Sustainability Reporting in India: Exploring Sectoral Differences and Linkages with Financial Performance

Abstract

Introduction of sustainability reporting reforms has increased awareness in Indian companies regarding the social and environmental disclosures. In the absence of standardized reporting norms, companies are free to structure sustainability report as per their understanding, willingness and intent. Although some voluntary guidelines have been issued by the regulatory authorities, the norms are still not clear as to what to report and how to report. We study sustainability reporting practices of 120 BSE-listed companies across 8 industries. Self-constructed sustainability reporting construct with seven sub-parameters has been used for comparing sector-wise reporting and correlating it with financial performance indicators company-wise. Although India is at an infant stage of adopting global reporting indicators (GRI), big four of each of the eight sectors under study has documented comprehensive sustainability initiatives taken in the company. We note sectoral differences in reporting quality with refineries and power following most of the prescribed norms of GRI. However, no significant difference is found in ISO certifications and environment initiatives among different sectors. Though Indian companies are involved in social initiatives, reporting on pollution emission is found to be low. The relationship between the financial performance and sustainability score was inconsistent across different financial measures.