The State of Corporate & Government Water Reporting in India

The report finds significant misalignments and information asymmetries between India's corporate and government water reporting frameworks, concluding that existing mechanisms are ill-equipped to monitor progress toward water-related SDGs. While government reporting focuses on community risk and access, corporate reporting emphasizes business risk and non-consumptive impacts. The study highlights a critical lack of reporting on water infrastructure and compliance across both sectors. Furthermore, analysis of India's top 200 businesses reveals low overall sustainability disclosure, with a stark divide between private sector firms and state-owned enterprises, and a significant 'black box' of data due to the large informal economy.

• Existing water reporting mechanisms in India are considered inadequate for monitoring and achieving the water-related UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) due to acute misalignments between corporate and government frameworks.
• There is a severe reporting gap regarding compliance with water legislation; while some corporate frameworks cover it, government frameworks analyzed show no formal mechanisms for monitoring compliance with local, national, or global water laws.
• Both corporate and government reporting frameworks exhibit a total 'blind spot' regarding water infrastructure and the costs associated with water contracts and sanitation provision.
• A significant asymmetry exists in reporting 'Access to water and sanitation': it is moderately reported by the government (42-44%) but is entirely absent (0%) from the analyzed corporate reporting frameworks.
• Among India's top 200 businesses, sustainability reporting is relatively low, with only 79 companies disclosing environmental and social governance performance, and only 50 of those using Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines.
• Private sector companies in India demonstrate a much higher rate of GRI water reporting (21%) compared to state-sector businesses (4%).
• Water reporting quality varies by sector; Transport businesses show the highest proportion of 'full-disclosure' against GRI indicators, while the Services sector has the highest proportion of non-disclosures.
• The informal economy, which accounts for approximately 50% of India's economic output and is prevalent in water-intensive sectors like agriculture and construction, creates a massive data gap as these entities generally do not report water use.
• There is a systemic failure to report temporal trends or time-series data in water sustainability, which prevents the assessment of whether economic growth is decoupling from water use.

APA

Taherzadeh, O., & West, C. (2016). The State of Corporate & Government Water Reporting in India. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/indiawaterreport1.pdf

Chicago

Taherzadeh, Oliver, and Chris West. The State of Corporate & Government Water Reporting in India. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2016. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/indiawaterreport1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Taherzadeh |first1=Oliver |last2=West |first2=Chris |title=The State of Corporate & Government Water Reporting in India |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=February 2016 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/indiawaterreport1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{taherzadeh2016state, author = {Taherzadeh, Oliver and West, Chris}, title = {{The State of Corporate \& Government Water Reporting in India}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2016}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/indiawaterreport1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }