Insights from Speaking Engagements in 2025
At Shahi, we believe in sharing our experiences and learning with all the stakeholders in the fashion industry and beyond. This is an ongoing post to share insights from our speaking engagements in 2025. Read insights from previous years’ engagements: 2024 | 2023.
18 November | Shaping the Fabric Forum 2025
At the Shaping the Fabric Forum 2025, voices from the factory floor took center stage.
Jyoti and Savitri, a Tailor and a Captain, respectively, in Shahi factories, shared what safe, dignified, and empowering work truly means for women who migrate, build new lives, and rise as leaders. They spoke about leaving home for the first time, supporting their families through illness and lockdowns, and managing studies alongside small jobs to fund their education. Both shared their journey of learning new skills on the job: operating machines, managing teams, and even opening their first bank accounts, while adjusting to a new city, a new language, and hostel life.
Representing Shahi, Chitra Prasad, Senior General Manager, Organizational Development, joined the ‘Women at Work’ panel to reflect on the realities women navigate every day. She highlighted the importance of empowering migrant workers through structured training, counseling, and financial planning. She also advocated creating pathways for career progression and leadership development within organizations. Chitra emphasized that supporting women in leadership, promoting vertical and horizontal mobility, and providing diverse career opportunities strengthen both the individuals and the workplace.
27 October | OECD Inclusive Platform On Due Diligence Policy Co-Operation
The OECD Inclusive Platform on Due Diligence Policy Co-operation held its second meeting on October 27-28, 2025, at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris, focusing on aligning global due diligence legislation and streamlining data exchange across supply chains. Representing the supplier perspective in Plenary 1, Anant Ahuja, Director of ESG & Sustainability at Shahi Exports, advocated for a shift from “risk avoidance” to “joint risk reduction”. During his intervention, he highlighted the growing burden of duplicative reporting and audit fatigue, urging governments to promote policy coherence through the OECD 6-step model and digital interoperability. Ahuja emphasized that for due diligence to drive real-world impact rather than just compliance paperwork, global buyers and regulators must reward transparency and prioritize collaborative remediation over disengagement.
22 October | Global Change Award Summit Stockholm 2025
Anant Ahuja attended the Global Change Award Summit in Stockholm, joining the panel “Inside the Textile Value Chain: How Innovation is Reshaping It.” He shared Shahi’s experience piloting climate-focused innovations across fibres and chemical processes, including next-generation materials and low-impact wet processing technologies, with a focus on scalability and measurable impact.
He highlighted the role of Fashion for Good’s Strategic Supplier Initiative in enabling more structured innovation trials and early collaboration with mill partners. The discussion also addressed challenges in moving from pilot to scale, including delays in commercial adoption, fragmented value chain alignment, and high implementation costs.
Anant emphasized the need for clearer risk-sharing models, stronger brand commitments, and more integrated approaches to accelerate the adoption of innovation across the supply chain.
21 September | New York Climate Week 2025
Anant Ahuja, Director of ESG and Sustainability, joined a session at New York Climate Week, organized by Economic Impact. The discussion brought together global industry voices to explore pressing challenges and opportunities in climate action. Anant contributed perspectives from the supply chain, sharing insights from Shahi’s ongoing efforts to integrate sustainability into manufacturing.
10 September | Launch of CITI’s Improving Transparency for Sustainable Business (ITSB) in India
At the ITSB launch organized by CITI, Mr. Rajneesh Rai, AVP, Environmental Sustainability, joined a panel exploring the role of ESG in transforming India’s textile sector. He emphasized the importance of digital platforms, regular training, and knowledge-sharing to improve factory-level data on water, energy, emissions, and recycling. He also shared that reliable ESG data can support regulatory compliance, enable benchmarking, and inform more strategic sustainability planning. His remarks highlighted that better transparency starts with better tools and capacity for those collecting and using the data.
2 September | 2nd FICCI India Manufacturing Leadership Forum
Anant Ahuja participated in the “Ease of Doing Business for Viksit Bharat” roundtable discussion, focusing on how sustainability fits into India’s manufacturing growth story. He shared Shahi’s perspective on integrating social and environmental metrics into industrial policy. The discussion focused on how transparency, digital infrastructure, and workforce readiness can position India’s manufacturing sector as globally competitive and equitable. Anant emphasized that a future-ready industrial ecosystem must ensure that efficiency is aligned with inclusion and responsibility.
06 August | Brand Supplier Summit
At Tesco’s Brand Supplier Summit, Chitra Prasad, Senior General Manager, Organizational Development, shared how Shahi has built gender equity over the past 15 years. On the “Gender Ambition” panel, she described how the team created safe, inclusive workplaces, increased women’s representation in committees, and strengthened leadership pathways across levels. Drawing on the ‘Responsible For framework’, she explained how Shahi designed systems that move beyond compliance and support long-term change. She emphasized that advancing gender equity means continuously investing in structures that reflect women’s lived experiences and unlock their leadership potential.
29 July | Women in Manufacturing – Lead with Equity Summit
Deepak Rautela, Assistant Vice President, Organizational Development, joined the “Built to Include: Gender Equity in Indian Manufacturing” Panel hosted by Good Business Lab and EquiLead. He shared how Shahi is embedding gender goals into governance through internal policies, ESG assessments, and a culture of accountability. He outlined our ESG monitoring systems, including scoring frameworks to track progress, and explained how they would be utilized. His insights reflected that meaningful equity work relies on strong internal systems that translate commitments into measurable outcomes and ensure continuous improvement.
22 July | Unlocking Investor Action for a Just Transition in India’s Fashion Sector
Gauri Sharma, General Manager, ESG and Innovation, participated in the “Thread to Transformation” panel in New Delhi, hosted by the Impact Investors Council and the Impact Investing Institute. She emphasized the importance of investors collaborating closely with supply chain partners to understand the on-the-ground realities. Her discussion explored how climate finance and circularity strategies must prioritize worker rights, supplier viability, and local economic resilience. The discussion highlighted the importance of designing investment models that support decarbonization while ensuring that no one is left behind.
24 June | Innovation Forum Sustainable Apparel and Textiles Conference USA
At the Innovation Forum in the US, Anant Ahuja joined the “Supplier Spotlight” session to speak about reimagining supplier relationships. He stressed the importance of long-term partnerships based on shared goals, co-investment, and responsible purchasing practices. Anant brought up ‘pilot fatigue’ and emphasized the need for scalable, context-aware solutions. He highlighted that sustainability in global supply chains can only be achieved when suppliers are treated as strategic partners and included early in the design of any initiative.
17 June | Launch of report on Women’s Advancement by RISE
Chitra Prasad, Senior General Manager, Organizational Development, represented Shahi at the launch of a new report by Reimagining Industry to Support Equity (RISE). The report is titled “Shifting perspectives to accelerate women’s advancement and leadership in the garment, footwear and textiles industry – How international buyers and suppliers can take collaborative action”. Chitra spoke as part of the panel and reflected on why advancing women’s leadership in supply chains is a strategic priority for Shahi. She outlined how Shahi has integrated this focus into its core through initiatives such as Gap Inc.’s P.A.C.E., EWASE, and STITCH. She shared how these programs have contributed to measurable business outcomes. This includes higher retention, improved productivity, and increased representation of women in supervisory roles. Drawing on both experience and data, she emphasized the importance of moving beyond transactional approaches. She advocated for shared-risk models that enable long-term investment in equitable and resilient supply chains.
04 June | SXSW London 2025
Anant Ahuja, Director of ESG and Sustainability, participated in the panel “Circular Fashion: Can the Dream Become Reality?” He addressed the realities of scaling circular practices in mass fashion supply chains. He noted that some practices, like water recycling and waste reuse, are already in place. However, material circularity remains limited due to technological maturity, cost, and infrastructure. He also spoke about key barriers to adoption, including the disconnect between R&D and sourcing teams. He emphasized that shifting supplier-buyer relationships from transactional to collaborative is essential.
29 May | Hurun Philanthropy Summit 2025
Anant Ahuja joined a discussion on the panel ‘Philanthropy 3.0 – From Legacy to Leadership in a Digital Age’. It was a cross-sector discussion on how giving is being redefined.
15 May | Apparel Connect 2025
At the 8th edition of Apparel Connect, Sailendra Venkata Banda, General Manager – Logistics at Shahi, joined India’s leading apparel logistics forum. He shared his perspective on strengthening apparel logistics for a global scale. He spoke on a panel hosted by Cargo Connect where he discussed how supply chain resilience, real-time visibility, and technology integration are becoming essential for competitiveness.
15 May | UNFPA Asia and the Pacific Regional Launch
UNFPA brought together companies from across the region at the launch of The Coalition for Reproductive Justice in Business. The group discussed how businesses can embed reproductive rights in the workplace. Anant Ahuja was invited to address the gathering virtually. He showcased Shahi’s work towards improving the health and well-being of our workforce and designing tailored interventions for women employees for a better workplace.
05 May | UNFPA & Essity Nordic Roundtable
At the roundtable discussion titled “Business: Mobilizing the Nordic Private Sector for Women’s Health and Rights at Work”, Anant Ahuja spoke about Shahi’s workplace menstrual health initiative, Project Pravah. He explained how the program improves access, availability, and awareness for over 70,000 women workers. He also shared the results of the UNFPA Return-on-Investment Tool, developed with Good Business Lab (GBL). The program led to a 21 percent reduction in absenteeism, with a projected return of $2.90 for every $1 invested. This highlights that investments in well-being can improve work-life and create measurable business value.
