Environmental Efficiency of Indian Companies

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the environmental impact of different sectors of the industry, Map the changes in environmental impact over two years from 2021-22 to 2022-23 and Derive a Figure of merit for environmental efficiency for different sectors. The study analyses the mandatory sustainability reports, for the year 2022-23, filed by the 72 of the top 100 companies, by market capitalization, in the required formats. The actual consumption of resources and generation of harmful gasses and waste has been normalized against the market capitalization of the company. The sustainability report of the 72 companies have been analyzed for the parameters of Use of water and sources of water, consumption of electricity and fuel, emission of greenhouse gasses and generation of waste and its disposal. Companies have been grouped into different sectors of the industry and an analysis of the parameters has been made for each industry sector. The study finds that an improvement in adherence to good environmental practices is seen across all industry sectors. Power generation, metal and mining and Oil and gas industry have the most environmental impact per unit of shareholder wealth created. The least environmental impact is from sectors like IT, Telecom, Healthcare and Pharma. The study recommends setting up of National Goals for reduction of environmental impacts and deriving industry wise targets from these national goals. It also recommends improvements in the structure of sustainability reports to ensure use of identical units and mandatory reporting for critical parameters.