Infosys leads the list with a score of 79 out of 100, while Kotak Mahindra Bank comes in second with a score of 75.
According to CRISIL scores, information technology and financial services companies are the most environmentally, socially, and governance (ESG) compliant in the country, with second-largest software exporter Infosys scoring the best on the key metric.
Companies in the oil and gas, chemicals, metals and mining, and cement industries have lower ESG scores, owing to their high natural-resource intensity, which translates to higher emissions, extractive use of natural resources, potential negative environmental and community impact, and generally more moderate levels of disclosure, according to CRISIL.
“ESG is already playing a material role in the decisions of governments, regulators, investors, lenders, and corporates. This will not only transform the investment management industry but also redefine corporate India’s approach to risk management for sustainable value creation,” CRISIL’s MD and CEO Ashu Suyash said.
The scores for 225 corporations revealed that there is need for improvement in terms of gender diversity, with women’s presence on boards and in the workforce being low at 17%, independent directors, and reliance on renewable energy sources, among other things.
Infosys leads the list with a score of 79 out of 100, while Kotak Mahindra Bank comes in second with a score of 75. Many IT and financial sector organizations have overall ESG scores in the 70s.
“Our assessment is based on quantitative and qualitative disclosures of firms. As this is an objective evaluation based on publicly available information, the quality of disclosures made is an important determinant of the overall score,” its COO Amish Mehta said.
