ITC’s factory in Malur, Karnataka which produces noodles under the brand YiPPee!, has received AWS Platinum-level certification for water stewardship in the world.

Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) platinum-Level certification is considered as the global benchmark for water stewardship.

The factory has integrated watershed development programmes for supply augmentation, demand side management by improving water usage efficiency in the catchment area of its operations as well as reduction of fresh water consumption within the unit.

Going forward, the company aims to create rainwater harvesting potential equivalent to over 5 times the net water consumption by 2030 as a part of its S2.0 targets. ITC has also set a goal to achieve a 40% reduction in specific water consumption by 2030 as compared to the FY 2018-19 baseline.

ITC has already committed itself to achieve AWS certification for 8 of its sites by 2024 and all its sites in high water stressed areas by 2035.

“This significant milestone will further inspire us to scale up our initiatives to ensure water security for our stakeholders around our factories in line with the goals envisaged in the company’s Sustainability 2.0 agenda,” said Hemant Malik, Divisional Chief Executive, Foods Business, ITC Ltd.

ITC has also undertaken water conservation programme both within the Malur food factory and in the surrounding catchment area of 40250 acres, out of which, more than 75% is under agriculture. However, initially the factory faced challenges with regard to water availability in the area due to several factors like hard rock aquifer system, rapid urbanisation and change of agricultural patterns. This led to the Unit being largely dependent on tanker water.