Sustainability Report
Year 2020-21

I am pleased to share our 10^th Sustainability Report for Financial Year 2020-21 which shows how we have embedded the principles of sustainable growth in business practices over a decade.

While the World may define 2020-21 as the Year of the Pandemic & Disruptions, at Galaxy we would like to define the year as the “Year of Resilience” – The Year which tested every aspect of our Business; be it our People, Operations, Supply Chain, or Demand but despite the challenges that persisted throughout the year; the performance has been excellent.

2020-21 year can be summarized as 5Ps; Pandemic & Pressures countered by Persevering People and Persistent Partnerships which ensured we deliver a near Perfect Performance!

Having said that, I would take this opportunity to thank every Galaxite who has made this possible. Starting with our Front Line Yodhas- our Operators on the Floor, Operations and Supply Chain Team Members, Business Members who held fort when everything around them appeared hazy and turbulent. Our support staff , who within days adopted a completely new lifestyle of working from home, balancing both, the needs of their families as well as that of Galaxy and finally our Administration and CSR Teams, I have the teams that ensured that we continue functioning as well as helping our society throughout the year.

But Ladies and Gentlemen, as they say, every battle has a price to pay and while this battle against the pandemic continues, I would like to take this opportunity to remember and pay my tributes to the 8 Galaxites, who lost their lives battling.

Losing a family member is not easy and while no amount of monetary compensation can make up for human lives, Galaxy has taken steps to support their families. We have introduced the ‘COVID-Family Care’ Policy for all GSL employees to provide economic stability and financial security to the families of the employees who succumbed to COVID-19. A small step to ensure their families do not face any further disruptions or challenges on account of loss of income and continue leading their lives honorably. In this, the families will receive the monthly committed payments till the notional date of retirement, and can also avail medical facilities along with educational support for their children. Throughout the Pandemic, Galaxy has ensured that not a single rupee is spent by our people or their families for any COVID-19 related treatment. The entire cost has been borne by us. While the battle rages on, this is a battle which we all need to win, and Galaxy will leave no stone unturned to come out victorious.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the year 202021 has reignited the importance of ‘sustainable growth’; growth that is consistent, balanced, and replicable over the years. But sustainable growth is not only about financial growth, it also includes the qualitative factors that ensure consistency, balance and replicability of performance over cycles. These qualitative factors impart the inherent strength and robustness to the business and enable an organization to adapt and respond to disruptions with determination, resolve and confidence.

It is my belief, qualitative factors like Organizational Ethos, Strength and Depth of Stakeholder Relationships developed over years, Experience acquired over multiple cycles, Succession Planning, Talent Retention, and Organizational Responsiveness, that impart the required resilience to an organization. While these qualitative factors have always been around, it is only during times like these do we realize the criticality and strength imparted by them.

As we enter the next decade of sustainability, I personally expect businesses to become lot more proactive and make giant strides in the areas of Environment, Society and Governance.

As a responsible citizen of the society, it is upon us to ensure a better tomorrow for our future generations. At Galaxy, multiple initiatives have been taken with respect to Water Conservation, Energy Management, Waste, and GHG emission reductions. When it comes to our Society, our focus areas primarily include – Provision of Food and Water Security, ensuring Health, Hygiene and Education and creating avenues to empower as well as enable a better living for the deprived sections. Demonstrating the highest standards of Corporate Governance, Ethical Practices and Succession Planning is something we have practiced since inception.

Qualitative Factors combined with ESG related initiatives have ensured sustainable growth for Galaxy in the last decade; we see the same continuing in the next decade.

Ladies and Gentlemen, at Galaxy, we believe, the next decade will be the decade of Innovation, Sustainability and Digitization. While Sustainability and Innovation have been part of our core strategy for more than a decade now, the year 2020-21 saw us making strides in the digital arena. Galaxy has not only successfully adapted to the Work from Home culture, but also enhanced its digital marketing presence through various channels. Right from Customer interactions to multiple product application promotion campaigns to new product launches, we are steadily and surely stepping up in the digital arena. The coming year would see Galaxy enhancing its digital presence and reach further.

While adaptability to the digital age was all about equipping ourselves for the future, building on the sustainability and innovation journey which began years ago, today, has become a pre-cursor for survival. In relation to that, Galaxy

1. Launched GalEcosafe - Specially designed Fatty Alcohol Ether Sulphates with ultra-low 1,4-Dioxane levels to comply with the new US regulations aimed at protecting the environment.

2. Commercialised Galguard LipoG: Non-toxic, biodegradable, nature-derived and safe preservative for Beauty and Personal Care segments.

These products shall form part of our environmental friendly new age products basket.

To celebrate the same, we organized the Galaxy of Sustenance event which not only highlighted the significant work done by Galaxy in the field of Sustainability but also saw us taking up new targets for 2030.

Galaxy is committed to Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for setting a highly ambitious target to transition to low carbon economy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is the efforts of the last 10 years that have started to yield fruits now slowly but steadily:

In 2020-21, 1. Galaxy Surfactants, Taloja plant was conferred with the CII Green Company rating (GreenCo - Silver level).

2. Achieved consistent progress in Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 2020 with Score of Management Level ‘B’ in CDP- Climate Change compared to global average of ‘C’, Management Level ‘B-’, in CDP-Water compared to global average of ‘B’ and Leadership level, ‘A-’ in Supplier Engagement compared to global average of ‘C’.

3. Won the GOLD medal 2020, awarded by EcoVadis.

4. M3 Tarapur Site has been awarded as a Winner for the Kaizen in the Category – Waste Elimination. Received Certificate of Appreciation from IMC Chambers of Commerce and Industry for becoming the first IMC Certificate of Origin (COO) Member to release the online digitally signed Certificate of Origin (COO).

5. Galaxy Jhagadia Manufacturing plant got accredited with EFfCI GMP certification.

Recently, as you would have seen on our Social Media platforms, Galaxy’s Water Shed Management eff orts – across drought locations in India, was recognized by the CII as an excellent eff ort towards ecosystem restoration.

To conclude, what began as a dream in 1980, today, has slowly but steadily unfolded into a unique one-of-a-kind organization. Unique, as globally you will not find any organization which is completely integrated, right from its business to its operations, from people to innovations, sustainability goals to quality and manufacturing setups, for catering exclusively to the Home and Personal Care space.

As we enter our fifth decade, we at Galaxy Surfactants strongly believe, if the last four decades marked our learning phase, the coming four will mark our growth phase and the best is yet to come.

Thank You Ladies and Gentlemen. Stay Safe – Stay Healthy.

Yours Sincerely,
U. Shekhar,
Managing Director

GRI 102-21,40,42-44

To support te development of inclusive and accountable response to sustainability, we systematically engage with all stakeholders on Economic, Social an Environmental issues. In the long term, the stakeholder engagement process at Galaxy is designed with a clear purpose and outcomes towards sustainable development which guides our strategy and operations management, better management of risks and reputation, more collaboration, learning from the stakeholders about complex operating environment, market dynamics and other socio-economic developments. This result is more informed decision and actions at Galaxy, enabling sustainable value creation for both the organization and its ecosystem.

We have identified the key Stakeholders for Galaxy based on the following attributes:

Dependency-Stakeholders who are directly dependent on the organisations activities, products or services or on whom the organization is dependent in order to operate.

Responsibility-Stakeholders to whom the organization has legal, commercial, operational or moral/ethical responsibilities.

We ensure that the stakeholder engagement focuses on issues that are material to te organization and create opportunities for dialogue, solutions, collaborations aimed at creating value gor all stakeholders.

The key issues discussed with the stakeholders are:

To enhance integrated thinking, decision making and actions that support long term value creation for Galaxy and all its stakeholders, we are focusing on better inclusion of ESG issues into our Strategy and operational management through the process of Materiality.

In February 2020, we conducted a survey with all the key stakeholders of the Company to understand the ESG issues that are important to them. These issues were also evaluated for their relevance to the business and the Materiality matrix was constructed. The issues were referred from the Global frameworks like GRI, SASB, UN SDGs to ensure that all the ESG issues of global importance are included in our Materiality study. The issues that were included in our materiality study are:

Our 10 material topics are: Employee Safety, Health and Well-being; Innovation- Product Quality and Safety; Ethics and Governance; Water Stewardship; Waste Management; Climate Change; Oil Palm Derivatives; Financial Growth; Labour Relations; Customer Communication. The top 10 material issues are included in our strategy and planning and the details of the same are disclosed in the Chapter 10. The other material issues are monitored and discussed by the Sustainability team and any exceptions are escalated and acted upon.

The UN SDGs aligned with our material topics are as below: Importance to Stakeholders

At the start of the financial year, we had 1.5 Months of complete shutdown. Despite the shutdown in Q-1, volumes in India have grown 11.2% vs Previous Year. AMET market which got its mojo back in Q-2 FY 20, has not only sustained it but also registered a healthy 8.2% volume growth for the year. Finally, Rest of the World markets which primarily are driven by Specialty Care Products, while saw a major decline of 16% in H-1 vs previous year have made a strong comeback in H-2 registering a growth of 4%, overall ending the year with a 6.8% decline.

GRI 201-1

The consolidated financial statements comprise financial statements of Galaxy Surfactants Ltd (the Company) and its subsidiaries (collectively, the Group, which includes Galaxy Chemicals (Egypt) SAE and TRI-K Industries Inc., USA operation). As of March 31, 2021, the Company has five wholly-owned subsidiaries within the definition of ‘Subsidiary Company’ under the Companies Act, 2013. Further pursuant to the provisions of Section 136 of the Act, the Financial Statements of the subsidiaries are uploaded on the website of the Company i.e. www.galaxysurfactants.com.

Human capital refers to our employees, including those on contract, their skills, contributions, motivation levels and health and safety.

GRI 403

Safety forms an integral part of our culture. Galaxy’s Vision is to achieve and sustain an incident-free organisation. In order to achieve this Vision, we have established processes and systems and ensure that our culture promotes safety across all locations. Galaxy has implemented ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety management system at various manufacturing locations.

Monthly meeting of joint safety committee is chaired by Site Head and Safety in-charge. Members are from staff, operator and contractor categories. Representation of operators and contractors is 50% and staff is 50%.

As a company, we have always believed training and upgradation of skills is an important aspect of employee development Galaxy provides safe workplace environment and imparts training to all its employees on regular basis. We regularly provide training to company and contractor employees on topics like behavioural safety, Fire Safety, SCBA, MSDS, EMS-OH&S standards, Responsible Care, etc. In order to enhance safety awareness among employees & contractors, various emergency drills and trainings have also been conducted.