Pearl Tiwari, CEO, Ambuja Foundation, talks about the various initiatives for water conservation, availability of drinking water and promotion of appropriate technology for water use efficiency.

What is the philosophy behind the Ambuja Foundation?
Ambuja Foundation was set up because the company believed Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to be an integral component for a sustainable business, and not an obligatory responsibility.
With investment in water, agriculture, skills, women, health and education, the Foundation enabled ‘livelihoods’ as a pathway to unleashing that potential. Partnering with like-minded corporations, governments and other organisations, it works collaboratively with communities to solve pressing community problems – empowering local people to be the catalysts and drivers of change. Over the last three decades, it has seen a transformation in the remote geographies of over 4,200 villages of 13 states of India.  

Tell us about your water programme.
Ambuja Foundation has worked in water resource management for over 30 years, across 12 states. Based on local needs and for industries to survive, its conditioned interventions are designed considering topography, weather patterns and groundwater levels – from the deserts of Rajasthan to the mountains of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, from the interiors of Maharashtra to the coastline of Gujarat. Working in the space of water resource management has led us to create additional water storage capacity of 63.13 million cubic metres for rural and remote communities, and help villages flourish once more, thanks to abundant water.
Over this period, we have learnt first-hand how water issues in India vary greatly from region to region. The semi-arid Rajasthan, for instance, has always had to adapt to limited water supplies. In mountainous states such as Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand the water holding capacity of the soil is low and susceptible to excessive soil erosion. Moreover, the undulating topography and steep slopes lead to high water runoffs and landslides. The coastal regions grapple with salinity creeping inland rendering ground water unfit for agriculture and domestic use. In other regions such as Maharashtra, the water crisis is mostly due to neglect in the efficiency of water usage. India’s water challenges, therefore, require deep knowledge of local conditions and the development of hyper local solutions.
Having experienced a wide variety of water challenges first hand, the valuable insights and experience gained over time, now guide our approach to water resource management. Working hand in hand with local communities and government we’ve been able to build drought resilient villages – empowering the community as well as industries to secure their water future.
Water needs both technical and social solutions and hence our work focuses on both the demand and supply side interventions across three core areas:
Water for livelihood: Using a watershed management approach to managing water resources for quantity and quality, we marry traditional practices followed in the region with technology to enhance the effectiveness of localised water harvesting and storage solutions. Employing a variety of water storage solutions as appropriate to the local conditions such as check dams, khadins, nadis and subsurface dykes in Rajasthan to revive old mining pits and linking them to rivers and canals, has ensured all year round water supply for agriculture and the communities.
Drinking water security: Drinking water solutions too need to be adapted to local conditions, such as rooftop rainwater harvesting structures in areas of abundant rainfall and local water scarcity, handpumps where natural springs are found, to water filtration systems where groundwater is unsuitable for drinking. We educate local communities on the benefits of investing in these solutions, provide technical support for the installation, and financial subsidies where necessary. In collaboration with the local government, we mobilise the community to work together to address the supply of drinking water.
Water use efficiency: Communities need to be educated on the management and efficient use of water. Agriculture consumes almost 80 per cent of available water due to the widely prevalent flood irrigation techniques. Our interventions focus on the promotion of micro irrigation techniques, crop selection and the creation of local water user associations. These associations, consisting entirely of local farmers, are empowered to manage their local water sources and distribution.

How does this impact water positivity? 
Industries require a significant amount of water – both during processing and also later in construction, and therefore water sustainability has always been a priority for them. Ambuja Cements Ltd (ACL) adopted a holistic approach and extended water management efforts ‘beyond the fence’ to neighbouring communities, quickly learning that water was a tipping point that could make or break a community as well as ensure sustainability for a company. Since inception, ACL believed that for a community’s development, conservation of natural resources is the topmost priority, of which water remains a critical resource.
From the beginning, the Founder of Ambuja Cements, Narotam Sekhsaria, believed that as the company prospered, communities around company plants should prosper, too. By ensuring the company gave back more water than it took, it not only saw livelihoods and therefore communities flourish, but the loyalty it built among the people was something deep and strong. This all came as a surprise to many, who thought a cement factory in the region would bring nothing but doom and gloom to agriculture and the communities that rely upon it.
Ambuja Foundation, takes care of ‘beyond the fence’ water initiatives on behalf of Ambuja Cements Ltd, and due to our tried and tested approach and impacts achieved, our work has spread beyond Ambuja territories. These tested efforts have powered Ambuja in gaining the water positive status eight times. Our Water Resource Management Programme has become so replicable that we have scaled our water work to many other corporate across the country, acting as a CSR implementing body for others.

What is the role of your parent organisation in contribution to water positivity? 
When a company is ‘net water positive’ it means they are creating more water than they are actually using in their business. Whilst it is not a legal compliance, businesses need water to operate and cannot function without it – it makes good business sense to invest in a variety of ways to become water positive. Ambuja Cements Limited is proud to be already ahead of the curve. It is the only cement producer that has been recognised for its leadership in water security by the United Nations Global Compact Network India and recognised ‘A list’ in Global Water Stewardship by the global environment non-profit CDP.
There are various strategies they harness to minimise their water footprint when it comes to being water positive:
Promoting conservation and efficiency: Ambuja Cements efforts have been instrumental in bringing positive changes in people’s lives and biodiversity across regions of their operations, especially in water starved areas. Via Ambuja Foundation, sustainable withdrawal, water efficiency, responsible water harvesting and groundwater recharge is promoted to ensure continuous supply and reduce the number of people affected by water scarcity. All water programmes are also aligned with available government schemes and mobilise individuals to ultimately have these benefits utilised by the community.
Prioritisation of water: Water is always a priority for us. Stakeholder engagement is the key to implementation and thus community engagement plans and advisory panels were created out of which water resource management resulted in the high priority area.
Investment in infrastructure: ‘Inside of the fence,’ Ambuja Cements employs many strategies to recycle, reuse and reduce its use of water in its operations. Several water efficiency measures have been put in place, like the installation of Waste Heat Recovery, roller press, dip tube in lower stage cyclones, raw water storage tank (10000 KL), and air-cooled air compressors and dryers. Ambuja Cement plants recycle water – in Rabriyawas Rajasthan for example, the plant recycles about 70,000 cubic metres of water (14 per cent of water withdrawal) which helps the plant to reduce its overall water withdrawal. Similarly, on site in Rabriyawas there is a revival of water harvesting, which saw the connection of water-logged areas to main drainage lines. There is also a sewage treatment plant installed and all the waste water discharged from the plant and colonies are directed to this treatment plant, which in turn is used for horticulture purposes in the plant areas. 
Sustainable development plan: Although ACL uses a dry process of cement production, which uses minimal water, water conservation and its sustainability remains on a high pedestal in the company’s overall sustainable development plan with aspirational targets for 2030.
Investing in human resources: Ambuja also invests in human resources in order to utilise technical as well as social skills to support the Community Water Programme. Apart from having the technical capability, balancing community needs and requirements is also a social skill that one needs a forte in. Ambuja’s Technical Engineers play a major role in providing guidance during setup of water infrastructures in the communities and also during maintenance and audits.
Frameworks and assessments: ACL has also developed a water sustainability risk assessment framework in association with IUCN to account company risks as well as the basin risks covering various risk aspects and identifying cement units with water stress. This assessment also uses the WBCSD Global Water Tool. Two plants are in water scarce regions but overall, ACL complies with all regulatory requirements on water.

What are the major challenges in achieving water positivity? 
Water resource development remains one of the priority areas at Ambuja. The programme continues to focus on water conservation, drinking water and promotion of appropriate technology for water use efficiency. It is implemented across locations surrounding the company’s manufacturing plants to address the water-related needs, which is a primary concern of the residing communities.
However, with all these come a number of challenges:
High investment cost: Building and reviving water structures comes with a high investment cost. It is capital intensive and puts a strain on the organisation. Thus, Ambuja Foundation always seeks collaborative efforts from the community, the local panchayat or government related schemes to partner together on certain projects – pooling resources and making them go further.
Community conflicts: Time is heavily invested in convincing communities on the change they need to bring in their area. There are disagreements and fears on land being taken away and sometimes it is taken for granted that Ambuja will simply cover costs.
Climate change: Nature is unpredictable and with it comes its consequences. The team faces challenges when strategic and infrastructural plans are created, which are affected due to unpredictable weather.
Long-term impact: Change and impactful results in rural India take time, and sometimes long-term commitments from key stakeholders is a challenge to secure.
Scientific monitoring impacts: We have created great impact in our communities in the last 30 years. However, we find it a challenge to find relevant organisations to conduct monitoring and impact assessment due to a lack of technical skills and expertise available to review performance or standardise procedures.

How do you measure your impact?
Ambuja Foundation follows an evidence based practice while planning and implementing development initiatives. Ambuja Foundation has an in-house research and monitoring team that objectively and systematically oversees the implementation, progress and impact of programmes at Ambuja Foundation. We conduct project assessments including mid-course evaluation and impact evaluation. We work alongside various consultants to evaluate some of our programmes by conducting baseline studies, Social Return On Investment (SROI) studies and other external impact studies and reports. Ambuja Cements has also quantified its impacts both positive and negative by using the True Value Framework developed by the global accounting firm KPMG. This measure of the company’s interaction with the environment and society helps in making strategic business decisions.
In 2015, Ambuja Foundation commissioned an independent agency to conduct an SROI analysis to identify the long-term impacts and benefits of its investments in water resource management in both Kodinar, Gujarat, and Rabriyawas, Rajasthan. Since then we have conducted many SROI studies to measure the impact of our work. SROI tells the story of how change is created in a community by measuring social, environmental and economic outcomes – and uses monetary values to represent them. By revealing social value, it highlights the areas of significant impact, and helps in understanding the ‘real’ impact and ripple effect of changes made in the area of water. The guiding principles of an SROI analysis are to involve stakeholders, understand what changes, value things that matter, do not over-claim, be transparent and verify the results.

• Kanika Mathur