[5][7][8] Mahindra was appointed by the government of India to serve on various committees, including the Sachar Commission on Company Law & MRTP, Central Advisory Council of Industries.
[11] Mahindra was a member of the Apex Advisory Council of ASSOCHAM and was the president emeritus of the Employers' Federation of India.
[2] Mahindra was a proponent of good governance and ethics and has stated his views in several publications and forums, including in an interview for the Creating Emerging Markets project at the Harvard Business School, during which he talks about the Mahindra Group's evolution into a global business group and his determination never to compromise on high ethical values.
[17][18] Mahindra had served as the non-executive chairman of Union Carbide India Limited at the time the Bhopal disaster took place in December 1984, in which 3,787 people died.
[19] That week, Mahindra and two other senior executives were arrested then bailed on charges including culpable homicide.
[20] In February 1989, the Supreme Court of India ordered Mahindra's company to pay $470 million in damages to the victims.
[1] In June 2010, Mahindra along with six other former employees of the Union Carbide subsidiary, all Indian nationals and many in their 70s, were sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined ₹1,00,000 (US$1,636).