India’s ESG Push in 2025: Can Policy Keep Up with Practice?

India’s corporate sector is experiencing a significant shift toward environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compliance in 2025, driven by new regulations like the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR). As businesses face increasing pressure to align with global sustainability goals, the Indian government has ramped up efforts to enhance corporate accountability in ESG matters. The BRSR, mandatory for the country’s top listed companies, requires them to report on sustainability practices, making it a vital tool in driving transparency. However, as India pushes for greater corporate responsibility, the key question arises: can policy keep up with the challenges of implementation, especially concerning greenwashing?

The introduction of BRSR mandates aims to bridge the gap between sustainability claims and actual practices. By focusing on providing more detailed, standardized data on how companies address ESG factors, the regulation is seen as an attempt to promote responsible business practices. This step toward more stringent ESG reporting is critical, as India’s corporate sector has faced challenges around the authenticity of sustainability initiatives. Greenwashing, where companies exaggerate or falsify their ESG credentials, has become a growing concern. With consumers and investors increasingly looking for sustainable investment options, the threat of greenwashing undermines genuine efforts and complicates the task of building trust.

The BRSR initiative is a commendable move toward increasing corporate responsibility, but its success hinges on how well it is implemented. India has a diverse range of industries, and companies vary in their readiness and capability to adapt to the ESG framework. Large multinationals are more likely to have the infrastructure to meet these new reporting standards, but smaller companies may struggle with the costs and resource requirements. Furthermore, while the government’s push for ESG compliance is a step in the right direction, enforcement remains a challenge. The effectiveness of the BRSR mandates will depend on whether there are robust systems in place to monitor compliance and penalize those companies that fail to meet the standards.

The potential for greenwashing remains one of the biggest obstacles to the success of India’s ESG push. While many companies are eager to capitalize on the growing demand for sustainable practices, some may engage in superficial efforts to appear environmentally conscious without making meaningful changes. This misrepresentation can be difficult to detect, especially when companies present vague or inconsistent sustainability reports. To combat this, regulators need to ensure that the BRSR includes clear guidelines and consequences for companies found to be engaging in greenwashing. The focus must shift from mere reporting to ensuring that these reports accurately reflect real, verifiable environmental and social impacts.

As India moves further into 2025, the effectiveness of the country’s ESG push will depend on how well it balances policy development with enforcement. Corporate compliance with BRSR will be closely scrutinized, and only by fostering a culture of transparency and accountability can India hope to meet its sustainability goals. For companies, this represents both an opportunity to demonstrate genuine commitment to ESG practices and a risk of reputational damage if they fail to meet the expectations set by the regulations. For the government, it’s a challenge to ensure that the push for sustainability doesn’t get undermined by greenwashing and that the policy framework evolves to address emerging concerns.

In conclusion, while India’s focus on ESG compliance in 2025 marks a significant step toward sustainability, the country faces challenges in ensuring that these policies translate into real, impactful change. The introduction of BRSR is a positive move, but its success will depend on rigorous implementation and the creation of systems that can curb greenwashing. Moving forward, India must ensure that its policies remain adaptable and capable of addressing evolving ESG concerns.