TCS and GRI Collaborates to Highlight the Power of Sustainability Reporting in India

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, today announced the launch of the “Moving Beyond Disclosure: Leveraging Sustainability Reporting to Drive Change”, a study undertaken in collaboration with GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), the developer of the world’s most widely used Sustainability Reporting Guidelines.

The report carried out jointly by GRI Focal Point India and TCS provides insights into the development of sustainability reporting in India.  It has also looked at understanding of how Indian businesses are linking sustainability to strategy, operations, overall performance, stakeholder engagement and establishing credibility in the market. The report also presents observations based on a series of one-on-one meetings along with the survey of the companies.

The study has helped to identify a number of trends in the Indian reporting landscape.  Though the Indian companies are adopting the practice of sustainability reporting, there is a strong emphasis on community development programs, while the environmental and governance initiatives taking a back seat. The study also indicates an increasing level of maturity across reports, with leading companies being spurred on by peers to cultivate a culture of transparency, while deepening ties with stakeholder groups.

“At GRI, we see sustainability reporting as a strategic tool: a process that presents significant opportunities for Indian businesses to grow in a manner that also benefits their stakeholders,” said Aditi Haldar, Director of GRI’s India Focal Point. “As many companies are in the process of making the transition from previous versions of the Guidelines to G4, GRI and Tata Consultancy Services saw this as an ideal moment to assess how companies are moving beyond merely disclosing data and beginning to assimilate the reporting process into all aspects of operations.”

“Sustainability Reporting has been evolving as a way to communicate the value - economic, ecological and social that the company is delivering to shareholders and society. TCS has partnered with GRI to highlight the new framework and bring about the transformation,” said Girish Ramachandran, President, Asia Pacific, Tata Consultancy Services.

About GRI

GRI is an international, not-for-profit organization working in the public interest towards a vision of a sustainable global economy where organizations manage their economic, environmental, social, and governance performance and impacts responsibly. Thousands of corporate and public sector reporters in over 90 countries use the GRI Guidelines. More than 24,000 reports have been registered in GRI’s Sustainability Disclosure Database and 27 countries and regions reference GRI in their policies. GRI’s activities are two-fold: firstly the provision of sustainability reporting guidelines and secondly, the development of engagement activities, products and partnerships to enhance the value of sustainability reporting for organizations.

About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS)

Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPS,infrastructure, engineering and assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model™, recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata group, India’s largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 319,000 of the world’s best-trained consultants in 46 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $15.5 billion for year ended March 31, 2015 and is listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in India. For more information, visit us at www.tcs.com.

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TCS media contacts: India

Global

Email: pradipta.bagchi@tcs.com 

Phone: +91 22 6778 9999

India

Email: h.ramachandra@tcs.com | shamala.p@tcs.com 
Phone: +91 22 6778 9078 | +91 22 6778 9081