Hindustan Zinc is expanding women's economic participation across rural communities and its mining and manufacturing operations, combining livelihood development with greater representation of women in technology-intensive industrial roles.

The company's flagship Sakhi initiative has connected more than 25,000 rural women through Self-Help Groups, providing access to savings, credit, skills and entrepreneurial training aimed at building sustainable livelihoods.

Among the beneficiaries is Farzana, a production associate with Sakhi Utpadan Samiti, who moved from informal domestic labour to structured textile and FMCG production. She now earns approximately Rs 3.47 lakh annually. During the COVID-19 lockdown, her unit also produced cloth masks, helping sustain incomes while supporting community requirements.

Hindustan Zinc's Samadhan initiative is similarly supporting agriculture and livestock-based livelihoods through technical and market assistance. Prem Bai Vyas from Matoon village expanded her dairy operations from around 10 litres of milk per day to approximately 85 litres. She now earns more than Rs 90,000 a month, receives payments directly into her bank account and independently manages a 20-cattle unit.

Amarendu Prakash, CEO, Hindustan Zinc, said the company aims to create opportunities that enable women to achieve economic independence, whether through rural enterprises or leadership roles in advanced manufacturing technologies.

Women currently account for 26.3 per cent of Hindustan Zinc's workforce, which the company says is the highest in India's metals and mining sector. Around 62 per cent of its employees are under 35.

Women employees are working underground, operating heavy equipment, managing critical processes across shifts and participating in mine rescue operations. They are also taking up roles involving artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation and digitalisation.

Through its Tejaswini initiative, all-women teams are managing operations across shifts in the Leaching & Purification section at the Chanderiya Smelting Complex.

At Zinc Smelter Debari, Swapnil Thori, Lead – Digitalisation and an IIT Delhi graduate, is leading AI and machine learning-led transformation across smelters and power plants. Her work covers areas including consumable optimisation, predictive maintenance and process integration.

The Vedanta Group company said it will continue integrating inclusion into its business and community programmes across education, skilling, healthcare and livelihood development as India advances towards its Viksit Bharat @2047 goals.