Leaders and Industry Experts Chart a Roadmap for India’s Good Growth at Hindalco-Xynteo’s ‘The Exchange’

Hindalco Industries Limited, the world’s largest aluminium rolling and recycling company, in collaboration with Norway-based sustainability advisory firm Xynteo, brought together several national and international leaders across business, government and civil society to chart collaborative solutions for India’s inclusive and sustainable development by 2030 at the Exchange 2024 at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi on February 15-16.

(L-R) Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa for India along with Vipul Kumar, Senior Partner, Xynteo

Key discussions at the event centred around the theme “India@2030: Scaling Good Growth”. Speakers presented insights on strategies and solutions for achieving equitable and sustainable growth in India by 2030, overcoming systemic barriers to inclusive development across sectors such as healthcare, education, renewable energy, among others, harnessing innovation, technology and entrepreneurship for social impact, and partnerships between business, government and civil society to drive large-scale change.

At the event, Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa, shared, “India has a unique opportunity to build sustainability without carbonising, to move millions out of poverty through circular models that attract value and capital. By embracing solar, EVs, and planned urbanisation for walking and cycling, India can be the only G20 country to achieve climate targets by 2030. Business models, not mandates, will drive this circular economy where sustainability constantly improves. If companies dont go green, it will not bode well with their long-term market positioning. With clear and set goals, sustainability can become an integral part of Indias future as the country progresses.”

“India stands at the cusp of an economic rebound today. Realising an equitable and sustainable future now hinges on expanding opportunities through skilling, women’s leadership and financial inclusion,” said Suman Bery, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog. He further added, “With cross-sector collaboration, as seen at The Exchange, India can deliver on its vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ and be a model for green development. Ive retained the key elements – optimism about Indias growth, the need for inclusive policies, leveraging Indias strengths in tech and manufacturing, advocating for climate justice globally, and the importance of collaborative platforms like the Exchange.”

Satish Pai, Managing Director of Hindalco Industries and chair of Vikaasa Executive Committee, said,“Our role as business leaders is to plant the seeds of sustainability across the entire value chain. ESG is a modern term, but at Hindalco, the “S” has been our priority for the last several decades. We care about the people and the society at large that is directly or indirectly associated with us. This has led to many innovative projects that are not only remarkable but a source of constant inspiration for me. Were now expanding under ESG to areas like renewables, zero waste and decarbonisation. This evolution from CSR to ‘CSR Plus’ comes naturally, as our people drive impact once empowered. The Exchange marked a significant milestone in our mission to enable equitable growth in India as well as our partnership with Xynteo. We believe business has an obligation to be a force for good. The commitments made during the event will catalyse collaboration for change at scale across sectors. Its all about believing in something, planting the idea, letting the baton pass on to people and watching it grow.”

Xynteo’s Senior Partner Vipul Kumar added, “At Xynteo, we believe business can be a force for good, delivering both commercial and social impact. The key is finding interventions at this intersection, ones with inherent environmental benefits and a sustainable business model, enabling replication and scale. We empower leaders committed to driving this change. Multi-stakeholder partnerships are key to systems transformation. No company can create change alone; collaboration is critical. Partners must come together across value chains and even competition to solve systemic challenges. Finally, we must have patience to try, fail, and persist until transformative solutions emerge. With passion and perseverance, we can move forward each day to build the equitable, net-zero future India wants to see. Though the road is long, initiatives like the Exchange are a powerful platform to unite leaders looking to drive this change, and prove no goal is out of reach if we work collectively.”

The event witnessed participation from notable speakers and guests namely Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa for India, Suman Bery, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, Rajashree Birla, Chairperson, Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives & Rural Development, Nigar Shaji, Project Director, Aditya L1 Solar Mission, ISRO, Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM, Soumya Swaminathan, former Chief Scientist, WHO, Satish Pai, Managing Director, Hindalco Industries, Vikas Mehta, Executive Director, SED Fund, ⁠ Rohit Jawa, CEO and Managing Director, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Auguste Tano Kouam, Country Director for India, World Bank, Pramod Bhasin, Founder and former CEO, Genpact, Naina Lal Kidwai, Chairperson, India Sanitation Coalition, Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director, Population Foundation of India, Sandeep Sethi, Division President, Work Dynamics, Asia Pacific, JLL, CVL Srinivas, Country Manager, WPP India, Ashish Dhawan, Founder and CEO, The Convergence Foundation, Abhijeet Sinha, National Program Director of Ease of Doing Business and Project Director of National Highways for EV (NHEV), Chhavi Rajawat, former Sarpanch, Soda, Rajasthan, Lt. Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd), PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM & Bar, Member, National Disaster Management Authority, Neena Gupta, renowned actor, and Viren Rasquinha, MD and CEO, Olympic Gold Quest, and former Captain, Indian Hockey Team,among other notable leaders across businesses, government, sports, defence services and civil society.

Insightful discussions, fireside chats, and speaker series captured the many strategies for scaling responsible innovation, empowering MSMEs, advancing net zero goals, advocating circularity, improving healthcare access, bridging the digital divide, and enabling the future of work, among other systemic challenges facing the nation.

Attendees were also invited to take a walk through Xynteo’s multiple commercially viable and scalable impact projects with its partners over the past six years, including revitalising the livelihoods of Kosa silk artisans in Chhattisgarhs rural interiors to exploring cutting-edge technology to decarbonise last-mile cold-chain logistics.

A highlight of the Exchange was the Marketplace – a curated platform showcasing 25 early-stage start-ups driving high-impact innovations across four key themes: energy and decarbonisation, circularity, sustainable livelihoods, and healthcare. From alternative fuels and clean mobility solutions to technologies tackling plastic waste and advancing health resilience, the Marketplace served as a dynamic hub connecting promising start-ups with investors, corporations and thought leaders. Beyond start-ups, the space also featured organisations such as UltraTech Cement and Saint Gobain, and Xynteo’s clean hydrogen tech and business accelerator Energy Leap, showcasing cutting-edge technologies in the energy transition and sustainable construction sectors.

The Studios– active working group sessions for systemic problem solving– were a vital component spurring impactful dialogues at the Exchange. With participation curated across sectors to ensure diversity of skills and insights, these roundtables aimed to incubate commercially viable and scalable solutions. Executives from leading organisations across metals and mining, real estate, construction materials, consumer goods and more engaged in the Studios focused specifically on plastics circularity, metals and mining, as well as pathways for decarbonising the built environment. With Xynteo facilitators guiding discourse, 15 tables hosted vibrant discussions on addressing complex, industry-specific sustainability topics. The Studios also offered a collaborative sandbox to forge unconventional partnerships, co-create business models, and prepare market-facing transition plans on some of India’s most pressing ESG challenges.

Additionally, Xynteo partnered with Grow-Trees.com, affiliated with the UN Environment Program and WWFs Cities for Forests campaign, to plant a tree for every attendee as a token of appreciation and a commitment to building a sustainable future for both people and the planet.

The Exchange, as an annual flagship event, will continue to convene wider stakeholder groups each year to track India’s progress and deepen cross-sector impact on sustainability priorities, review commitments, take stock of outcomes achieved, refresh targets, forge new collaborations and drive ongoing momentum towards the 2030 development agenda.

About Hindalco Industries

Hindalco Industries Limited is the metals flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group. Along with its subsidiary Novelis, Hindalco is the global leader in flat rolled products and the worlds largest recycler of aluminium. With a global footprint spanning 52 manufacturing units across 10 countries, the company is committed to driving sustainable development through innovative solutions. Hindalco was ranked the world’s most sustainable aluminium company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) in 2020, 2021 and 2022. At COP28, Hindalco won the Energy Transition Change Maker award for its pioneering renewable energy initiative in aluminium decarbonisation.

About Xynteo

Xynteo is a purpose-driven strategic advisory firm that helps global organisations, and their leaders, find new ways to grow forward as they tackle the societal and environmental challenges that are too big, too expensive, and too complex to solve alone. We believe that business is a force for good when leaders think long-term, work with, not against nature, and use their influence and resources for the many, not the few. For us, this is good growth. Our coalitions and programmes include Build Ahead, Energy Leap, Europe Delivers, Leadership Vanguard, Vikaasa and Xynteo Exchange.