a little bit about your environmental initiatives. You said that ESG as a word is clubbed together and misused in a lot of ways. A little bit on that front as well.
Environmental issues have been very close to the family for generations now.

Our father, grandfather, all of them, were very keen on creating a green garden city. The whole idea was that in the chaos of Bombay can you have some area of calm? And in some sense, it also creates a better environment for working. Why do people take holidays, go off to a forest reserve or see tigers, etc? The whole experience is one of calming and being with one with nature.

And we are very lucky that we have the privilege of preserving a mangrove forest here. I think it has allowed us the freedom to look at this not just from the environmental point of view, but also from what it is that our business responsibility requires us to do.

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