Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL), a subsidiary of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest and the world’s second-largest lead and zinc miner with a 78% market share in the country’s primary zinc industry. The company also produces silver and is the world’s sixth-largest silver producer. HZL operates six mining facilities in the state of Rajasthan, along with zinc-lead processing and refining facilities and a silver refinery in Uttarakhand. Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL), a subsidiary of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest and the world’s second-largest lead and zinc miner with a 78% market share in the country’s primary zinc industry. The company also produces silver and is the world’s sixth-largest silver producer. HZL operates six mining facilities in the state of Rajasthan, along with zinc-lead processing and refining facilities and a silver refinery in Uttarakhand. 

HZL, being conscious of its dependence and impact on ecosystems, is taking a strategic approach to address and safeguard its biodiversity resources. Aiming to become “nature positive,” HZL has led their way towards biodiversity management by committing to securing No Net Loss (NNL) of biodiversity for its project operations and Net Positive Gain (NPG) of biodiversity for critical habitats. In line with the commitment to continually improve they have also integrated biodiversity conservation, and its enhancement into their sustainability goal for 2025.

HZL has entered a three-year engagement with IUCN in 2022 to enhance its performance in biodiversity conservation and management. IUCN India has been providing technical support to the extraction industries in their biodiversity management for over a decade. This engagement with HZL aims to build the capacities of its employees and develop an updated biodiversity management plan and a biodiversity action plan for their six mining sites. IUCN has also helped it reframe its biodiversity policy and guidance note on Biodiversity Management. HZL has also been an active member of IUCN’s Leaders for Nature India, a network of businesses to help them contribute to biodiversity.

HZL has shown particular interest in applying NbS to the extractive industry. NbS are actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural and modified ecosystems in ways that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, to provide both human well-being and biodiversity benefits. Aiming to explore ways to embed NbS in their decision-making processes, HZL opened the way to integrate such solutions by revising their biodiversity policy in July 2022. In the policy, HZL noted that it would encourage "continuous improvements in biodiversity performance through specific target indicators and include key stakeholders for effective management and implementation and include 'Nature-Based Solutions' approach in the business decision making." 

References

• Arun Mishra. (2022). Hindustan Zinc Biodiversity Policy. Click Here
• Hindustan Zinc Limited. (2022). Biodiversity Management.Click Here
• Hindustan Zinc Limited. (2022). Overview. Click Here

For more information, please contact:

Mr Rohit Kumar Singh

Senior Project Associate

rohit.singh@iucn.org