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GMR's Journey Towards Excellence: Building Quality into Everything We Do

10 November 2025

A Vision That Drives Us

GMR Group has a powerful vision: to be "an institution in perpetuity" - an organization built to last forever. This is not just a tagline; it is a commitment backed by the GMR Business Excellence Model (GBEM), a framework that guides how every part of the company operates. Based on global best practices from the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (USA), GBEM is built on eleven core values that shape our culture and work approach.

Over the past 15 years, this framework has transformed how GMR does business, leading to remarkable achievements across airports, energy, urban infrastructure, and transportation sectors.

Why Excellence Matters More Than Ever

The business world is changing rapidly. Organizations today face challenges like adapting quickly to change, retaining talented employees, driving innovation, ensuring diversity and inclusion, managing supply chains, and building environmental and social sustainability. These pressures make it essential for GMR to not just follow best practices but to make them part of our DNA, making us more resilient and sustainable for the long term.

How We Build a Culture of Quality

Training Programs: Empowering Every Employee

At GMR, quality starts with knowledge. We invest in training programs that give employees the tools to improve their workspaces, processes, and decision-making:

5S: A simple organizing method that stands for Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain. It helps clean up clutter, improve safety, and boost efficiency, whether in airport terminals, offices, or even digital systems.

Kaizen: This Japanese concept encourages small, daily improvements. Employees suggest ideas that save time, reduce waste, and enhance productivity, making continuous improvement a natural habit.

Idea Factory: A platform where anyone can submit creative ideas to improve customer experience, safety, or sustainability. Many of these ideas are actually implemented, proving that innovation can come from anywhere.

Advanced Tools: We also train teams in problem-solving methods like Lean Six Sigma, PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act), and DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyse-Improve-Control) structured approaches that help solve problems systematically and deliver measurable results.

The impact? Faster problem solving, better service delivery, and a workforce that feels engaged and takes ownership of quality.

Business Excellence Assessors: Quality Guardians

GMR has built an impressive internal capability with 243 certified Business Excellence Assessors, up from just a handful in 2010. This 30-fold increase shows our commitment to building quality expertise from within.

These assessors evaluate departments, suggest improvements, and even participate in national-level evaluations. But it is more than just assessment, it is a leadership development journey. Assessors learn to see the business holistically, understanding everything from visionary leadership and strategic planning to customer focus and operational effectiveness. This bridges the gap between daily operations and excellence requirements, creating leaders who can drive real change. Considering a period of 2015 to 2025, GHIAL has highest growth (CAGR) of 10.9% among all major Indian Airports.

Continuous Improvement Projects: Solving Real Problems

In 2024-25, GMR businesses submitted over 220 projects focused on continuous improvement. These are more than just academic exercises, they solve actual business challenges and deliver measurable results.

Projects fall into six categories:

Process Improvement: Making workflows simpler and more efficient
Cost Savings: Reducing expenses, either one-time or recurring
Revenue Generation: Creating new income streams
Health, Safety & Environment: Improving workplace safety and sustainability
Promising Innovation: Breakthrough ideas with high potential
Dare to Try: Bold experiments where even failures teach valuable lessons

The results? Better customer experiences, higher employee engagement, and solutions that can be replicated across different locations, multiplying their impact.

Excellence Embedded in Our Business

What makes GBEM truly powerful is that it is not a separate program, it is woven into how GMR conducts business every day. From strategic planning to daily operations, the framework guides decision-making, performance tracking, and continuous improvement.

All GMR sectors have adopted GBEM with varying levels of maturity. Notably, Delhi Airport (DIAL) and Hyderabad Airport (GHIAL), along with GMR Energy Assets, have achieved "Emerging Industry Leader" status scoring 550+ on the Business Excellence scale, placing them among the best in their industries.

Staying Relevant in a Changing World

The 2024-25 GBEM Reference Manual has been updated to address four critical areas for long-term success:

Societal Contributions: Making a positive impact on communities
Environmental Sustainability: Protecting our planet
Digital Economy: Leveraging technology and data
Cybersecurity: Protecting information and systems

These updates ensure GMR remains agile, responsible, and prepared for future challenges - from workforce changes and innovation demands to sustainability expectations and stakeholder trust.

Recognition That Validates Our Efforts

GMR's commitment to quality has earned impressive recognition, particularly for Delhi Airport:

Airport Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards:

Best Airport in the over-40-million-passengers category in Asia-Pacific for six consecutive years (2018-2023)
Cleanest Airport in Asia-Pacific
Level 4 Accreditation – ACI World Airport Customer Experience, 2025
Level 3 Airport Customer Experience Accreditation

Skytrax acts like a "Michelin Guide" for air travel, rating airlines and airports on their quality of service:

Best Airport in India & South Asia for seven consecutive years
Only Indian airport with a 4-Star rating (sustained through 2019, 2020, 2023, and 2024)
Only Indian airport in the Top 50 World Airport Ranking since 2020

GMR’s Goa Airport too won the “Cleanest Airport in India & South Asia” tag from Skytrax.

GMR's Hyderabad Airport is not any step behind in terms of recognition. They won:

ACI World’s ‘ASQ Best Airport Award 2024’
Best Airport Staff in India and South Asia from Skytrax
ASSOCHAM Environment Award
LEED Platinum Certification for Terminal Expansion of RGIA
ACA Level 5 Carbon Accreditation

The transformation is remarkable: When GMR took over Delhi Airport in 2006-07, it ranked 101 out of 125 airports globally. Within eight years, it reached #1 in its category and continues to lead today.

Energy Sector: Global Leadership in Safety and Efficiency

GMR Energy has established itself among global leaders in operational excellence and safety management. GMR Kamalanga Energy Limited (GKEL) was honoured with the British Safety Council's Sword of Honour 2024 for excellence in occupational health and safety management, achieving a Five-Star audit rating. This follows GMR Warora Energy Limited (GWEL), which earned the same prestigious recognition in 2019, reinforcing GMR Energy's sustained commitment to world-class safety and quality standards.

Beyond safety, GMR Energy continues to set benchmarks in operational excellence and quality performance. GWEL was honoured as a National Energy Leader at the CII 25th National Award for Excellence in Energy Management 2024, recognizing its outstanding quality systems, innovation-driven operations, and consistent energy performance. In the same forum, GKEL received the Excellent Energy Efficient Unit award, underscoring its pursuit of excellence through process optimization, technology adoption, and quality-focused management practices.

In addition to the recognitions, most of GMR Assets have scored 90% and above in 5S Certification Audits, as per the recognition from National Productivity Council. This recognition is a revolution in operational excellence that positions GMR as a national benchmark in 5S excellence.

Legend

GWEL	GMR Warora Energy Ltd.	GKEL	GMR Kamalanga Energy Ltd.
GHIAL	GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.	GVIAL	GMR Vishakhapatnam International Airport Ltd.
GGIAL	GMR Goa International Airport Ltd.	RAXA	GMR’s Security Solutions Partner
GMRVF	GMR Varalakshmi Foundation	GSEPL	GMR Enterprise Pvt. Ltd.

The Road Ahead

Excellence is not a destination, it is an ongoing journey. As GMR enters an era of digital transformation, the Business Excellence framework will continue to guide us, inspiring every team member to raise the bar higher and make quality a way of life.

This commitment to excellence does not just improve operations, it creates value for customers, employees, partners, and communities. It builds an organization that is not just successful today, but built to thrive for generations to come.