Green awareness by corporates and entrepreneurs in India: A case study of pune city in Maharashtra State

Abstract

Antoine W. van Agtmael of the International Finance Corporation first coined the term Emerging Market way back in the early 1980s. Whilst striving to start an equity fund for developing countries, he discovered that there is a stigma attached to the term ‘developing countries’ and is synonymous with lack of progress. Consequently he could not attract funding. To overcome this problem, he coined the term ‘emerging market’ so that they would be associated with ‘progress, uplift and dynamism’ (Economist, Sept, 2008). In current times, the developed markets’ growth rate has slowed down considerably. So companies are looking at emerging economies in order to improve their sales and consequently their growth rates. Further, emerging economy countries have about 75% of the world’s population. These countries have a better growth in income as also consumer purchasing power. They have low-cost, large untapped high-quality sources. This has resulted in a paradigm shift in international business. Consequently, many entrepreneurial and business enterprises have started operations in these emerging economies. The authors wish to study whether these businesses pay attention to conserving natural resources through green business endeavours. Today, uncontrolled business activities have considerably harmed our ecological system leading to global warming and depletion of natural resources. The world has now slowly woken up to the need for following green practices both in day to day activities as also businesses. India, as one of the BRIC nations, also is seeing a lot of entrepreneurial and business activity. It is therefore imperative to note the amount of weightage given by business houses to green business measures that will be eco-friendly. For the present study, the methodology adopted was a survey of the kind of measures that corporates in Pune follow in order to get an idea of whether Indian businesses are aware of the need for having entrepreneurial eco-friendly systems for maintaining a more sustained environment. A structured questionnaire was administered to proprietors of small businesses in the major busy areas of Pune to find out whether restaurant owners and shopkeepers are aware of global warming and whether they are contributing toward a green environment. Both primary and secondary resources were used to determine whether businesses big or small are adopting green business endeavours. It was found that many of the well-known corporate houses have initiated green ventures. For e.g., Mahindra has started its green technology drive. Tata Motors has reduced its oil consumption through conservation, recycling and reuse of industrial oils. The company was the first to introduce radial tyres for enhancing fuel efficiency. New technology in the manufacturing process of companies such as the New IBF Factory, Tata Marcopolo Motors Limited and Eastern Complex facilities has improved productivity as well as quality which indirectly translates into less consumption of resources or less carbon footprint. A study of these companies along with some newspaper reports of polluted rivers and flooded gutters in Pune indicates that while some well-known companies have realised the importance of green business practices for both sustainable ecological environment and also a positive corporate image, many business houses still need to be educated and brought round to conforming to legal norms of enforcing environment-friendly practices and social corporate responsibility. Only then can India hope to encash on its present economic growth for long-term, sustainable development.