Indian Economy
The year 2020-21 has been an unprecedented one. The
Covid-19 pandemic is the severest global health crisis of this
century, endangering the whole of humanity and resulting
in a substantial weakening of most economies.
The Indian economy witnessed its first ever technical
recession in the year FY 2020-21, with gross domestic
product (GDP) growth remaining in the negative territory for
two consecutive quarters. Lockdowns and travel restrictions
imposed significant supply-side constraints on the economy,
drastically reducing output and employment.
The Government announced multiple financial measures
and structural reforms at different stages of the pandemic towards calibrated fiscal support during lockdown and to boost demand during the unlock phase.
With an aim to speed up the economic normalisation,
the Government accelerated the public investment in the
key infrastructure sector. The wheels of India’s capex cycle
were set in motion with a strong revival in investment-led
growth supported by the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission’ and
a massive boost to infrastructure and capital expenditure
provided for in the Union Budget 2021.
Apart from economic reforms, the government also
implemented various structural reforms in the country
covering sectors like Agriculture, MSMEs, Labour, Power
and Industry. The agricultural sector remains the bright spot
of the Indian economy. However, the surge in commodity
prices is expected to create some cost pressures.
With the economic activity gaining momentum post the
Covid-19 lockdown, the measures announced by the
government and rollout of coronavirus vaccines resulted
in an uptick in economic sentiments, but the resurgent
Covid-19 second wave has put a dampener on India’s
growth trajectory. Hopefully, the country should be in a
position to control this second wave of Covid-19 infections
and, with progress in vaccination and strict implementation
of prevention and detection protocols, the country should
be on the growth track for the larger part of FY 2021-22.
Global Economy
The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic led the entire global
economy into a recession that is unprecedented. Growth
suffered broad-based deterioration with a decline in global
trade and marked slowing down in the manufacturing and
services sectors across the globe. Contact-based services
were majorly affected and, with travel restrictions imposed
to contain the spread of the virus, service sectors like
airlines, tourism, hospitality, etc. were the worst hit.
On a positive note, the accelerated progress in vaccination
efforts and generous fiscal support is ensuring that many
of the developed nations regain ground and bring the
economy back on the growth track.
Digital @ L&T
The hallmark of digital transformation at L&T is in its
business benefits, widescale adaptation and innovation.
The seeds which were sown for digitisation have started
showing results, as was clearly evident during the Covid-19-
led lockdown. With the help of digital technologies, L&T not
only continued its activities, but also made rapid strides into
multiple areas and created superior experience, internally
and for external customers. These transformations have
positively impacted all areas of the value chain, including
core business areas such as tendering, engineering,
procurement, construction, manufacturing, operations & maintenance, safety, quality, customer experience and
enabling functions such as human resources, finance and
administration.
While the digital solutions deal with several cutting-edge
complex technologies, they have been encapsulated
into easily adoptable ways. This has resulted in larger
deployment of various solutions. More than 75% of the
workforce across all levels use these digital solutions.
As several solutions that were deployed have matured
well, a new plan is in place to productise these solutions
and make them useful to a wider client base. The industry
is moving towards integrated solutions to realize higher
benefits than the traditional siloed solution. The digital
solutions are imbued with several years of domain
knowledge that L&T has gained while executing multiple
projects. New innovative experiences are added to these
solutions using new-age tools like Artificial Intelligence,
Machine Learning, Computer Vision, etc.
The IoT-based Asset Insights solution, which continuously
monitors more than 11000 nos. of site / construction
equipment, machines and devices, is enhanced with
predictive analytics algorithms which provides alerts of any
failures in advance. This helps in reducing the downtime of
the equipment and achieving higher operational efficiencies.
The solution is also enhanced to cater to different uses, from basic monitoring to more advanced edge analytics
solutions where multiple parameters of the equipment are
monitored at a very high fidelity rate.
The AI-powered Unmanned Weigh Bridge (UWB)
solution is enabling conventional weigh bridges to be
operated in a completely automated mode without
requiring a human operator. This is achieved by leveraging
computer vision for Automatic Number Plate Recognition
(ANPR) and AI-based object detection and retrofitting this
on conventional weighbridges. It is an end-to-end solution
that also integrates with the Material Inward System and
multiple weigh bridges within a plant to consolidate all
weighment transactions. This enables quick deployment
and helps provide a real-time view of material flow – right
from entry till the point of material unloading. Unmanned
weigh bridges are being rolled out into plants, construction
sites, etc. The integration of this solution with the ERP has
reduced the possibility of pilferage, erroneous entries, etc.
Quest, a solution based on Conversational Artificial
Intelligence (AI) & Natural Language Processing (NLP) sits
on many field personnel’s mobile devices. The solution uses
Natural Language Processing to understand a question
asked in plain English and to find the most relevant answer.
This has eased the work of the site personnel by providing
correct information without any delays.
Lexis, an Image Processing and Natural Language
Processing platform has been helping employees
comprehend and process the information in multiple
bulky documents in a quick manner. Business units are
using Lexis to compare lengthy spec sheets for equipment
from multiple suppliers and identify gaps from customer
requirements, while yet others are using its image
processing capabilities to comprehend and auto-identify
BoQs from P&ID (Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams).
AR-based remote assistance: Augmented Reality (AR)
has significantly improved the organisation’s capabilities
with respect to real-time support and assistance. AR-based
remote assistance uses AR and video streaming to enable
experts to guide and assist field personnel in real time.
This allows experts to remotely solve challenging issues on
complex equipment thereby seamlessly bridging the physical
and digital worlds. This has worked out very well during
the current pandemic situation. Some of the businesses use
cases that are addressed by the solution are commissioning
assistance using pre-defined SOPs, assisted maintenance
operations and routine inspection support for complex
machinery.
Design Optimisation is the process of finding the best
design among the set of all feasible designs that would
work for a given set of constraints. The chosen Differential
Evolution (DE) Algorithm is based on bio-inspired
computing and is an evolutionary optimisation algorithm
which iterates through generations of feasible solutions.
It uses the ‘Survival of the Fittest’ theory to find the most
optimal solution. The solution is deployed to create the
most optimised design for various construction use cases –
especially foundation design of substation and transmission
lines as well as structure, and foundation of solar farms.
It encompasses the design norms not only for domestic
standards but also for American, British, and European
standards.
The solution has produced up to 15% savings in cost and
close to 25% reduction in design time. In addition to this,
the solution has enhanced the consistency and accuracy
(quality) in the design approach, as it removes human errors
in the design process.
Geospatial Technology has been a powerful tool to
deal with this pandemic by ensuring frictionless business
continuity. It helps to create a Map to Plan solution,
designed to help project teams to identify sites in pandemic
green zones for resumption of work while also helping the
HR teams to map employees around red zones to ensure
workplace safety. Among the operational initiatives, the
open-yard management solution helps in end-to-end
material management in an open place including material
receipt, individual tagging, storage, location tagging with a
high accuracy external GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite
System), internal transfer and delivery of the material.
Digital solutions also cater to Structural Health Monitoring
and distress mapping using LiDAR scanning, providing 3D
models for an area of more than 3.5 lakh square kilometres,
with more than 8000 scans and 6000 as-built design
drawings for release.
In addition to the above areas, L&T also achieved an
exciting milestone by implementing Aerial LiDAR survey
and sub-surface investigation for the first-ever bullet train
project in India. The geospatial team won the FICCI award
for Geospatial Excellence for Business Applications. Further
work is happening on automated drone operations for
remote surveillance and inspection purposes.
The Path Forward
Digital technologies have been gradually infused into the
operational processes in L&T and have become a way of life.
Every L&T facility – be it a factory, a project site or an office – uses multiple digital solutions that have been seamlessly
integrated into their day-to-day operations.
The solutions are being transformed into an integrated
platform which combines man, machine and processes
together to reduce the downtime of the equipment,
increase worker productivity, automate workflows and
provide more insights for informed decisions. Digital
transformation at L&T is at a stage where opportunities are
continuously being identified and innovation deployed. New
benchmarks are set with the integrated approach through
all these digital technologies.
Information Technology
The pandemic has upended all traditional business models
and has thrown up a new set of challenges. In the changed
landscape, the IT function across L&T rose to the challenge,
supporting the business during this critical time.
WFH (Work from Home) was the norm during FY 2020-21
where IT supported the businesses by ensuring secure and
continuous access to the workplace from anywhere and
anytime. Adequate training to employees was provided to
deal with this new situation. The result was a very high level
of employee communication and collaboration through the
digital mode. This culture shift has had the positive impact
of improved productivity.
Today, technologies are on the cusp of a Digital ‘Perfect
Storm’. These events force entities to re-think how IT is
consumed at the enterprise and elsewhere; the previous
such ‘Perfect-Storm’ was when all systems started getting
connected 20 years ago on private and public networks and
the information scarcity suddenly turned into an information
deluge for everyone.
The second such storm has begun, which is the digital
transformation of the business. This has already led to new
applications that are being created rapidly using digitally
disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence,
Machine Learning, Robotic Process Automation, Process
Mining, Data analytics, IoT, etc. to empower real-time
information in order to make informed decisions, thereby
lowering the cost of doing business, improving customer
experiences and improving employee productivity.
Thus, it is imperative that IT is on top of new and evolving
technologies to ensure they can be leveraged ahead of the
curve to provide the competitive edge to the business.
While adapting the new technologies, it is important that it
is done in a safe and secure manner. The Chief Information
Security Officer (CISO) organisation has been strengthened,
scanning old and new landscapes for new cyber threats
and constantly working with stakeholders to reduce and
mitigate the risk. The enterprise is working steadfastly on a
multi-year cyber security assurance framework to uniformly
ramp up cyber security controls across all businesses.
While the digital transformation permeates across L&T, IT
stands ready to collaborate with its businesses to enable
them to retain their competitiveness and stay ahead of the
curve.
Human Resources
Talent is the biggest anchor and differentiator for the
business success of the organisation. The Company was
able to face the challenges arising out of the Covid-19
situation primarily due to its committed workforce, a
leadership that inspires and gets the best out of talent and
the Company’s people-led philosophy and practices. This
enviable combination of talent, commitment, leadership
and culture continues to give L&T a competitive edge and
helps exceed performance expectations. L&T’s ability to
surpass expectations in a diverse business landscape that
includes engineering, projects, manufacturing, and services
is a shining example of managing a truly diverse talent pool.
This improved performance has been achieved through a
core belief in attracting young talent and grooming them
in-house. Further, L&T’s best-in-class and award-winning
people practices give life to this core belief and philosophy.
L&T’s talent management framework comprises the
core building blocks of attraction, development and
engagement.
L&T continues to attract the best engineering talent
from top-tier engineering campuses across the country,
on-boarding them as Graduate Engineer Trainees (GETs)
and putting them through a rigorous 12-month process
of acclimatisation and training. L&T’s Performance
Management System, aptly named FAIR (Framework for
Linking Appraisals with Incentives and Rewards), ensures
that top-class talent gets visibility and contributes to a
meritocratic environment.
The Leadership Development Centres, pivotal to the
Company’s core philosophy of grooming internal talent,
ensures that the right leadership talent is identified through
an intense and objective process. The structure, content
and methodology of such Centres are periodically revisited
to ensure that they are contemporary and aligned with
the growth aspirations of the Company. The deployment
of these Centres is now through a digital platform,
ensuring an expanded reach, cost savings and flexibility
to seamlessly induct external expertise. The Centres
provide a developmental experience to the participating
employees and reinforce the collaborative approach to
talent enrichment. HR interventions such as these are used
for talent management, succession planning, training and
leadership development.
The Company’s signature Seven-Step Leadership
Development Programme is an established best practice
in talent development. It continues to identify, train and
nurture young managers to develop broader business
perspectives, appreciate new business opportunities and
accomplish challenging tasks. This flagship programme
provides young employees with high potential access
to curated learning experiences delivered by reputed
thought leaders from Indian and international business
education institutes. The Action Learning Projects that
participants undertake offer immediate opportunity to
apply learnings in live business improvement projects
and be part of breakthrough and high-impact outcomes.
They bring participants in close working engagement
with senior business leaders and help assimilate the finer
points of business strategies and leadership attributes. The
emerging leaders who move up the Seven-Step Leadership
Programme are mentored by senior executives including
the Group Chairman, CEO & MD and other Directors and
Business Heads. This ensures a robustness in the continuity
of leadership thought process and value systems among
promising talent.
L&T’s world-class Leadership Development Academy (LDA)
at Lonavala is a sought-after facility for employees to
hone their supervisory and managerial skills. Many of the
marquee residential leadership development programmes
are offered in this sprawling campus that boasts of an
unmatched learning ambience. The LDA delivers business centric skills and capability-building programmes that
impact the quality and innovation evident in L&T’s business
deliverables.
The Corporate Technology & Engineering Academy (CTEA)
at Madh and Mysore, perform a critical role in bridging
the domain skill gap of young engineers. The custom-built
training programmes focus on developing technical
competence by providing practical hands-on training in
contemporary technologies and make the employees
task-ready.
L&T Institute of Project Management (L&T IPM) at Vadodara
leverages L&T’s wealth of knowledge in conceiving,
planning and executing mega-scale projects. IPM seamlessly
disseminates its best practices repository on Project
Management with practising and budding project managers
in L&T. This has created a cadre of well-trained and certified
project managers equipped to take up challenging projects
and deliver them with excellence. IPM has now established
the Knowledge@Work platform tailored to provide project
execution related knowledge assets in digital form.
The Company has a matured Safety Education Programme
that is designed to build and strengthen a culture of
safety at workplace. Ensuring safety for its employees and
workmen is a critical objective. The Corporate Learning
& Development team offers specialised programmes to
train employees on Safety and instructs them on how to
integrate safety into every aspect of work. The Company
has partnered with the National Examination Board in
Occupational Safety & Health (NEBOSH) and The Institution
of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH) to develop internal
training capabilities in EHS and is an accredited course
provider for its employees on diverse aspects of industrial
and project safety.
L&T has established a scalable, multi-featured and externally
integrated Digital Learning Platform called ATLNext. This
has emerged as the bulwark of remote and real-time
learning in the organisation. The platform makes use of
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning-driven learning
algorithms. It has access to curated course content from
global learning publishers and has been successful in
inducing the culture of learning among L&T’s employees.
This platform has seen continuous enhancement and wide
acceptability, winning many prestigious industry awards in
the segment of digital learning.
The journey of HR Digitalisation has made substantial
progress this year, and the cloud-based platform
implemented in earlier years has become a single source of
employee data and a robust anchor for current and future
talent modules. This digital platform has become a go-to
forum for employees for life-cycle transactions, performance
management, development plans and employee-connect
initiatives, including during the remote working mode.
The Company is in a position to derive real-time talent
dashboards for the corporate leadership team.
The tenacious focus on developing talent for business
excellence was balanced with care and concern for
its people. The HR function in the Company played a
pivotal role in designing and executing its response to the
Covid-19 pandemic. Multiple initiatives were crafted and
implemented to continuously communicate pandemic
specifics to the employees and their families, extend medical