The current status of environmental reporting by Indian companies

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the state of environmental reporting by Indian companies on their web sites and also in their annual reports.Design/methodology/approachThe web sites of the companies in the sample were visited to examine the accessibility and extent of environmental information disclosure on their web sites. The annual reports for 2003‐2004, as available on the companies' web sites were selected to investigate the extent of environmental information disclosure in these annual reports.FindingsThe paper finds that, although there are no regulations enforcing the disclosure of environmental information, most of the Indian companies have disclosed environmental information. These companies provided more environmental information on their web sites compared to the information provided in their annual reports.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing body of environmental reporting literature by focusing on the status of environmental reporting by companies of an emerging economy and also contributes to the existing body of environmental reporting literature by focusing on the accessibility of environmental information on web sites of respective companies.