2021, Vol. 4, Issue 2

author(s)
Dr. Shikha Gupta

abstract
Reporting and external corporate communication play an important role in corporate sustainability. Companies depend on society for the supply of various resources which are critical for their survival and hence are legally and morally bound to perform and report the benefits which they create to secure social acceptance. This paper attempts to explore and critically evaluate the extent of sustainability disclosures by Indian corporates. For this purpose, annual reports of 50 selected companies quoted in the BSE-500 index were taken as the data source. Content analysis and disclosure index method was applied to analyse the extent to which Indian corporates disclose information on three sustainability reporting metrics-environment, social, and governance in their annual reports in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative Standards, 2016. The study found that although a high number of companies disclose sustainability information, there is no uniformity in disclosure practices. While information related to material and energy consumption, products, customers, and employee welfare were readily reported, disclosures related to environmental metrics were minimal. Further, Oil and Gas industry had the highest disclosures followed by the Cement industry. The Textile industry was found to be at the bottom. The paper provides an in-depth analysis of corporate sustainability reporting practices in India – item-wise, industry-wise and company-wise.