INESH SINGH joins the team in NASHIK

Sula Vineyards, India’s no. 1 winery and largest wine producer, is taking its efforts at sustainability to the next level. It has just announced the appointment of its first Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) – Inesh Singh. In this newly-created role, Singh is responsible for leading Sula’s approach to sustainability as well as developing the sustainability agenda at the company.  The aim to make Sula the most sustainable wine making company in the country and the world will be defined by three key pillars: being good stewards of the environment, making positive social impact, and ensuring high standards of corporate governance. He will drive efforts to integrate and embed sustainability initiatives throughout the company. Sula hopes this will go on to have a ripple effect throughout the wine industry to make sustainable choices. 

Sula has already made great strides in integrating sustainability in its operations. The brand is committed to reducing carbon emissions which is evident through approx. 2 MW of solar installation at their sites, which in turn helps reduce about 1800 tons of CO2 emissions which would have been otherwise generated if coal power was used. The brand has installed rainwater harvesting ponds at most of their operational facilities to reduce the stress on local water bodies and grown tree plantations to increase the green cover close to the resort. Sula has also taken great care to maximize the use of energy efficient lighting to further reduce their electricity consumption, and subsequently the Greenhouse gas emissions being generated by the company. 

Inesh Singh remarked, “We will be looking at sustainability from a holistic perspective to enable ourselves to have a positive impact on the planet, the communities we operate in, and the people whose lives we touch, including our customers. The intent is not only to do the right things, but to ensure that we do it the right way.”

With a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, and an MBA in Finance and Project Management, Singh comes with prior experience, working as a design engineer in thermal power plants, which gave him the opportunity to witness firsthand the damage non-renewable energy was having on the environment. This exposure led him to search for opportunities in sustainability and landed a summer internship with PepsiCo in their North American unit, NAB. It was a very natural progression from that point on, and he was promoted to the PepsiCo Global HQ as one of the first few members of the recently established Sustainability Office before moving into his new role at Sula Vineyards in Nashik.