Hindustan Zinc has a consistent track record of delivering sustained performance excellence across its key financial and operational metrics. During FY 2022-23, we further raised the bar of performance, while unveiling new horizons for our sustainable future growth. I am pleased to share that we successfully delivered on our commitments and targets across our business framework, from crossing the exceptional milestone of 1 million tonne refined metal mark, to driving our ESG goals.

Our integrated yet diversified approach, high-grade reserves, robust business model and strong relationships once again emerged as the key propellers of our strategic vision and enabled us to stay on track with our plans.

I am also happy to share that Hindustan Zinc is now ranked as the 5^th largest silver producer globally, a truly remarkable feat that will drive greater inclusive growth and value creation.

At the same time, we continued to push ahead on our sustainability goals through targeted initiatives steering our ESG journey through the year. Sustainability, both environmental and social, remains a key priority for Hindustan Zinc as we surge ahead towards greater progress.

Our mined metal production was up 4% at 1,062 kt, while refined metal production was at a record high of 1,032 kt up 7% year-on-year. Our historically high refined metal production helped us to deliver our highest ever profit after tax (PAT) of ₹ 10,511 crore during the fiscal, along with record numbers in annual revenue and EBITDA. While revenue from operations was up 16% at ₹ 34,098 crore, EBITDA was 8% higher at ₹ 17,590 crore over the previous fiscal, driven mainly by improved metal and silver volume, higher zinc LME and gains from strategic hedging partly offset by higher input commodity inflation and lower lead and silver prices. Our EBITDA margin for the year stood at a robust 52%.

I am also happy to share that we have delivered a strong dividend yield with a record pay-out of around ₹ 32,000 crore during the year.

What makes our landmark achievements of the year particularly noteworthy are the challenges amid which they were delivered.

The global economy continued to be impacted on account of monetary tightening, input cost pressures and supply chain disruptions amid the continuing Russia-Ukraine conflict. The situation was further aggravated by the muted demand for zinc, as global consumption declined due to the slowdown in China’s economic recovery. With the US banking crisis threatening to impact the construction and automotive sectors, the demand scenario remained subdued.

We effectively negotiated these tough challenges through our persistent focus on volume delivery and operational efficiency, coupled with our cost optimisation efforts. These efforts helped us deliver growth across the key operational and financial metrics.

Resilience and dynamism in decision-making enabled us to achieve our annual guidance and generate record cash flows.

Operational efficiency was the key and our strategic investments promoted innovation, digitisation and automation that enabled us to deliver greater efficiencies all around.

We reported our highest ever mine development, crossing the 110 km mark. This was an outcome of our innovative interventions, which included commissioning and operationalisation of the Life of Mine Ventilation System at Rampura Agucha. The system is also in progress at Sindesar Khurd and Zawar Mine, promising continuity of superior performance while maintaining our mine life at over 25 years.

Besides improvement in efficiencies, our investments in digitalisation, automation and innovation also helped to boost productivity and safety thereby enhancing business outcomes.

Some of the key initiatives launched as part of our automation campaign were smoke hours drilling, deployment of advanced process control, use of drones in stack health inspection and AI/ML based analytical modules. The benefits of these initiatives are already visible and we expect them to further augment our efficiencies and cost leadership, which we remain committed to strengthening as part of our strategic priority.

Coupled with the safety and security of our systems and processes, these initiatives will enable the realisation of our goal to provide best-in-class metals worldwide, produced with the highest commitment to ESG standards.

We have in place a well-articulated ESG roadmap for the execution of our overall strategic vision and plans, and moved proactively forward on the same during the year. While we have discussed these in detail in our Integrated Annual Report, including the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report, I would like to share with you here some of our key milestone achievements of FY 2022-23.

Taking forward our mission of decarbonising our operations, we have signed a long-term power delivery agreement for sourcing up to 450 MW renewable energy to steer our environment protection efforts. The project, to be executed with a special purpose vehicle (SPV), will be funded on a 70:30 debt to equity basis. The agreement characterises a major step towards the realisation of our sustainability goals. It also corroborates our commitment to deliver on our ESG roadmap of achieving net-zero by 2050. It will help the Company avoid 2.7 mn MT of carbon emissions.

In another historic initiative on our ESG journey, Hindustan Zinc flagged off India’s first battery electric vehicle (BEV) in underground mining. This marked an important addition to our ever-expanding EV fleet. In order to further our agenda of achieving ESG goals, a market leading electric vehicle purchase policy was also introduced with broader coverage for all employees across grades.

Our ESG initiatives including our zero liquid discharge plants and water treatment plants helped the Company to successfully leapfrog into the next phase of its sustainability journey. The various awards and rankings we received during the year on the ESG front endorsed the success of our initiatives and reinforced our commitment to sustainable growth. Details of these recognitions have been shared in the milestones section at the beginning of our Integrated Annual Report and in the ESG chapters.

We remain unwavering in our efforts to promote employee welfare, well-being, safety and growth. We continued to invest in building the capacities and capabilities of our people during the year. I feel immense pain to recall the tragic loss of 7 lives in accidents at the mining and smelting sites during FY 2022-23. However, our analysis of the causes underlying these mishaps has given us strong learnings for the future and it will be our sustained endeavour to ensure zero harm to our people, going forward.

We are also committed to the adoption of, and strict adherence to global best practices for enhancing the security, occupational health and safety of our people. The recent launch of Vihan, a critical risk management (CRM) initiative, is aligned with our focus on people safety. The initiative was launched to improve managerial control over rare and potentially catastrophic events, and ensure that adequate safeguard systems are in place.

We strive to provide best-in-class infrastructure and quality of life to our employees and our ‘Great Place to Work’ score of 85 in FY 2022-23 is a testimony of our best-in-class people practices and endeavours for their welfare and development. We shall continue to take concerted steps to provide career progression opportunities to our employees through our structured, learning and development programmes.

As a responsible corporate, it is our constant endeavour to promote diversity and inclusion at the workplace. Under our inclusion project, we have been consistently focussing on workforce composition with thrust on diversity and inclusion.

Our approach to inclusion covers gender, regions, education, physical ability, age, ethnicity, and communities. We have also officially declared an Equal Employment Opportunity Policy as well as a Diversity Policy, validating the Company’s standing as an organisation that is non-discriminatory in its business philosophy and approach. Additionally, we have launched an Inclusion Policy for LGBTQ+ community with the aim of providing an environment of equality, safety and respect for all our employees from this community.

At the same time, we continued to strengthen our focus on gender diversity during the year. I am proud of the fact that our women employees are themselves steering the change in the traditionally male-dominated mining industry. We remained focussed on empowering women employees and helping them unlock their potential, testimony of which is the fact that we have reached 19.5% gender diversity in FY 2022-23 and aim to reach 30% as a way forward.

We aim to further strengthen our diversity focus in the coming years.

Our CSR framework has emerged as a major pillar of our robust organisational foundations. Our social activities are centred around enhancing the quality of life and well-being of the communities in our earmarked regions. They underscore our commitment to the principles of harmonious and sustainable development, along with protection of human life, health and environment among the communities.

FY 2022-23 witnessed Hindustan Zinc positively impacting over 1.7 million lives across 237 villages with sustained CSR interventions and 2,512 villages through initiatives aimed at reducing malnutrition, promoting education, livelihoods and infrastructure developments besides establishing strong community institutions. As part of our efforts to promote sustainable livelihoods and skill development, Hindustan Zinc’s Kaushal Kendra successfully trained its first all-female batch for unarmed security guards and a hospitality batch for differently abled youth with 100% placement at reputed organisations. Sahil Poonia, our young footballer from Zinc Football Academy, now represents our country as a member of the Indian team in the U-17 category and has made us proud of his achievements. We also continued to support sporting events in Rajasthan, while investing in evolving grassroot institutions and promoting microenterprises.

Needless to say, our commitment to social sustainability remains unwavering, and we shall continue to create more avenues for expanding our CSR outreach going forward.

We remained on track with our strategic projects that will drive sustainable growth for the Company in the future. As a future-ready organisation, we remain focussed on expanding our production capacity to harness the unfolding demand opportunity. We aim to become the world’s largest and most admired zinc, lead and silver company. The development of the new roaster at Debari is aligned with this target. We have onboarded a technology partner, OEC and OMC, to support us in the project.

During the year, on the back of our continued focus on strategic growth, we launched our fertiliser project by incorporating Hindustan Zinc Fertilisers Private Limited (HZFPL). Further, our Alloy plant as part of Hindustan Zinc Alloys Private Limited (HZAPL) is all set to be commissioned in FY 2023-24. The expansion in our product portfolio resulting from these projects promises to open new vistas of growth for the Company.

I am confident that our focussed initiatives will continue to drive the Company’s progress on its strategic development projects in the years ahead. Our strategic priorities of capacity and product expansion and maintaining a portfolio of mines with long life will steer our growth journey, with our synergistic and integrated approach ensuring that we move steadfastly forward towards the realisation of these priorities.

Going forward, we are targeting higher production of mined and refined metal in the year ahead, complemented by increased saleable silver production. At the same time, we shall continue to scale new peaks in our journey towards the realisation of our ESG commitments.

These objectives are in line with our strategic priorities, which we have discussed in detail in our Integrated Annual Report. We are confident about our potential to achieve our future targets, just as we have been delivering on all our promises in the past.

Notwithstanding the prevailing global uncertainty and the related challenges, projections related to zinc demand in the country are promising. Estimates suggest further decline in the global economic growth in CY 2023 to 2.8% from 3.4% in CY 2022. The Russia-Ukraine conflict and the rise in central bank rates to combat inflation are continuing to put pressure on economic activity in 2023. The slowdown in the Chinese economy also has the potential of triggering a ripple effect around the globe. Amid these persisting risks, there is an optimism of continued stable performance from the Company in the coming quarters, at the back of the Government’s thrust on expenditure on infrastructure and expectations of sustained growth in India.

Hindustan Zinc is ideally placed to harness the strong demand and emerging growth opportunities, led by the Indian growth story. We look forward to many more operational, financial and sustainability-led milestones and celebrations in the year ahead.

First of all, I would like to thank all of them, including our employees, business partners and team members as well as our investors and shareholders for their sustained support and confidence in the organisation. They have partnered with us in our journey of many milestones and played a major role in giving us multiple reasons, once again, to celebrate. We share our stakeholders’ ambitions and vision of sustainable and inclusive growth and will continue to work with them to scale new milestones, going forward.