Business Responsibility Disclosures: Sustainability in practice in India

Indian policymakers and regulators have been working for the same outcomes, with a comprehensive set of guidelines called the National Voluntary Guidelines for Social, Environmental and Economic Responsibilities of Business (NVGs) issued by the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs in 2011.2 The NVGs aimed to carve out an India-centric approach, drawing upon Subsequently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), through a circular dated 13 August 2012, made it mandatory for the top 100 listed companies, by market capitalisation, to report their environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. SEBI developed a business responsibility report (BRR) template based on the nine principles of NVGs and required these top 100 listed companies to include the BRR within their annual reports.

With the first round of BRR reporting having been concluded for the year 2012-13, and the next round soon to begin, this study has been undertaken with the following primary objectives: To assess the level of completeness of BRRs submitted by companies for the year 2012-13 and highlight the transformational effect this has created among companies committing to undertaking new ESG programs To enable various stakeholders better understand responsible behaviour of businesses through a consolidated assessment of BRRs, enabling them to drive the responsible business agenda in their respective capacities. To support current and potential reporting companies in getting a perspective of where they stand vis-à-vis other companies on the sustainability performance scale.