2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50: In search of India’s Most Sustainable Privately Held Companies

Mumbai, 18 April 2022 – Today, Capri Global Capital and Hurun India debuted 2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50, a list of the top 50 companies headquartered in India, ranked based on their alignment with the United Nations’ 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Hurun Research started with the 2021 Hurun India 500 most valuable companies, producing a scorecard using publicly available data, including annual financial reports, ESG, CSR, sustainability reports and media. A five-member advisory panel consisting of subject matter experts ranging from professionals to academicians helped in shaping the scoring methodology.

Key Highlights
⦁ India’s most sustainable company: With a cumulative sustainability score of 47, Grasim Industries ranked number one in the 2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50. Last year, Grasim Industries contributed towards 17 sustainable development goals. Of which, four goals have measurable time-bound targets. Tech Mahindra ranked second with a sustainability score of 46, followed by Tata Power Company and Wipro.
⦁ Not all Sustainable Development Goals pursued equally: Only 14 companies featured in 2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50 reported their sustainability goals against all 17 UN SDG pillars. The SDGs most prioritized by companies featured in 2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50 are Climate Action (SDG13), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG12). Life below water (SDG14) is the least prioritized UN SDG goal by Indian companies; only Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone have a documented measurable goal against the same.
⦁ Measurable Goals: In the 2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50, the highest measured pillar was Climate Action with 37 companies measuring it. This was followed by the Responsible Consumption and Production pillar with 31 companies measuring it. With eight goals, Hindustan Unilever has the highest number of measurable Sustainable Development Goals with time-bound targets, followed by ITC, and Tech Mahindra with seven measurable goals each. Interestingly, three companies in the list have no documented measurable goals against any pillars.
⦁ Going green; A time-bound journey towards net-zero emission of greenhouse gasses: Only 29 companies featured in the 2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50 have time-bound targets to achieve carbon neutrality. ITC and Infosys are the two companies that achieved carbon neutrality in 2006 and 2020 respectively. Cipla and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025. Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Hindustan Zinc and Tech Mahindra implemented an internal carbon pricing policy to reduce emissions.
⦁ Key geographies and industries: 2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50 came from 13 cities across India. Led by Mumbai with 27 companies and followed by New Delhi with four companies. Financial services led the way with eight companies, followed by software & services with 6 Companies. With an average score of 36, manufacturing companies in 2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50 scored higher than service companies which registered an average score of 34.

Jinisha Sharma, Social Impact & Strategy, Executive, Capri Global Capital said, “We hope that this report challenges and inspires more companies, both big and small, to start their own journey on better understanding the impact of their business functions on society and environment at large. Beyond just Corporate Social Responsibility, there is a strong business case for companies that are innovating to benefit stakeholders and not just shareholders. This list is only a starting point, and we hope that more companies participate over the years.”

Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India said: “2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50 List is targeted at stakeholders of corporations on how to adhere to 17 UN SDGs. The stories of these corporations, tell the story of sustainable development in modern India. The list indicates that India Inc. are actively pursuing structural updates to systematically measure and report sustainability goals. We hope that the list will inspire more companies to further align their business operations with UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

The Top 10 in the 2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50
The priority sustainable development goals for the top 10 companies featured in 2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50 are Responsible Consumption & Production, followed by Zero Hunger and Gender Equality.

2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50 –Top 10

Rank	Company	Score	Hurun India 500 Rank	Industry	Top Contributing SDGs
1	Grasim Industries	47	39	Cement Products	Zero Hunger, Gender Equality, Climate Action, Responsible Consumption & Production
2	Tech Mahindra	46	30	Software & Services	Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
3	Tata Power Company	45	63	Electric Utilities	Clean Water & Sanitation, Affordable & Clean Energy, Quality Education
3	Wipro	45	10	Software & Services	Gender Equality, Affordable & Clean Energy
5	Ambuja Cements	44	N.A.	Cement Products	Sustainable Cities and Communities, Clean Water & Sanitation
5	Hindustan Unilever	44	N.A.	Personal Products	Responsible Consumption and Production
7	Hindalco Industries	43	42	Metals & Mining	Affordable & Clean Energy
7	Tata Steel	43	29	Metals & Mining	Clean Water & Sanitation
7	Infosys	43	4	Software & Services	Gender Equality
10	ITC	42	14	FMCG	Zero Hunger
10	Marico	42	61	FMCG	Responsible Consumption & Production

Measurable and time-bound targets

94% of companies featured in2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50 have a measurable time-bound target for at least one Sustainable Development Goal. 62% of companies featured in the2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50 have time-bound targets to achieve carbon neutrality.

Pillars with the highest number of measurable and time-bound targets

Rank	Contributing SDG	Number of Companies	Top Contributing Industry
1	Climate Action	41	Cement Products, Software & Services, Metals & Mining and Financial Services
2	Responsible Consumption and Production	31	Cement Products and Metals & Mining
3	Clean Water and Sanitation	26	Cement Products, Software & Services, Metals & Mining and Pharmaceuticals
4	Affordable and Clean Energy	18	Pharmaceuticals, Software & Services andPersonal Products
4	Gender Equality	16	Software & Services, Metals & Mining and Financial Services

Companies with the highest number of measurable time-bound targets

Rank	Contributing SDG	Number of SDG Pillars	Industry
1	Hindustan Unilever	8	Personal Products
2	Tech Mahindra	7	Software & Services
2	ITC	7	FMCG
3	Tata Power Company	6	Electric Utilities
3	Infosys	6	Software & Services
3	Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone	6	Marine Port & Services
3	Godrej Consumer Products	6	Personal Products

Methodology

The 2021 Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50 is a list of the top 50 companies headquartered in India, ranked based on their alignment with the UN’s 17 SDGs (sustainable development goals).

Hurun Research started with the2021 Hurun India 500 most valuable companies, producing a scorecard using publicly available data, including annual financial reports, ESG, CSR, sustainability reports and media. In many cases, we contacted the companies themselves.

Each of the 17 UN SDGs was marked out of 5, with an additional maximum of 3 bonus points for time-bound measurable goals, documented improvement and excess CSR spend, giving a final score out of 146, which was then indexed to 100. 

In order to finalise the scores for each pillar, Hurun Research evaluated the following:

1. SDGs embedded in way of doing business
2. Specific projects engaging with the SDG
3. Investments/donations for the causes aligned with the SDG
4. Reporting of SDG related Key Performance Indicators
5. Time-bound targets to achieve Sustainable Development Goals
6. Documented improvement for time-bound targets
7. Keywords related to particular SDG mentioned in the annual report, ESG report, SDG report or CSR report

Bonus Points: A company’s core business model positively or negatively impacted the SDG pillar score. Bonus points were available for renewable energy businesses in SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy (max 2pts). Points were docked for polluters for SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation (max 1 pt), SDG 12 Sustainable Consumption and Production (max 1pt), SDG 13 Climate Action (max 1pt), SDG 14 Life Below Water (max 1pt) and SDG 15 Life On Land (max 1pt).

Hurun SDG Rating: Hurun Research assigned an SDG rating for each company: AAA 45pts+; AA, 41-45pts; A, 36-40pts; BBB. 31-35pts; BB, 26-30pts; B, 21-25pts.

Hurun Research would especially like to thank the five members of our advisory panel consisting of subject matter experts ranging from professionals to academicians, who helped shape our methodology.Hurun Research would also like to thank the UNIDO team for their help in structuring our methodology.