H. Shankar, Managing Director, CPCL; N. Ravi, Director, Kasturi & Sons Limited, Srivats Ram, Immediate Past Chairman, CII, Tamil Nadu, and Managing Director, Wheels India; and Suresh Nambath, Editor, The Hindu, inaugurate The Hindu Sustainability Summit 2025.
| Photo Credit: R. Ragu
In 2047, when India marks its centenary year of Independence, Tamil Nadu’s vision for sustainability and an inclusive economy will also become the blueprint for the nation, said Srivats Ram, immediate past chairman of CII Tamil Nadu and managing director of Wheels India, in Chennai on Friday (November 7, 2025).
While speaking at the inauguration of the Sustainability Summit 2025 organised by The Hindu, in association with Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) and co-presented by Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company (TNGCC), he said, the State has been at the forefront of renewable energy for many years. “At present, we are third in terms of the total renewable energy [capacity] in the country. The State is first in terms of wind capacity. It could continue to focus on this sector, and this will [benefit] the manufacturing ecosystem,” he said.
He observed that the southern States are advancing in tandem and are relatively more progressive than the rest of the country. “We can make significant progress by working on sustainability and towards enabling future growth. Sustainability is a profitable venture, something that is not spoken about,” he added.
CPCL and sustainability
H. Shankar, managing director, CPCL said, the company is 60 years old and has a proud legacy of being one of the foremost pioneers in the industry. It has given priority to sustainability from its inception, he said.
In 1969, when the first unit called ‘refinery I’ was commissioned, sustainability was given importance, and India’s first sulphur recovery unit was built alongside that, he said.
“Thereafter, when the company progressed further and whenever capacities were added in the refinery, we always took care of the environment. The growth of CPCL has parallelly moved in the direction of sustainability. At a time when renewable energy was not really talked about, we were the first to have a windmill farm in 2007. Whatever energy was generated through the windmill farm has been fed into our desalination plant in Kattupalli,” he added.
He noted that CPCL’s is the only refinery in Tamil Nadu that not only takes care of the energy needs of Chennai but also of the State. The entire aviation fleet is dependent on the Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) that is produced by CPCL, he added.
The world is shifting its base from rural to urban areas and a lot of data centres are coming up, leading to higher energy consumption. “So, we must look at a responsible way of energy addition. Fossil fuels, renewables [bioenergy], and hydrogen must coexist and complement each other in such a way that the entire energy requirements of the world can be met in a beautiful basket, which is available in a sustainable form,” he added.
‘Journalism for public good’
Suresh Nambath, Editor, The Hindu, said, the summit was an opportunity to show collective commitment to a sustainable future and responsible use of resources. “At The Hindu, we firmly believe that journalism must go beyond reporting events to contributing to the public good by inspiring change. By bringing through voices from government, industry, academia, and civil society, we hope to build actionable partnerships,” he added.
The Hindu Sustainability Summit 2025 is presented by Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) and co-presented by Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company (TNGCC). The Sustainability Partner is Navin’s and the Associate Partner is NLC India Limited. The Green Partner for the event is Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Television Partner Puthiya Thalaimurai. While the Industry Partner is Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Knowledge Partner is Sustainable Energy and Environment Council (SEEC). The Digital News Partner for the event is The Federal.
Published – November 07, 2025 12:53 pm IST
