Godrej – Safes and locks that strike the balance between the highest security and sustainability standards

Godrej is a household name in India, known for everything from consumer goods to real estate development. At Security Essen, however, where Godrej had its booth next to (much smaller) companies that dedicate all their resources and energy to security equipment—video security, access controls, intercoms and safe storage—it was not immediately visible what giant Godrej is.
 
Under its Godrej Security Solutions business, the Mumbai-headquartered conglomerate is present in all the fields mentioned above, but in Essen the focus was on door locks and safes. On the locking solutions side, Godrej is offering everything up to smart locks with integrated fingerprint readers and door cameras that can also be operated via an app. On the side of safes, it is offering everything up to models for biometric and digital unlocking marketed as “300x stronger than a wooden cupboard,” according to in-house testing.
 
At Essen, Godrej showcased models rated T2 under the EN 1143-1 standard, based on independently conducted tests against common burglary tools. Its production practices received the EcoVadis Gold Sustainability Rating, placing Godrej in the top 5% of companies assessed by the global rating body in terms of responsible and sustainable business practices.
 
This balance Godrej is striking between highest security standards and sustainable production without compromising on either side is a special point of pride for Surojit Banerjee, Head of International Business at Godrej Enterprise Group.
 
“Every product tells you its own carbon footprint,” Banerjee told asmag in an exclusive interview on the show floor. “Scan the QR code on the product, and you will get audited, objective results.”
 
Behind the QR code is a life-cycle analysis of each product, covering the steel, the infill material, the paint, the energy used in production and what happens when its service life ends. One result is a design goal that sounds counterintuitive for a safe: using less material.
 
“Conventional safes used to be heavy, thick and material-intensive,” Banerjee said. “We are striving to make our products lighter, by designing them more smartly and using less material,” Banerjee explained. “This does not affect their strength, as proven by increasingly strict certification requirements that our products are continuing to meet.”
 
This positioning in the market has proven to be successful not just in India. Godrej sells its products in over 50 countries, relying on a strong network of partners, such as Challenger Safes Pacific, which is marketing Godrej safes in New Zealand, including under its own EuroCash safe range made by Godrej.
 
In New Zealand, insurers were among the first in the world to acknowledge T2 ratings for safes inside properties—even before insurers in Europe did, Banerjee said.

“It’s like this in many fields—what New Zealand does today, the world does tomorrow,” he added, highlighting Godrej’s strong position in markets at the forefront of increasingly strict standards for security hardware.
 
In its core markets, Godrej offers integrated systems, including video security, intercoms and access control.
 
“One of the most important elements is building trust among partners and end users who are relying on integrated systems,” Banerjee said, adding that in home security and elsewhere, physical components form “the last line of defense.”
 
“The seamless integration of all parts of a security system, regardless of digital or physical, is key,” Banerjee said. “In situations where one part of a system is compromised, security must be able to rely on what remains—and that is often the physical component, for example safes designed to withstand every breach attempt.”  
 
While the focus in many markets remains on breach-proof products at affordable prices, especially in times of heightened component cost pressure, Godrej is not planning to compromise on its green philosophy.
 
Godrej produces security equipment in suburban Mumbai, where the conglomerate’s factories sit on a 3,000-acre plot. Half of the site has been left untouched, much of it as mangrove forest that binds carbon and protects the coastline, Banerjee said, calling the Godrej campus “the lungs of the city.”
 
“Even though most customers don’t ask about sustainable production in the first place, manufacturers need to understand it’s not just about making profit, it’s also about the planet,” Banerjee said. “Someone has to show stewardship and lead the change.”