The digital future is a sustainable future

Dear Stakeholders, All of us have emerged into the new world! A world that is more sustainable. A world where we are more conscious about being more caring and considerate to our People, Planet and Community.

Building a better tomorrow step by step has been our focus. We sharpened our focus on creating value for the business by continuing to build a company that is increasing agility, resilience, and becoming future ready. We believe technology is a key enabler of global growth and it is leveraging digital capabilities that help create sustainable solutions for customers, catalyse societal growth and climate action.

From conserving resources through our renewable energy capability and green tech interventions, to caring in countless ways for community, to driving greater diversity and inclusion in our ways of working, we are proud of how well we have intertwined sustainability into our business and how we are able to make a positive difference. For awareness and capacity building of our employees, we launched an e-module on “Sustainability & its business relevance” and had our employees collaborate, learn and participate in digital and physical awareness activities on sustainability during the Tata Sustainability Month.

A.S. Lakshminarayanan
Managing Director & CEO

Scalable impact Sustainable solutions Secure ecosystems

As a socially committed Company, we rely on technology and innovation as a driving force for social and sustainable development for the greater good of all. Our commitment and passion ensures a sustainable transformation for our clients and a positive impact on our ecosystem. For us, the digital transformation is an engine for new processes, innovations, and business models. We continue to seek new ways to harness the power of technology, partnerships, investments, and policy to drive impact at scale and pace to help the world protect ecosystems.

For us, digital transformation is an engine for new processes

Greening the ecosystem

We constantly drive for our products and solutions to be less energy and carbon intensive, and as safe and secure as possible. With the UNSDGs at the heart of our sustainable programme, we are focusing on reducing our carbon footprint and dedicating our reach and technology to help our customers transform their businesses while conserving resources and harnessing our digital enablement expertise, to drive community development. We achieved B score (management band) in CDP Response 2021.

We continue to provide and develop a variety of low-carbon products and services from our Network, IoT, MES, Cloud, and business collaboration streams to help our customers save energy and reduce their Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. This year we assessed the carbon reduction offered by products and services deployed in FY 2020-21 and mapped it with Tata Communications’ operational GHG Emissions (Scope 1 and 2) in FY 2020-21. The study confirms that with the low-carbon products and solutions the Company generates carbon savings of approximately six times the emissions produced by Tata Communications’ operations in FY 2020-21.

We saved our power consumption globally by approx. 6.2 million kWh in FY 2021-22 and are increasing our renewable energy footprint by extending our onsite solar installation (Bengaluru and Hyderabad) and off-site PPA agreements with renewable energy providers. Overall, we sourced approximately 23 million kWh (13%) of renewable energy globally and are working towards decarbonisation initiatives to transition towards Net Zero. We are working with our supply chain and value chain to help minimise our in-direct emissions. We reduced our fresh-water consumption by 9% by focusing on our 3Rs - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle strategy. As part of the water conservation programme, we used innovative technology and equipment for optimal water usage, rainwater harvesting and upgradation of Sewage Treatment Plants to name a few.

6.2 million kWh

power consumption saved globally

People and culture

Our people are driving a culture of transformation for our Company from within and for our customers. To focus on our leadership members, we developed a programme – Leading from the Inside Out (LIO) – a foundational leadership development programme created for Tata Communications’ next generation of business leaders. The objective of this programme is to support the efforts of the leaders to build and manage high performing teams, inspiring excellence, and by doing so, stewarding the organisation’s future towards new and exciting opportunities.

As we continue on our transformation journey, we have outlined the next shift – “Drive Ahead” behaviours – for our teams enabling further growth and better results towards customer centricity and proven outcomes. Further, in order to make the organisation a great place to work, we initiated some interesting projects for our employees such as TalentCentral to promote holistic career development including internal career mobility and training basis the career path aspiration, AI Webinars, etc., to name a few.

At Tata Communications, having a diverse, engaged and productive workforce is an essential part of achieving our business strategy, and we have put in place best-in-class people practices. We continue to be recognised as Kincentric’s best employer in India for the sixth year in a row, and certified as a great place to work, and best companies to work for across multiple countries where we operate. And, we have been recognised as the best companies for women in India, by Working Mother and Avtar Institute for the sixth consecutive year.

This year, we achieved zero fatality rate and an overall 9% decrease in the lost time injury rate (0.20 in FY 2021-22) and an increase in lead indicators. To make our facilities as safe as possible, we have developed an audit programme that combines external and internal audits. This regularly assesses and mitigates any risks to health and safety. This year, we conducted 817 internal audits against Mandatory Safety Standard, which is the Company internal H&S safety standard. All the audit findings were closed during the reporting year. As part of maintaining the ISO 45001 certification (16 facilities - 10 in India and 6 in international region), we also underwent the annual external surveillance H&S audit, which was also successfully cleared.

Improving lives

The benefits of the technology we provide to society far outweigh any potential negative impact. We connect the unconnected and support development of digital skills to close the digital divide and help access to opportunity. We provide the critical networks that can enable digital access to healthcare, education, employment, social services, businesses, and markets. This is the handprint our solutions leave on society.

During the year, we revised our CSR policy to integrate ‘environment and sustainability’ as a new area of our work. Under this, we will promote action on biodiversity, climate change, energy, and water. We have done this in recognition of the inter-connections between the ‘Community’ and the ‘Planet’ and the community’s existence within the planet.

To protect the planet and at the same time help the communities, we have distributed smart cookstoves in three regions in rural India. These are helping reduce smoke and consume less fuel wood. With these cookstoves, we are aiming to offset approximately 9,945 tonnes of CO2 every year, starting from 2023. For afforestation, we have started restoring green cover in a wasteland for 500 families in 61 villages by planting more than 125,000 fruit saplings assuring sustainable livelihoods to the people in these villages, developing a green ecosystem while offsetting carbon emissions and soil erosion. During the year, 680,409 people benefitted through various initiatives and the CSR spend stood at US $1.46 million (INR 11.30 crore). In FY 2021-22, 61.4% of the total CSR budget was spent on Affirmative Action projects.

680,409

People benefitted through various CSR initiatives

Conducting business with integrity

With expanding opportunities come increased responsibility. For us, responsibility means earning and maintaining the trust of our customers, partners, and communities in which we operate. We have gained and maintained this trust through increased transparency and disclosures, as well as efficient operations. We believe in doing business with honesty and integrity. In February 2022, we celebrated Ethics Week, a platform for all our employees to participate in a range of ethics and compliance related activities and to understand our policies and processes better or use them as a guide for some ethical dilemmas we might face as we conduct our business. Throughout the year, 96% of employees completed training on the Tata Code of Conduct and the Global Dignity in the Workplace policy imbibing elements of Human rights, Privacy, Anti-corruption, Freedom of expression, and others.

At Tata Communications, we are committed to doing our business the right way, applying best practices, and continuously assessing our performance against financial and non-financial parameters. In FY 2021-22, our revenue stood at US 2,245 million (INR 16,725 crore).

Our EBITDA for the year stood at US $567.3 million (INR 4,227 crore) and Profit after Tax at US $199.3 million (INR 1,485 crore). The Board of Directors recommended a dividend of US $0.28 (INR 20.70) per share.

We are also being recognised for our efforts in fostering sustainability and community linked initiatives. We were the winners of the Golden Peacock Global Award for sustainability for the year 2021, Grow Care India Energy Efficiency Awards 2021, and were also recognised by Business World, as top 10 most sustainable companies in India.

We are continuing our transformation journey to solidify our position as a digital ecosystem enabler—a digital fabric on which our customers can build secure connected digital experiences. We want to build a strong and profitable company now and in the future by connecting our portfolio, customers and sustainability. Technology is playing an increasingly important role in all our lives. That means we have a responsibility to act in ways that benefit people and the environment. We are proud of the progress we have made on our ESG initiatives but remain steadfast in our mission to do more. I thank the Board for its guidance and express my heartfelt appreciation to our shareholders for their continued belief in our abilities and unwavering support for all our endeavours.

Regards,
A.S. Lakshminarayanan
Managing Director & CEO