Ambuja Cement Case Study

Ambuja Cement is one of the leading suppliers of cement in India. The company operates out of Gujarat, a state constantly plagued by acute shortage of freshwater sources. Located near the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary in the Kodinar Region, the ecological balance of the area was of supreme importance as it was a crucial habitat for the fast dwindling Asiatic Lion population. Over withdrawal of freshwater and unregulated usage of land in this region caused a quick depletion of water table and the water salinity levels sky rocketed. The scope of the project was to address the impact of Limestone & Fresh water extraction in the region. The ecosystem involved is of prime importance because it lies between the Arabian Sea and the Gir Sanctuary which houses
Rehabilitation of 330 hectares of land and 275000 planted trees, tremendous increase in local employment opportunities; enhanced wildlife of the region through artificial water reservoirs; marine life support, flood protection & climate regulation through mangroves; and Salinity regression from the freshwater towards the sea over the years are a few important results worth mentioning. Also the strengthened relationships with the local community and local authorities have earned the company a guaranteed license for their future operations in the
As the first step, they decided the scope of the review. The exercise was focused on the farmers of four Indian Southern states namely Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as well as Maharashtra. The farmers constituted one of the company's customer segments and in order to conduct this activity, Syngenta assembled a team of managers from 3 departments- marketing, sustainability and research and sought the collaboration of WRI staff. In order to identify the priority sectors, the company conducted primary research in form of interviews with Indian agronomists and regional agricultural scientists from universities and NGOs, secondary research, and utilised data available from the corporates. As nationwide data was not available, the company used certain proxy indicators and relied on inputs from agricultural experts of India. From these it was found that, the following trends were evident in the priority sectors. It was found that this was a scare resource, and demand often overshoots the supply. This in turn led to the unavailability of quality and adequate quantity of water for agricultural purpose. Also, as a result of the increasing use of dams, tanks, and pumps, the natural flow of water was affected drastically. The experts cited the reason of lack of implementation of policies that were in place as well as rewards for the proper use of water for this critical problem. It