SKOCH Releases India Involved Index 2023:  (Measure Corporate Commitment to ESG and Viksit Bharat)

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PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
13 May

New Delhi, 22nd April 2024: Demonstrating its capability, as the sole private sector organisation in the country, to carry our project level assessment and findings, SKOCH Group released its report on “India Involved Assessment – 2023” recently. India Involved Assessment measures corporate commitment to developed India.

In its year-long study, it assessed a number of companies across 231 indicators and ranked Top-20 corporates on comprehensive ‘India Involved Ranking’ and ‘Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Ranking’ respectively.  

This addresses a critical gap in pure ESG approach advocated by the West. If India has to become a developed country by 2047, the country will require spatially dispersed, job-generative, equitable and sustainable growth. The study is an amalgamation of ESG efforts undertaken by the top 1,000 listed corporates, their Corporate Excellence evaluation and their Digital Transformation to assess how they are going population scale, digitally including the marginalised communities, crashing transaction costs and doing so securely and in compliance with the privacy regime.

“A high degree of granularity and study in Corporate Excellence, ESG and Digital Transformation is required to create what we call a comprehensive SKOCH India Involved Index,” said Mr Sameer Kochhar, Chairman, SKOCH Group. He added, “This serves to show the level of corporate commitment to India and the extent, the de-risking of its Indian businesses by contributing holistically to the challenges being faced by the country and its people becoming an accelerator for Inclusive Growth of India.

Download the REPORT

India Involved Rankings – Overall

The study finds that 40% of corporates are focused on Digital Transformation, followed by Environmental Excellence (24%); Corporate Excellence (19%); Social Excellence (14%); and, Governance Excellence (2%). Reliance Industries bags the top position followed by Hindustan Unilever and Adani Group at third position. Bank of India finds itself at fourth spot and Lupin, at fifth.

Out of sixteen sectors that saw participation in the study, 24% came from Financial Services and 21% from Information Technology including AI, Robotics and IoT. Food/FMCG occupies the third spot, followed by Banking at fourth and Petroleum, at fifth spot. Together, it addresses a universe of more than a million employees.

“We find there is gap in the socio-economic impact assessment capabilities and also in understanding the country’s development priorities that business may need to align with for enlightened self-interest,” commented Mr Kochhar saying that SKOCH Rankings is an attempt to fill that vacuum.

India Involved Ranking – ESG

Hindustan Unilever tops the overall India Involved Rankings in ESG, followed by Adani Group and Britannia at #2 and #3 respectively. Welspun India bags the fourth spot and Indian Oil Corporation, the fifth. Gujarat emerges as the frontrunner state from where most of the corporates are reporting progress. #2 spot is occupied by Maharashtra followed by Haryana (#3), Karnataka (#4) and Delhi at #5.

In ESG, the top-most priority is Food and FMCG (42%); second, Petroleum, Oil, Gas, Refineries (11%); and, third Financial Services (9%).

Environmental Excellence

Top-3 organisations in Environmental Excellence include Hindustan Unilever, Adani Road Transport and Indian Oil Corporation. The participants reported Dependence on Fossil Fuels (31%) as the top most Environmental problem. Water Consumption is at #2 (29%) and Energy Consumption at #3 (17%). In response to these problems, corporates reported Shifting to Greener Options (46%) as the top-most solution. Technology Upgradation (16%) comes next followed by Adopting Rainwater Harvesting (10%). The outcomes of such initiatives across corporates resulted in Increase in Green Energy Consumption (35%); Reduction in Carbon Emissions (26%); and, Reduction in Energy Consumption (11%).

Social Excellence

Hindustan Unilever is on top in Social Excellence followed by Ambuja Cement and Adani Connex. The study finds that Lack of Proper Healthcare Facilities (17%) as the top social problem. Others include Imparting Digital Literacy/Quality Education/Employment and Unskilled Workforce. In response to these, the corporates are focused on Education, Health and Diversity (34%); Skill Development (32%); and, Community Development (15%). The outcomes are also visible. There is Enhanced Inclusivity in the Society; Treatment of Life-Threatening Diseases; and Digital Literacy.

Governance Excellence

Union Bank emerges tops the chart on Governance Excellence. Indraprastha Gas comes second and Gujarat Gas, the third. The participants are addressing problems like Workplace Health & Safety; Operational Risk; Obsolete Markets; and, Reputational Risk. Their response to these has resulted in enhanced Efforts to Minimise Risk of Mishap; Technological Enhancement; Convenience to the Employees; and, Awareness Campaigns. The outcomes are Enhanced Convenience and Safety; and, Reduction in Workplace Accidents.

India Involved Ranking – Digital Transformation

In Digital Formation, Jio Platforms bags the top spot. This is followed by Lupin Limited and Heritage Foods at #2 and #3 respectively. The study finds that among Digital Transformation Interventions, Digital Platform (24%) remains in focus. This is followed by Product Development (19%); AI/ML (16%); Innovation and Telecommunications (14%); and, Data Analytics / Big Data (5%). From the seven focus sectors, 47% corporates are focusing on IT, AI, Robotics and IoT; 21% from Financial Services; and 19% belong to Banking sector.

India Involved Ranking – Corporate Excellence

In Corporate Excellence, Bank of India, HDFC Life Insurance and Aditya Birla Health Insurance are at #1, #2 and #3 respectively. Largely the Corporate Excellence intervention are in three areas, namely, Product (46%); Performance (38); and, Process (15%), the study finds. Most active participation came from Financial Services, Banking, Hospitals, Healthcare, Automobile, Auto Ancillaries, Electric Vehicle and Dealerships. 88% participating industries belong to Financial Services and Banking sectors.

“The India Involved Index would serve a much broader purpose towards achieving the defined goals of India 2047, with ESG being a critical subset. While these are not ESG ratings, corporates can use the documentation to make a better case for their socio-economic impact and Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) to SEBI,” concluded Mr Kochhar.

Download the REPORT

About Mr Sameer Kochhar

Reforms historian and author of best-seller ModiNomics, Mr Sameer Kochhar is Chairman, SKOCH Group. He is a passionate advocate of social, digital and financial inclusion and is a foremost expert on governance and inclusive growth. His work has been acclaimed globally and endorsed by Mr Narendra Modi, Mr M Venkaiah Naidu, Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr Arun Jaitley, Mr P Chidambaram, Mr Yashwant Sinha, Dr C Rangarajan and Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia. In his thinking and writings and activities, his profound admiration for India’s economic reforms and in extension, those outstanding personalities who strive to make these reforms more meaningful and broad based comes out clear and unambiguous. He has published over 18 volumes, the notable being India 2030 – A Socio Economic Paradigm; ModiNomics; Defeating Poverty: Jan Dhan and Beyond and Modi’s Odyssey: Digital India Developed India. He recently released India 2047: High Income with Equity.

About SKOCH

SKOCH Group is India’s leading think tank dealing with socio-economic issues with a focus on inclusive growth since 1997. The Group companies include a consulting wing, a media wing and a charitable foundation. SKOCH Group is able to bring an Indian felt-needs context to strategies and engages with Fortune-500 companies, State Owned Enterprises, Government to SMEs and Community-Based Organisations with equal ease. The repertoire of services includes field interventions, consultancy, research reports, impact assessments, policy briefs, books, journals, workshops and conferences. SKOCH Group has instituted India’s highest independent civilian honours in the field of governance, finance, technology, economics and social sector.

For more information, Contact Dr Gursharan Dhanjal, 9811156688, gsd@skoch.in

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