L&T CEO SN Subrahmanyan expresses concerns over recurrence of COVID pandemic in India

SN Subrahmanyan, chief executive officer and managing director of Larsen & Toubro.

SN Subrahmanyan, CEO and MD of Larsen & Toubro, said worrisome reports of the recurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic are coming up in India.

Subrahmanyan said in a speech, “…we are again hearing worrisome reports of recurrence of the pandemic in India though China remains the largest hot spot.”

This comes as China witnesses a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections in the country driven by BF.7 Omicron sub-variant. India has also reported a few cases of the BF.7 variant.

Subrahmanyan said the soaring prices of oil, gas and other vital commodities also are major concerns.

India has been facing the grave challenge of inflation as retail inflation came below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upper margin of 6 percent for the first time in November 2022 last year.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has affected the already troubled supply chains. Supply chains, badly disrupted by the pandemic, were only just limping back to normalcy when they have been again hit by Russia’s war on Ukraine, he said.

ESG goals

L&T pledges to become a net zero company, and achieve water neutrality by 2035 and carbon neutrality by 2040, said Subrahmanyan. He added that the company has been steadfastly working to integrate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals with its business targets.

“We cumulatively saved 150 million Kwh of energy, which is equivalent to powering 70,000 homes in a year and avoided emissions of 47,000 tCO2e in 2022, equivalent to planting 5 lakh trees. On the social dimension, we have touched 1.13 million lives through our initiatives on water and sanitation, education, health, and skill building and the target is to touch 1.5 million lives by FY26,” he said.​