Wipro, Maruti and TCS top the list of India’s Most Sustainable Companies in 2020, according to a recent survey by Sustain Labs Paris and Businessworld
Wipro, Maruti and TCS emerge as three of ‘India’s Most Sustainable Companies’, according to a survey conducted by Sustain Labs Paris (SLP), France, in association with Businessworld, a leading business magazine in the country.
This survey involved a detailed analysis of India’s largest 200 companies and ranked them on a proprietary framework that covers 30 sustainability parameters. Sustain Labs gathered data on 200 companies through public documents, questionnaires, employee interviews and external stakeholder interviews. Based on this data, a detailed assessment and scoring of all companies was done, according to Sustain Labs.
Indian corporate houses were ranked on parameters like resource efficiency, social entrepreneurship, financial management, employee well-being, clean revenue and inclusive supply chains, elaborates Businessworld.
Diving deeper into these criteria, 31 aspects along with their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were identified, which helped examine, assess and rank all the companies. The survey presented not just the rankings, but also profiled the top 20 companies and their best practices to acknowledge corporate efforts to adapt to sustainable practices toward a better world, adds Businessworld.
Apart from Wipro, Maruti and TCS, other companies featuring in the top 20 list include Godrej Consumer Products, Tech Mahindra, Marico, Piramal Enterprises, Hindustan Lever, HCL Technologies, Tata Chemicals, Godrej Industries, ICICI Bank, Tata Power, Infosys, Tata Motors, Gail India, Ultratech Cement, Cipla, Eicher Motors and Aditya Birla Fashion Retail.
Companies have been recognised for their multiple initiatives, according to Businessworld. Some examples:
Wipro’s targets to improve water efficiency per employee by five per cent (year-on-year) and to reduce water consumption on campuses by 20 per cent by FY21 from the base year of FY16.
Godrej Consumer Products has designed its adoption policy with a gender-neutral primary care-giver in mind. It also has a Gender Affirmation Policy to support employees who wish to undergo gender transition.
Marico has developed and deployed various programmes to ensure sustainable availability of agricultural commodities to support future business requirements.
Piramal Enterprises has the industry advantage to score high on sustainability amongst companies in India as its pharmaceutical business that contributed 41 per cent to the company’s business contributes to saving lives by the nature of its products and services.
Hindustan Lever farmers in India are covered under the Unilever Sustainable Agriculture Code, which provides farmers with the knowledge and expertise in sustainable agriculture practices.
HCL Technologies’ CSR spend in FY20 was Rs 176.29 crore. This was higher than their contributions in FY19, which was at Rs 125.45 crore.
Tata Chemicals has outlined a Climate Change Strategy for 2030 which is aimed at reducing carbon emissions by 30 per cent, becoming water neutral and achieving a circular economy in its value chain.
Godrej Industries’ 99 per cent of the total energy requirement is met through renewable energy sources, treated effluent is let out into the plantation, methane is used as boiler fuel and processed solid sludge as fertilizer.
ICICI Bank has a board-approved environment, social and governance framework that assesses all new financing proposals above a specific threshold on the environment, social and governance parameters.
Tata Power has set out to power up 10MWh South Asia’s largest grid-scale battery energy storage system in India.
Infosys procured 44.3 per cent of its electricity requirements from renewable energy sources for all its campuses across India, which is lower than its set target of 50 per cent.
Ultratech Cement has factored in an internal carbon price of US$ 10 / tCO2 for its project and capex evaluation, which has helped in accelerating decarbonisation.
Eicher Motors, which is India’s leading manufacturers of trucks, buses, engines and engineering components, has VE Commercial Vehicles driving modernisation in commercial transportation.
Aditya Birla Fashion Retail has a well-outlined sustainability strategy governed by ten sustainability missions, each of which has clearly defined goal, yearly target responsibilities and data tracking mechanisms coupled with a digital platform measuring sustainability performance.
The survey is conducted annually by Sustain Labs Paris, an enterprise based in India, France and New Zealand, which works to make large organisations become more sustainable. It is supported by the French government’s wing for scientific and academic exchange in India.