Businesses
At Hindalco, risk management is no longer a function that sits on the sidelines. It is becoming a way of thinking, a shared language, and a capability that strengthens every part of the organisation. The Hindalco Risk Conclave 2025, held in Mumbai, brought together risk managers, business leaders and guest experts for two days of conversation, challenges and collective reflections on what it truly means to build a resilient enterprise.
Across sessions led by Chief Risk Officer Anil Mathew, Managing Director Satish Pai, and senior leaders from businesses and functions, one idea stood out: Risk is not only about predicting the future, it is also about preparing for it. Whether in geopolitics, supply chains, technology or finance, the speed and interconnectedness of risks demand sharper foresight and quicker action.
What also emerged was how deeply risk thinking is shaping outcomes. At couple of our plant, nearly 60-70% of capex is linked to risk register, a sign of how systematically Hindalco is linking strategy to risk intelligence. Insurance coverage has been strengthened without additional premiums, powered by stronger ERM processes and disciplined governance. These are not theoretical gains; they are proof that good risk management pays off.
External perspectives added depth to the Risk Conclave discussions. Ravi Thota, Head of Enterprise Risk Management at L&T, offered insights from large-scale project environments, while Prabha Thomas, Chief Risk & Compliance Officer at TCS, spoke about navigating a world of polycrisis, where multiple disruptions collide at once. Another important point of reflection was the criticality of preparedness and the ‘first five minutes’ mindset in crisis response.
For Hindalco’s teams, the biggest conversations centred on mindset. How do we expand the ownership of risk beyond unit heads and risk managers? How do frontline teams identify early signals? How do we shift from risk avoidance to intelligent risk-taking and risk-informed decision making? Through examples from operations, digital systems, strategy and people management, Hindalco leaders such as Samik Basu, CHRO, Rohit Pathak, CEO, Birla Copper, Poorav Sheth, Chief Digital & Information Officer, Aniruddha Kulkarni,Head, Copper Downstream, Kailash Pandey, Head, Mining, and Bharat Goenka, Chief Financial Officer, reinforced that resilience is built when everyone sees risk as part of their job and move from awareness to action.
A simulation exercise as part of group activity was conducted, where various teams navigated a fictional supply disruption, made one learning very real: Decision-making rarely has clean edges. Seeing risks early, voicing concerns, and solving collaboratively creates better outcomes than any process on paper.
As Anil Mathew remarked, the Conclave is the beginning of a collective commitment to embed clarity, capability and culture into Hindalco’s risk practices. Because for a company that operates at scale and across geographies, resilience is not just preparedness; it is a competitive advantage.
At Hindalco, the journey to build a risk-intelligent organisation is well underway, and powered by people who see risk not as a constraint, but as a capability that strengthens performance, safeguards value and enables the future.
