Pernod Ricard India – Water Conservation Projects

Water is fundamental to all living things and cannot be entirely substituted with other measures or materials. Managing water systems for long-term sustainability means addressing both projected demands for water and mitigating wasteful use of this precious resource.  

From irrigating crop, to processing raw materials, distilling, blending eaux-de-vie and formulating products, water is used, directly or indirectly, at every stage of Pernod Ricard products’ life cycle, so integrating water conservation into a circular-making model is crucial for our future sustainability.

Water conversation in production

Pernod Ricard India promotes sustainable water use and integrated water resources through a 4R approach: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recharge. Every Pernod Ricard production facility in India recycles their water, while 80% also have rainwater harvesting systems. 

Sustained efforts across Pernod Ricard India have helped reduce water intensity per litre per case by 54% in the last five years. From 16.06 litre per case in 2015 to 7.42 litre per case in 2020.

In 2019-2020 Pernod Ricard India created more water than it used and became water positive. The water recharge potential was 900 million litres against the total water consumption of 759 million litres. 

Water stewardship initiatives

Beyond Pernod Ricard’s own facilities, the agricultural communities that Pernod Ricard India relies on for raw materials are deeply dependent on the natural availability of water. The Water Stewardship Program mapped India to identify key areas of concern for a series of water stewardship projects. 

Water management practices have been introduced to help the communities in water stressed areas embrace a circular approach to water. Practices around water conservation, rainwater harvesting, and ground water recharge have helped them become more efficient with their water use, and to embrace new farming techniques. Overall, these communities are becoming more resilient in their approach to water use. 

Behror, Rajasthan

In the deeply water stressed region of Behror new water storage and recharge structures have the potential to save 445 million litres annually. The community of 8,000 farmers have benefitted from the construction of thirteen farm ponds, forty-one recharge structures, twelve recharge well and one nala bund. Together these significantly increase surface water storage capacity and ground water recharge. 

New farming techniques such as laser levelling, drip irrigation and mini sprinklers have been introduced with great success. Laser levellingg creates even distribution of water across a field, and although it uses 25% less water the crop yield in Behor increased by 10%. The new irrigation methods use about 40% less water than previous methods. 

Nashik, Maharashtra

In the extremely water stressed region of Nashik the water stewardship initiatives have touched the lives of 24,601 people and the 11,000 hectares of land they farm.

The project has included the construction of seventeen check dams, eight poly ponds and two ponds, the restoration of sixteen kilometres of canals and the desilting of twelve check dams. Together they have helped to recharge 454 million litres of water a year.