While currently there are no officially recognized guidelines or reporting standards on sustainability reporting (by accounting or regulatory bodies), there has been an increasing trend amongst companies to publish a variety of information relating to themes such as community, corporate social responsibility, environment, health and safety. Indian companies, therefore, present diversity in content and format under the overall umbrella of sustainability reporting.
Traditionally, while many organizations both in the public and private sector practice some sort of corporate social responsibility programmes, reporting has not been a common practice. A survey conducted in 2003 by “Partners In Change” showed that 70 per cent of the participating companies do not have a CSR policy, but are nevertheless doing “good work”.