|
A biodiesel-compatible dump truck from Komatsu and L&T’s stable.
AT COP26 – the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2021 – India made a commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070. In line with India’s commitment, Komatsu, a principal of L&T Construction & Mining Machinery business (L&T CMB), has introduced a range of biodiesel- compatible equipment for the Indian construction and mining industry. These were launched at the latest edition of EXCON hosted in Bengaluru from 17-22 May. The range of biodiesel-compatible equipment includes hydraulic excavators, dump trucks, wheel loaders, crawler dozers, motor graders and water sprinklers. In May, Komatsu rolled out India’s first biofuel-compatible mining truck from its advanced manufacturing plant in Chennai. The fuel systems of these machines are designed to work on B20 biodiesel without any perceptible change in the performance and without altering the maintenance schedule. They enhance job-site efficiency, reduce fossil fuel consumption, and offer an excellent and immediate opportunity for the industry to contribute to reaching the COP26 target. In addition, these machines can run on 100% diesel without any modification, thus offering user flexibility as well as the vital attributes of quality, reliability, and durability. Being Komatsu’s exclusive distributor, L&T CMB will offer after-sales and on-site support for these machines. “Our key message at EXCON was that Komatsu is ready for biodiesel. It’s an honour that Komatsu products and L&T’s product support can contribute to India’s carbon- neutrality efforts. I expect high-quality biodiesel suppliers to establish a nationwide supply chain soon,” says Mr Yasunori Fujii (MD – Komatsu India Private Ltd). Complementing Mr Fujii, Mr Arvind K Garg (EVP & Head – L&T CMB) adds, “Sustainable technology is the focus at L&T and Komatsu. These equipment deliver the same power and productivity when operating on alternative fuels. They also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help us achieve our goal of a cleaner planet.” In fact, L&T has drawn up ambitious plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040 – long before the country reaches its green target.
|
|
Walls of the Women Wellness Room make for an inspiring and energising ambience.
The cosy Women Wellness Room at L&T Knowledge City, Vadodara.
WHETHER it’s the sudden onset of health issues during menstruation, pregnancy or some other overwhelming experience, a chance to get away from one’s desk and sit quietly is invaluable. Keeping this in mind, the L&T Energy – Hydrocarbon (LTEH) – one of L&T’s major verticals – has set up an exclusive Women Wellness Room at the conglomerate’s Knowledge City Campus at Vadodara in Gujarat. The Knowledge City is a major hub that houses several key businesses of the L&T Group. Housed on the second floor of the campus’ West Block-I, the air-conditioned wellness room was inaugurated on 10 June. It has sofas, chairs, and a refrigerator, and is open to all L&T’s women at Knowledge City. Elaborating on the idea behind the facility, Ms Poonam Chandok (GM & Head HR – LTEH) says that the Women Wellness Room is one of the several measures being implemented under L&T’s flagship diversity and inclusion initiative WINSPIRE. “Care is a value ingrained in L&T’s DNA and the conglomerate will continue to provide its women employees the right ecosystem to enable them deliver their best,” she says. There is a high correlation between employee well-being and a company’s success. Hence, it is immensely beneficial for a business to put in place all the right amenities for its workforce. And L&T is constantly working on this front.
|
|
INS Nirdeshak was serenaded by the naval pipe band before setting sail.
MAY 26 was a proud day for India, as well as for L&T. For it saw the launch of a large survey vessel, INS Nirdeshak, from L&T’s shipyard at Kattupalli in Tamil Nadu. In keeping with maritime tradition, the ship was launched by Ms Sarbani Dasgupta, the better half of Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Eastern Naval Command. INS Nirdeshak is one of the three large survey vessels for which a contract was awarded to L&T Shipbuilding in March 2020 by the Kolkata-based PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE). Deliveries were mandated to start from December 2022, but L&T – as it often does – delivered the first vessel ahead of schedule. The ship is 110m long, 16m wide and has a displacement of 3,500 tonnes. She is fitted with state-of-the-art hydrographic survey equipment – acoustic doppler current profiler, single / multi- beam echo sounder, besides a host of sophisticated equipment / machinery. She can carry four survey motorboats and an integral helicopter. INS Nirdeshak is capable of full-scale coastal and deep-water hydrographic surveys and determination of navigational channels / routes across India’s port and harbours. She can undertake surveys of maritime limits up to the Exclusive Economic Zone and the extended continental shelf, and collect oceanographic and geophysical data for defence applications – thus playing an extremely important role in safeguarding India’s maritime interests in the Indian Ocean region. In a secondary role, INS Nirdeshak can provide limited defence and serve as a hospital ship during emergencies. The construction of the other two ships is progressing according to the plan, overcoming the numerous challenges posed by the COVID pandemic – such as disruption in supply chain, migration of trained manpower, restricted working protocols, etc. The fabrication of these vessels by L&T reinforces the industry’s resolve for indigenous shipbuilding as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision. This model of public-private partnership is a harbinger of future successful collaboration for warship construction in India.
|
|
Mr Nachiket Deshpande inaugurating LTI’s Kolkata centre as Mr Debasish Sen (left) looks on.
LTI’s Kolkata centre all decked up for the inauguration.
LTI has expanded its operations in Kolkata by setting up a new facility in the city. The new centre marks LTI’s expansion in eastern India, and is designed to meet the requirements of a futuristic workplace. The centre was inaugurated on 17 June by Mr Nachiket Deshpande (COO – LTI), Mr Manoj Shikarkhane (CHRO – LTI), Mr Nirupam Chaudhuri (Regional Head, East – NASSCOM) and Mr Debasish Sen (Chairman – Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority). Located in the Salt Lake Electronics Complex, the new centre can seat more than 300 employees. It will support LTI’s service delivery capabilities for cloud, data, and digital technologies and create exciting career opportunities for local talent seeking experiences in these futuristic domains. It will also offer LTI’s clients the benefit of increased access to a larger talent pool from the state and the region. “Kolkata boasts of a rich industry-academia ecosystem, and we are excited about our foray into the City of Joy. We are thrilled to mark our presence in the city and are committed to a long-term association with the region,” Mr Deshpande said. Mr Shikarkhane underscored that LTI is witnessing monumental changes in work, workplace, and workforce of the future, and is establishing more talent hubs across the country. LTI leveraged the opportunity to set a base in the eastern region to address an increasing demand for satellite workplaces. LTI encourages new ways of working and believes in taking work to people instead of bringing people to work. Welcoming LTI to the city, Mr Sen said: “As one of the fastest-growing technology players, LTI’s expansion in Kolkata certainly adds to the appeal of this region and will benefit the local talent immensely.” LTI plans to gradually scale up the operations at this new centre and make it a core delivery unit in the eastern region.
|
|
Concession & Connectivity
MetroRide’s electric autos will provide first and last mile connectivity to Hyderabad Metro commuters.
Mr KVB Reddy (centre) along with others unveiling the Metro Holiday Card.
WHO doesn’t like discounts, especially on holidays? Capitalising on this idea, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited (L&TMRHL) has launched its first Super Saver Metro Holiday Card. The Holiday Card was unveiled by Mr K V B Reddy (MD & CEO – L&TMRHL) at Ameerpet metro station on 31 March amidst a crowd of passengers and metro officials. This was just before Ugadi on 2 April, the New Year Day as celebrated in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. The Holiday Card steps up the holiday cheer for Hyderabadis. It offers unlimited metro travel across 57 metro stations and three corridors on 100 selected holidays during the year as notified on Hyderabad Metro website https://www.ltmetro.com/supersaveroffer/. Here’s how it works. Purchase the card at any Hyderabad metro ticket counter by paying a one- time non-refundable fee of Rs 50. Then, on a designated holiday, recharge by paying just Rs 59 and use the card throughout the day for unlimited travel across the entire Hyderabad metro network. Note that the card is valid only on the date of recharge. Mr Reddy said: “This special offer reinforces our commitment to providing best-in-class travel options for passengers.” That’s not all! Making commuting easy, Hyderabad Metro, in collaboration with MetroRide, has also launched an electric auto service that offers first and last-mile connectivity for metro passengers. WRI India and UK charity Shell Foundation are also supporting this initiative. Kickstarted at two metro stations on 21 April – Parade Grounds and Raidurg – the feeder services will be extended to serve all the metro stations in Hyderabad in a few months. This is expected to improve the ease of transportation for commuters, and in turn, increase the ridership of the Metro. The fare is affordable, with the tariff starting from Rs 10 per ride and there is minimal waiting time. The service is green too! These electric autos will reduce the carbon footprint of urban transport services in the city. MetroRide, which is an AI-enabled ride- hailing mobility platform, plans to serve over 10 lakh customers in the first year and ensure that metro connectivity is no more a hassle for anyone living within five km radius of metro stations in Hyderabad.
|
|
The e-Galleria mall located next to the Hi-Tec City metro station in Hyderabad.
HYDERABAD has tech in its DNA. No surprise, then, that L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited (L&TMRHL) has repositioned its Hi-Tec City Mall into an exclusive electronic and technology mall, christened e-Galleria. The mall is conveniently accessible by a skywalk from the Hi-Tec City metro station and has on offer spaces on both long-term and short-term leasing. It has been designed not just for retail but also as a destination for tech-talks, roadshows, and product launches. It’s the place to discover the emerging trends in technology in a fun-filled and engaging environment. An A-grade, centrally air-conditioned facility, e-Galleria has been built adhering to National Building Code and has in place a stringent fire and safety policy. With a focus on sustainability, it offers abundant parking with electric charging stations. International facility management firm Jones Lang LaSalle is there to ensure world-class maintenance. KEY ATTRACTIONS Exclusive Brand Stores: Explore the world of global tech brands – all in one space. e-Bazaar: Browse through a galaxy of small shops selling a variety of products, accessories, consumables, services related to IT, as well as mobiles and household gadgets – all at competitive prices. Launchpad: Witness the unveiling of the latest tech brands and products in an exclusive space in the atrium, and interact with the city’s tech-lovers, key tech leaders, niche consumers and other tech enthusiasts. TechHive: Come to the dedicated space for focused tech-talks, seminars, workshops, etc. and meet other geeks, tech leaders and enthusiasts. This is where ideas take centrestage and people discuss, demonstrate and brainstorm about all things tech. Start-up Terminus: Hyderabad has emerged as India’s top startup hub for deal count and funding. This dedicated zone with plug-and-play stalls offers the best space for the key people from the start-up ecosystem to showcase and discuss creative ideas, products, and services, and turn them into promising businesses. Food, Fun, Entertainment: What’s not to love? Top-of-the-line restaurants, exceptional food options — from fine dining to quick-serve restaurants, lounge bars, barbeques, coffee shops, food courts, etc. mix with gaming lounges, spa, cinema, and other entertainment avenues to make e-Galleria Hyderabad’s most happening hangout. Located bang in the middle of Hyderabad’s IT hub – e-Galleria is all set to be a launchpad and a one-stop destination for the tech-savvy city dwellers to indulge and enjoy life on a high note.
|
|
Inauguration of LTI’s Insurance Innovation Centre at Hartford in the US.
LTI has set up a dedicated business unit for Google Cloud’s (GC) six key solution pillars: application modernisation, data management, infrastructure modernisation, smart analytics, artificial intelligence, and security. The business unit will develop state-of-the- art IP, industry-specific solutions, and accelerators, with a dedicated team of GC architects addressing transformation needs for clients. LTI will list its solutions on the Google Cloud marketplace. LTI has launched Canvas Eureka to enable an accelerated data modernisation journey to Google BigQuery and to aid AI/ML innovation for enterprises. It is an automation framework for seamless migration from legacy data warehouses and data lake solutions to Google BigQuery. It helps in assessing existing landscape and defining target state architecture, while also enabling automation of tasks like schema migration, code conversion and data validation. “Enterprises are seeking faster and more innovative ways to cloud-based transformation. This expansion demonstrates our commitment to deliver outcomes to them at speed and at scale,” says Mr Sudhir Chaturvedi (President & Executive Board Member – LTI). Mr Kevin Ichhpurani (Corporate VP for Global Ecosystem – Google Cloud) underscores that the Google Cloud business unit at LTI will deliver innovative solutions and services to global customers to accelerate their cloud transformation journeys. With its investment in cloud technologies, LTI has attained expertise across several Google Cloud products and workloads such as GC Compute, GC Databases, Open Source technology, cloud native application development, and SAP on GC. INNOVATING INSURANCE LTI has opened an Insurance Innovation Centre at Hartford in the US in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS). It will offer immersive training, idea incubation, solution co-creation and talent development to help insurance customers accelerate their digital journey. LTI and AWS solution architects are collaborating to build insurance-specific platforms that will offer features such as touchless claims, which automates claims workflow and quick quotes using AI. These solutions will enable customers to market their products faster by boosting the speed and efficiency of internal processes while complying with corporate security and governance rules. “The newly launched centre will further strengthen our offering in the US. It will blend different perspectives and capabilities, allowing us to offer advanced cloud-based solutions to help insurance customers innovate, evolve and fully realise their potential in an ever-converging world,” says Mr David Althoff (Chief Business Officer, Americas, Insurance – LTI).
|
Follow javascript: SP.SOD.executeFunc('followingcommon.js', 'FollowDoc', function() { FollowDoc('{ListId}', {ItemId}); }); 0x0 0x0 ContentType 0x01 1100 Compliance Details javascript:if (typeof CalloutManager !== 'undefined' && Boolean(CalloutManager) && Boolean(CalloutManager.closeAll)) CalloutManager.closeAll(); commonShowModalDialog('{SiteUrl}'+
'/_layouts/15/itemexpiration.aspx'
+'?ID={ItemId}&List={ListId}', 'center:1;dialogHeight:500px;dialogWidth:500px;resizable:yes;status:no;location:no;menubar:no;help:no', function GotoPageAfterClose(pageid){if(pageid == 'hold') {STSNavigate(unescape(decodeURI('{SiteUrl}'))+
'/_layouts/15/hold.aspx'
+'?ID={ItemId}&List={ListId}'); return false;} if(pageid == 'audit') {STSNavigate(unescape(decodeURI('{SiteUrl}'))+
'/_layouts/15/Reporting.aspx'
+'?Category=Auditing&backtype=item&ID={ItemId}&List={ListId}'); return false;} if(pageid == 'config') {STSNavigate(unescape(decodeURI('{SiteUrl}'))+
'/_layouts/15/expirationconfig.aspx'
+'?ID={ItemId}&List={ListId}'); return false;}}, null); 0x0 0x1 ContentType 0x01 898 Document Set Version History /_layouts/15/images/versions.gif?rev=40 javascript:SP.UI.ModalDialog.ShowPopupDialog('{SiteUrl}'+
'/_layouts/15/DocSetVersions.aspx'
+ '?List={ListId}&ID={ItemId}') 0x0 0x0 ContentType 0x0120D520 330 Send To other location /_layouts/15/images/sendOtherLoc.gif?rev=40 javascript:GoToPage('{SiteUrl}' +
'/_layouts/15/docsetsend.aspx'
+ '?List={ListId}&ID={ItemId}') 0x0 0x0 ContentType 0x0120D520 350
|
|
|
