We have established a robust process for identifying stakeholders and engaging with them to strengthen the partnership. We have undertaken a 360-degree review of our business value chain to identify our key stakeholder groups and mapped stakeholder engagement mechanism. There are six key stakeholder groups critical to our success: Consumers, Customers, Suppliers and Business Partners, Our People, Planet & Society and Shareholders.

We strive to grow our business, while protecting the planet and doing good for the community. We believe that to generate superior long-term value, we need to care for all our stakeholders: consumers, customers, employees, shareholders, business partners, and above all, the planet and society. We call it the multi-stakeholder model of sustainable growth. The CoBP and Code Policies guide how we interact with our key stakeholders. All engagements are conducted transparently, with honesty, integrity, and openness.

Our engagement with our broader stakeholder community is undertaken by respective functions in consultation with the leadership team and overseen by the ESG Committee. Feedback from different stakeholder groups on environmental, social or economic topics is shared with the ESG Committee of the Board. We also have a CSR Committee to review, monitor, and provide strategic direction to our CSR practices and social initiatives.

Stakeholder consultation is of utmost importance to us, as we live in an uncertain and constantly changing world. In order to create long-term value, we take steps to understand each stakeholder group's needs and priorities through several mediums, including direct engagement or via delegated committees and forums.

We conduct a sustainability materiality assessment to identify and prioritise sustainability issues across our value chain so that we can focus on the key issues affecting our stakeholders. A sustainability issue is material to us, if it is considered a principal risk or an element of a principal risk that could impact our business or performance or if our key stakeholders deem it important. In addition, we use stakeholder insights to gauge the relative importance of each issue.

We engage with vulnerable/marginalised stakeholder groups through the CSR outreach programmes. The programmes are not just limited to philanthropy, but also encompass holistic community development, institution-building, and sustainability-related initiatives, while focusing on vulnerable and marginalised groups. The CSR Policy aims to provide a dedicated approach to community development in water conservation, health and hygiene, skill development, providing livelihood opportunities, social advancement, gender equality, empowerment of women, environmental sustainability, and rural development.

Further, as a part of 'HUL Compass ESG Goals', we plan to spend ₹2,000 crores annually with diverse suppliers by 2025, focusing on (but not limited to) women, differently-abled people, and other marginalised sections of society.

Some of the key actions to address the concerns of vulnerable/marginalised groups through various initiatives are listed below:

Project Shakti: An initiative to financially empower and provide livelihood opportunities to women in rural India, launched by HUL in 2001. Project Shakti has positively impacted the livelihoods, confidence, and self-esteem of women with enhanced skills and entrepreneurial mindsets. We have over 1,90,000 Shakti entrepreneurs spread across 18 States.

Water conservation programme: Hindustan Unilever Foundation (HUF) is a not-for-profit company set up in 2010 to support and amplify scalable solutions to address India's water challenges, specifically in rural communities that intersect with agriculture. HUF along with its partners has delivered a cumulative and collective water potential of over 2.6 trillion litres* since its inception over the last decade through improved water supply and demand management, over 1.7 million tonnes of additional agricultural and biomass production, and over 110 million person-days of employment. To underscore the importance of the water potential created by HUF; 2.6 trillion litres of water is more than the quantity required to meet the drinking water needs of India's population for nearly two years.

Asha Daan: Asha Daan is a home in Mumbai for abandoned and differently abled children, HIV positive people and destitute. Since the inception of Asha Daan in 1976, HUL has been looking after the maintenance and upkeep of the premises. Managed by the Missionaries of Charity (founded by Mother Teresa), Asha Daan provides shelter to over 350 - 400 inmates. The home is located in 50,000-square feet plot owned by HUL and under our CSR program, we have commenced work to set up proper drainage and ventilation systems, create additional leisure space for inmates to walk, and develop a play area for children.

Prabhat: Prabhat is our sustainable community development initiative that aims to create sustainable and inclusive communities. It builds on local community needs at a grassroot level, in line with India's development agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The initiative has positively benefitted nearly 9 million people in the last nine years.

Ankur: Ankur was set up in 1993 as a centre for special education for differently abled children at Doom Dooma in Assam. Ankur has provided free special educational, vocational, and rehabilitative training to over 350 children with physical and cognitive impairments from underprivileged backgrounds.

Sanjeevani: A free mobile medical service camp called 'Sanjeevani' has been set up to cater to the local community near our manufacturing location in Doom Dooma in Assam.

Suvidha: The Community Hygiene Centre - 'Suvidha' is a first- of-its-kind urban water, hygiene and sanitation community centre, that was first set up at Ghatkopar, Mumbai. The biggest Suvidha centre is in Dharavi, Mumbai and is one of the largest community toilets in India. In 2023, we built five new Suvidha centres and as on March 2023, we have 12 Suvidha centres in Mumbai along with our partners, giving access to clean water, sanitation and laundry facilities to over 3 lakhs people.

'Samavesh' and 'Ahilya': 'Samavesh' is our project to improve women participation in our factory shop floors and with our 'Ahilya' initiative, we are empowering women to become sales professionals. We have over 850 women as shopfloor employees across our manufacturing locations and have onboarded over 1000 women in sales.

Inclusion of person with disabilities (PwDs): We are committed to including persons with disabilities in our employment ecosystem and workforce. Our ambition is to achieve 5% of our workforce to be made up of people with disabilities by 2025.