Net Zero's Next Phase Demands Supply Chain and Product Changes

Amit Kumar Sinha, managing director and CEO of Mahindra Lifespace Developers, said sustainability can lower the cost of capital. The gains, he said, are thin. Some companies secure the benefit, he said; the advantage runs to tens of basis points, not 100 bps. The bigger prize, he added, lies in overall lifetime economics with the customer and the trust built by being a responsible business.

Moving beyond existing decarbonization targets is the next step, the executives said. Sreedhar N., senior VP and CEO for APAC and India at Saint-Gobain, said India's sustainability practices lag Europe because the cost pressure is missing. "I have seen what sustainability means in Europe because it costs. In India, it is still not costing us," he said. The cost pressure, he said, is why the number of things people do in Europe is far more mature than what is seen in India. He pointed to building insulation as one model India could replicate. Insulation can cut electricity bills by up to 40% in India, compared with savings of about 70% in Europe, he said.

Sudhanshu Vats, managing director of Pidilite Industries, said companies should treat sustainability as a partnership, not a transaction. "If we start looking at it as a partnership, that changes the paradigm," he said. He also urged buyers to weigh total cost of ownership, where a higher initial cost gets compensated over the life of the asset.

Hardeep S. Brar, president and CEO of BMW Group India, said the transition spans product design and service networks. Electric vehicles had to outperform conventional internal combustion engine models on key parameters, he said. "The customer does not want to compromise on performance," Brar said. He also said the rise of EVs is changing after-sales economics. Maintenance requirements are declining, and companies are reassessing the need for large service networks, he said.