Puneet Dalmia, Managing Director, Dalmia Bharat Group and alumnus of IIM Bangalore, visited his alma mater on January 25, to interact with second-year MBA students. He discussed a case study on Dalmia Cements’ sustainability journey as part of ‘Business Process Improvement’, an elective course taught by Prof. Haritha Saranga, from the Production & Operations Management area at IIMB.
The case, written by Prof. Haritha Saranga, along with Prof. Sirish Kumar Gouda of IIM Trichy, discusses the efforts of Puneet Dalmia and Mahendra Singhi, the Group Managing Director (MD) and the CEO of Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd (DCBL) respectively, towards creating a culture of sustainability and instilling the appropriate values in DCBL. The case summarises the various commitments made by the management towards environmental and social sustainability goals, such as 100% renewable energy, water positivity and energy productivity etc. and the respective initiatives adopted to fulfil these commitments.
Puneet Dalmia has been the driving force behind the exponential growth witnessed by the Dalmia Bharat Group since he took over the reins in 2005. He has transformed the organisation and built a professional team that led it on a path of accelerated growth while maintaining the core values which have been the foundation of this 80-year-old conglomerate with interests in cement, sugar and refractories.
During his visit to IIMB and engagement with the students, Puneet reflected on the challenges faced by his organization during their journey towards sustainability. He explained how the journey of becoming the MD of Dalmia Bharat unfolded, and his experiences of expanding the company in terms of capacity, profitability and sustainability while emphasising the importance of being environment friendly.
