Message from the CMD’s Desk

Dear Stakeholders,

The recent challenges have tested our resilience as the COVID-19 pandemic and simultaneous supply-chain constraints disrupted industrial production. But we, as an organisation ensured all our employees were safe and our active response in tackling the challenges enabled our customers to continue building vehicles.

The beginning of the year 2022 marks the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic for India and the world, ushering newer challenges for healthcare systems as well as channelling economic growth; however, business continuity coupled with rapid vaccination coverage led to a strong resilience pointing towards the GDP growth of 8.7% FY 2021-22, the highest among the world’s large economies.

In tandem with the Indian economy, auto industry also made a smart recovery with all major vehicles segment i.e. Passenger Vehicles, Commercial Vehicles and 3-wheelers registered a remarkable growth of around 20% in FY 2021-22. The only exception was 2-wheelers’ segment where demand remained subdued amidst higher fuel prices, and a steep increase in the acquisition cost of the vehicle driven by higher commodity prices and insurance costs.

Having built a strong foundation in FY 2021-22, the auto industry would now be targeting to breach the pre-pandemic levels in the coming year supported by easing supply chain challenges and commodity inflation. Besides volume-led growth, premiumisation of vehicles and focus on localisation will translate into healthy growth for the auto component industry as well.

The Government of India has also been taking various policy initiatives to boost demand, and encourage the production and export of clean technology vehicles. Favourable Government policies such as the recently announced ₹ 76,000 Crores for semiconductor manufacturing scheme, the extension of the FAME II scheme till 2024, the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the auto and auto component sector for ₹ 26,000 Crores, PLI for advanced chemistry cell for ₹ 18,000 Crores and the vehicle scrappage policy will provide enormous support to the sector as they will implement innovative technologies.

The PLI scheme introduced by the Government saw an overwhelming response from the industry with a total of around 115 companies applying for the scheme and more than 70 getting approvals for Government support. Uno Minda has also been granted approval under the PLI Scheme. Multiple advanced technology products from Uno Minda’s portfolio are eligible for advanced technology products, and more.

On the Company front, we have also been impacted by disturbances in the industry supply chain but with a strong alliance with suppliers and customers, we were able to quickly adapt to the new normal. Our teams worked very hard and went the extra mile to support our customers in these challenging situations and ensured continuous supply for smooth operations.

We, at Uno Minda, have been at the forefront of technology trends in the automotive industry. Our relentless focus on innovation has continued to differentiate Uno Minda from the rest. This has helped us design products with prime importance and relevance with respect to the future.

We take pride in having a strong local presence and propelling the Make in India campaign to greater heights in this sector. We’ve developed infrastructure for R&D expansion and this, combined with local manufacturing, has also proved to be an advantage for us as a technology leader.

We are also progressing from just being a component supplier to a system supplier with robust software capabilities. The majority of the components today have embedded software for the ability to communicate with various systems and diagnostic purposes. With the right capabilities and strategies, we are fully aligned with the megatrends that will shape our markets and drive future growth.

Driving The New

While transforming the industry, we have also been transforming ourselves. Last year, we embarked on our organisation and business transformation that has reimagined, redesigned and realigned our businesses, processes, systems and structures to be a future-ready and Sustainable Organisation. The results of the exercise have started to reap benefits with increasing efficiency, sharpened customer focus, and increased exports, among others. In continuation to this transformational journey, we are also repositioning Uno Minda and unveiling our new tagline which is ‘Driving The New’.

Uno Minda is known for the many firsts in the domain we are in, playing the vanguard. We are in the driving seat, when it comes to breaking moulds and finding new ways to solve things. Driven by innovation, we are at the cutting edge of things, ushering in what is new and what is next.

We allow ourselves to be driven by this notion, in everything that we do, including our engagement with our stakeholders — internal and external — and the society at large; we usher in progressive global practices, rehash our way of doing things on the shop floor, and in our engagement with our partners, to be current, progressive, refreshingly new and best in class.

We do it because we see ourselves as pioneers in what we do, driving the new, at every opportunity that presents itself.

ESG

The climate challenge is an important change driver. We see clear business opportunities by being part of the forces driving the world’s transformation into a low-carbon society and by enabling new technologies and continuing to develop products used in the manufacturing of ICE vehicles as well as EVs. Our products allow our OEM customers to build vehicles that help them achieve their sustainability targets, but as we move forward, we also know that our operations must be as sustainable as the products that we create. The materials we use and the manufacturing facilities that we operate have a direct impact on our collective sustainability goals.

ESG has gained prominence recently. However, we have already been working on these areas for the last few years. We have installed rooftop solar panels across our plants, meeting 20% of the energy requirement of these plants. We have also invested in 2 entities, i.e., CSE Dakshina and Strongsun, recently, which are developing solar power plants and will be supplying power to us on completion. We target to achieve 40% of our energy requirements through solar energy. We have also been working on reducing water consumption, carbon emission, and waste reduction. During the year, a green belt plantation drive across our plants in India was organised. This drive aims to convert 40% of open landscapes into green areas in all our plants. We are also working with both suppliers and customers to reduce the environmental impact of the resources used to manufacture our products, including exploring the use of renewables and recycled materials.

We have set up a very robust corporate governance framework with a well diversified board to oversee the same. We are constantly improving our governance framework and policies by benchmarking with best practices. We also received Amrop ET Best Board Award for Corporate Governance and Board leadership, such recognitions encourage us to continuously raise the bar of best practices, transparency and corporate governance.

People

Of course, none of these efforts, from product development to sustainable operations, would have been achievable without the right people. Uno Minda’s culture of diversity and inclusion fosters innovation, allowing us to draw from our employees’ wide range of capabilities, experiences, and backgrounds. We are proud to have been certified as a Great Place to Work 2022 by the Great Place to Work Institute India. We are listed on the Great Place to Work Institute’s Wall of Fame as one of the top 30 best work places for manufacturing companies in India. We have also been recognised as India’s Best Workplaces in Auto and Auto Components 2022. These awards are testimony to building and sustaining a high trust and high performance culture of our Company.

Focus Area

Going ahead, our main priority is to ensure that we create an enhanced value for all our stakeholders. We are also working towards increasing energy efficiency while decreasing our impact on the environment and working towards sustainability. We assist in every way possible to ensure all our employees grow by being an inclusive company where they feel encouraged, challenged, engaged and empowered.

We aim to consistently generate returns for our business partners and society in general. We are working towards bringing innovative technologies and solutions that drive our future. We also want to be part of the solution to the climate challenge, by developing energy-efficient products and treading towards a green world.

Best regards,

Nirmal K. Minda

Chairman & Managing Director