Dr Reddys in S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook for 2nd Year

Hyderabad: Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. has announced two major back-to-back recognitions in sustainability and gender equality. Dr. Reddy's is one of seven Indian companies in Bloomberg's Gender-Equality Index (GEI) 2022, and the only Indian pharma company in the index. The 2022 GEI comprises 418 companies across 45 countries with a combined market capitalisation of $16 trillion. The assessment framework consists of five pillars – female leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment, and pro-women brand.

The GEI helps bring transparency to gender-related practices and policies in publicly-listed companies around the world, thereby increasing the breadth and depth of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data available to investors and other stakeholders. The inclusion marks Dr. Reddy's listing in the GEI for a fifth consecutive year.

"It is a recognition of the year-on-year enhancement of the company's efforts to create an inclusive and equitable workplace through employee-friendly policies and engagement, especially during the current pandemic through maximum flexibility in ways of working, special consideration and leaves for caregivers, and employee assistance programmes," the company said in a recent release.

The company has rolled out insurance policy coverage for fertility services for the global workforce and adoption assistance besides COVID-19 insurance. Dr. Reddy's recently joined the United Nations Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) as a signatory. The company has also been included as a member of The Sustainability Yearbook 2022, building on the company's inclusion in The Sustainability Yearbook 2021. The membership is based on the Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) 2021 by S&P Global.

Based on CSA 2021, Dr. Reddy's was positioned ninth among the most sustainable pharmaceutical companies globally in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) 2021, featuring for the sixth year in a row in the Emerging Markets category, and among the top 10 sustainability leaders as listed in the DJSI. The positioning is a recognition of Dr. Reddy's consistent performance across the environment, social, and governance dimensions with industry-leading scores in environmental reporting, operational co-efficiency, policy and management systems, risk governance and culture, and innovation management.

Commenting on the recognitions, G.V. Prasad, Co-Chairman & Managing Director, Dr. Reddy's said: "Early on, we realised that the most effective way to impact millions of patients is by empowering our people to act with agility and to do what is tough and worthwhile. We were the first Indian pharmaceutical company to be registered under the GRI database. We released our first Sustainability Report in 2004, and were among the earliest companies in India to initiate voluntary disclosures on social and environmental aspects. Sustainability has been a core value of the company, rooted in our purpose and part of the business strategy. Our aim is to focus on solving societal problems through innovative means, improving access to healthcare and taking care of the well-being of the environment while we do so."

These honours are the latest in a series of recognitions in recent months for the company's work in sustainability and ESG. Earlier this year, Dr. Reddy's was awarded Sustainable Corporate of the Year award at the Frost & Sullivan-TERI Sustainability 4.0 Awards 2022.

In October 2021, the company was second runner-up in the United Nations Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Gender-Inclusive Workplace category in Asia-Pacific. Dr. Reddy's broke into the top 15 and was recognised as one of India's top companies for sustainability and corporate social responsibility at the Economic Times SDG Summit in September 2021, ranking 13th in Responsible Business Ranking in the ET-Futurescape 8th Sustainability Index Report 2021. Earlier in 2021, Dr. Reddy's was ranked as the top pharmaceutical company in India based on CRISIL's ESG score from among 225 companies evaluated by the CRISIL research team.

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