Recent Blog Entries

  •   Salman Khan: Swara Bhaskar is Very Talented #SalmanKhan #SwaraBhaskar #VeryTalented Salman Khan’s upcoming movie Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is under the direction of Sooraj Barjatya. Salman Khan and Sonam Kapoor are playing lead roles in the film. Swara Bhaskar is playing Salman's sister...
  • Nickname of Ranveer Singh on ‘Bajirao Mastani’ sets #Nickname #RanveerSingh #BajiraoMastanisets Ranveer Singh’s upcoming movie, ‘Bajirao Mastani’ is under the direction of by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. According to the latest update, Ranveer Singh has got a new nickname...
View All

Share with your Friends.

Sponsored Links

How ABB is tweaking products to make sustainability an integral

  • Bazmi Husain, MF of ABB in India has mustered genteel enthusiasm in addressing challenges of developing economies facing a peak power deficit of over 12%

    Bazmi Husain, MF of ABB in India has mustered genteel enthusiasm in addressing challenges of developing economies facing a peak power deficit of over 12%
    ABB is tweaking its products, systems and services to make sustainability an integral part of its business model, much like a Unilever or a GE. It is finding this to be a pathway to new business opportunities and a source of competitive advantage, reports ET.

    Bazmi Husain, the managing director of ABB in India, is a technology whiz. His colleagues at the company's Bangalore headquarters often find him, with boyish delight, tearing apart and reassembling electronic gadgetry, including his laptop and handsets, at the slightest of opportunities.

    A former director of the $38 billion power and automation giant's research centre in Sweden, Husain musters the same genteel enthusiasm in addressing challenges of developing economies like India-facing a peak power deficit of over 12%, for instance-which manifest in the recent grid collapse across northern India.

    "Do you know the power savings that will accrue from the ultra-high voltage direct current (U-HVDC ) transmission system from the northeast to Agra is akin to building a 250 MW power plant every year," he asks. ABB is presently laying this $900 million , 1,728 km DC transmission link, one of the world's longest. The norm in power transmission is alternating current (AC). Direct current (DC) transmission, with voltage ratings exceeding 800 kilovolts (kV), is currently revolutionising transmission capacity and efficiency. "Higher the voltage, lower the transmission loss; for long distances, HVDC is ideal," he explains.

    ABB, the first company to refine this technology decades ago, has installed half of the 120-odd HVDC systems worldwide. Power engineers love DC, as they claim it's easy to manipulate . AC flows by the law of physics : if load is connected, power will flow. DC is like a water tap: it flows depending on how much you open or close. India has just about begun cavorting with DC. ABB's renewed focus on DC technologies is symptomatic of the way it is redefining itself.

    The company, with 135,000 employees and a presence in over 100 countries, is realigning its business operations to a 'materiality matrix' it designed in 2011, and is now in the league of sustainability leaders like GE, IBM, Siemens, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Puma. The matrix was devised following a global survey of its stakeholders. The cornerstone of ABB's strategy now is to develop products, systems and services with a view to improve the resource efficiency of customers.
    ABB, the first company to refine this technology decades ago, has installed half of the 120-odd HVDC systems worldwide
    The other key sustainability goals defined are aligning supply chain to its own goals, strengthening employee involvement in sustainability and, of course, ensuring its own operations are responsible and sustainable. "Sustainability permeates into everything we do," insists Gary Steel, chairman of ABB India, and a member of ABB's executive committee (EC), and also head of global HR and sustainability.

    "Every business decision we make at the EC now passes through the sustainability screen." ABB's immediate strategy, christened Sustainability 2015+, is to grow at double the pace of global GDP growth. A sustainability board is in place. The chief technology officer is now a member of the EC, as innovation, especially in resource efficiency and renewables, will be critical to growth. Country sustainability heads are being appointed. The number of sustainability professionals in the group now exceeds 800. The makeover in sustainability leadership is happening.

Share with your Friends

(200 symbols max)

(256 symbols max)