The Good Fashion Fund, managed by FOUNT, made its first investment in India with Pratibha Syntex Limited in 2021/22 for a USD 4.5 million US dollar, long-term loan supporting replacement and modernisation of key equipment in one spinning unit, washing unit and expansion of captive solar capacity. Following regular monitoring since 2022 by GFF and third-party advisors, the investment continues to demonstrate positive results documented in a deep dive case study, another first for the industry, highlighting the financial savings, decarbonization, resource efficiency and social improvements in the units of Pratibha Syntex. The case study was launched today at the Cascale Annual Meeting in Hong Kong as part of the session ‘Financing the Future: Decarbonization in Action’
Continuous monitoring, independent validation of impact
The first on-site monitoring of Pratibha Syntex was conducted in December 2022, where results had been positively verified to have surpassed 50% savings in key areas of energy, water and materials. These results were assessed by GFF and by its third-party advisors Sphera, Fairwear Foundation, global CAD and adelphi Consult.
Since then, the company has regularly reported the performance of its equipment and over a three year period between 2022 and 2024, the verified findings confirm that the investment continues to comfortably surpass the minimum 50% environmental savings target for financed key equipment – specifically Good Energy, Good Water and Good Materials – supported by tangible financial savings (Good Economy) and concrete CO2 savings. It has also led to direct tangible improvements on environmental and social action items based on the annual E&S assessment by the fund, resulting in a replicable model for other mid-sized manufacturers in the country.
With the funding, Pratibha installed newer spinning equipment, a continuous tumble dryer, 1.2 MW solar rooftop and membrane bioreactor (MBR) for the effluent treatment plant – that operate more efficiently than the legacy equipment. In 2022, GFF’s investment in solar alone contributed to half of Pratibha’s captive solar capacity of 4% which has continued to increase since then. The company’s renewable energy mix is approximately 25% (purchased and captive) with further expansion under commissioning.
“Thanks to the investment from Good Fashion Fund, we had undertaken quite a few initiatives. We started with an initial plan and since our partnership, we were motivated to continue our sustainable production transition. Since then, we have upgraded, almost entirely, the facilities due to the catalyst of change that was GFF on our sustainability journey. Importantly, this has enabled us to measure and communicate ESG impact more holistically, while sharpening our focus on areas needing greater progress. As a
mid-sized manufacturer, the benefits we are seeing in terms of CO2 reduction, efficiency gains and social safeguards, supported by cost savings will hopefully provide a business case for other manufacturers to adopt and for brands to deepen their support in these turbulent times.” said Shreyaskar Chaudhary, Managing Director of Pratibha Syntex.
Key results from the monitoring of GFF financed equipment (2022 – 2024, 3-year period)
Environmental
- 74% reduction in energy consumption (spinning, dryer) –5,392,266 Kwh saved
- 100% reduction in water consumption (tumble dryer) – ~40 million litres saved
- Reduction in steam consumption (19% ETP, 100% dryer) –11,694,028 Kgs steam saved
- 69% reduction in ETP chemical sludge and 21% reduction in ETP chemical use
- 10,861.5 tons of Co2 saved from GFF financed equipment Social
- Safer working conditions due to continuous focus of worker health & safety
- Update of long-term environmental strategy of the company
- Commitment to gender equity and women – active promotion of female supervisors
- Upgraded accommodations for 900 workers in the factory Financial
- USD 727,160 approx. gross savings from solar, energy efficient equipment, water savings