Green Business and Performance of Green Stock Indices in COVID-19 Impacted Indian Stock Market: A Study with Reference to BSE S&P GREENEX and CARBONEX

Abstract

The Indian stock market and the investors’ confidence level was affected badly by COVID-19 crisis. World Business Council for Sustainable Development (2020) had stated that investor decision-making at the present time is influenced by the sustainability orientation of the companies. In the context of COVID-19 crisis, it is important to project investor behaviour in the post-lockdown phase to understand the stock market potential. This research has attempted to perceive the status of economic resurgence with respect to two Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) green indices, that is, CARBONEX and GREENEX. A comparative analysis of such indices has been performed over the lockdown and unlockdown phases until 20 July 2021. This research attempted to find if the indices were significantly different in lockdown and unlockdown phases. A significant mean variance would indicate development in sustainable business operations since lockdown period and an increment in such values would draw better investment in Indian stock market in future, even amid further mild COVID waves with partial lockdowns. One-way between-the-groups ANOVA has been performed to see if the means of CARBONEX and GREENEX indices are significantly varying in the aforementioned phases. A significant variance will help the Indian investors to look forward to the post-COVID economic reinstatement.