KPMG India launches CSR Survey 2013

According to the 2nd KPMG India Corporate Responsibility Reporting Survey released, it has been revealed that reporting on corporate responsibility (CR) is evolving as a standard business practice in India, undertaken by almost three quarters (73 percent) of large Indian companies.

Based on KPMG India survey the number of N100 companies which use standard frameworks to report in CR is 45 and 31 companies have separate reports comprehensively covering aspects of CR strategy, governance, targets and commitments, and performance .

“The need for business transparency and accountability is felt greater than ever. Regulations like Clause 55 (Business Responsibility Reporting) of the listing agreement and CSR disclosure under the new Companies Act will drive the reporting agenda in India. It is no more a choice for companies to report or not to report,” said Raajeev Batra, Head of KPMG Climate Change and Sustainability Services in India.

The survey analyzed companies for quality of reporting through a scoring criteria on seven key aspects of reporting – strategy, risk and opportunity; materiality; targets and indicators; suppliers and value chain; stakeholder engagement; governance for CR; transparency and balance. Indian CR reports score 40 out of maximum possible 100 on quality of reporting as compared to score of 59 by global 250 large corporations.

The KPMG India Corporate Responsibility Reporting Survey 2013 explored the quantitative and qualitative trends of CR reporting among the N100 and found that Information Technology (IT) sector is among the leading sectors with all N100 IT companies producing separate CR reports while the Financial Services sector lags with no separate CR reports.

Only 1 in 5 (19%) CR reports are more balanced with in-depth discussion on key challenges and dilemmas.