As part of its commitment to phase out single-use plastics from all its hotels, Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) is strengthening its commitment to sustainable business practices by introducing bottling plants at its hotels in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai in India, as well as the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

The initiative to replace all plastic water bottles at the hotels with reusable glass bottles bottled with treated water will avoid the use of 6 million plastic bottles per year.   

In line with its commitment to preserving the environment, IHCL, in 2018, announced the elimination of plastic straws from all its hotels, replacing them with paper and bamboo straws. It has taken additional steps to reduce the use of single-use plastics, including replacing dry hospitality products packaged in plastic with eco-friendly substitutes.

IHCL is also behind the introduction of the country's first-ever "single-use plastic-free hotel," Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, in the Andamans. With a focus on sustainability to preserve the island's fragile ecosystem, 72 beach villas were built without cutting down a single tree, and the resort has an on-site bottling plant, a waste disposal system that turns wet waste into gas and compost, and a wastewater treatment plant to limit its carbon footprint.