Benchmarking Sustainability: Study of Initiatives towards Triple Bottom Line by Indian Public Sector Enterprises

Abstract

The triple bottom line (TBL) has become one of the main rallying cries for businesses trying to address sustainability. There is a paradigm shift happening with corporate responsibility and sustainable development (SD) by the corporates slipping away from ‘zone of voluntariness’ and ‘getting gripped by debate on accountability and benchmarking’. The new environmental and social standards developed locally and globally have turned sustainability into a ‘cost of entry’ for businesses. Implementing sustainability in a top-down fashion leads to a central focus on government in managing and regulating for corporate sustainability. Reich (1998) argues that the government should act as arbiter of business responsibility in society. Governments that lead as exemplar will be in a stronger position to set the agenda and establish advanced positions for their industries and their citizens. This article focuses on the role of governments in endorsing corporate sustainability, while making a note of the impact of promoting sustainability in the Indian central public sector. It asks very straight questions—How far is it working in practice? Are their tangible changes happening with corporates leading towards TBL? Are corporate serious of developing sustainability metrics and appreciating the need for standardised approaches?

The article in the first section explores some of the conceptual issues in the TBL to deal with sustainability. Then, it looks at the recently promulgated Sustainable Development Guidelines for Central Public Sector Enterprises in India (2013) and the ways in which these actions can be tracked to demonstrate and reveal the contribution and commitment of the business entities in shaping a sustainable growth path for the nation. The case of two prominent central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) was undertaken to study their coverage and application towards the implementation of government guidelines on sustainable development (SD). Both these companies fall under the categorisation of extractive industries. The extractive industries face a special need for such trust, given the massive long-term investments that they undertake in countries. The study indicates that these two companies have engaged in serious efforts to embed sustainability in their corporate strategy and are equally transparent in their reporting patterns. Their reports on triple bottom line parameters are comprehensive and externally assured. The institutionalisation of sustainability benchmarking within the DNA of government enterprises will go a long way in mandating sustainability practices for other businesses. Data for the article was collected through secondary sources, via government websites, policy document by Ministry of Corporate Affairs, corporate websites, newspapers and scholarly papers. From these sources, specific examples of achieved outcomes were identified and considered.