MUMBAI: Indian businesses can find it easier and more beneficial to adopt the new international benchmark for their company reporting, according to high level talks taking place in Delhi this week.
The Chief Executive of the global coalition for integrated reporting, Richard Howitt, is meeting Indian business representatives to discuss next steps, following the official circular from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) earlier this year, asking the country’s top 500 listed companies to adopt integrated reporting.
The practice of integrated reporting is not a new form of reporting but enables existing annual reports to be broader in approach as well as more concise and business-friendly. It is aimed at value creation for the business itself and its investors.
The meetings this week see the Chief Executive of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), hosted by key Indian partners who are helping drive implementation across the country: the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Centre for Responsible Business.
Currently championed by big name Indian market leaders including Tata Steel in the manufacturing sector, conglomerate Reliance Industries and technology companies WIPRO and Infosys, the call by SEBI is expected to see a big boost in the number of Indian companies moving towards integrated reporting in the next twelve months.
Integrated reporting is already adopted by over 1,500 companies in countries all over the world.
Richard Howitt says, “The official recognition from the regulator has been an important ‘tipping point’ for Indian companies who had been following international take-up of integrated reporting, but who are now choosing to implement it.
“Our discussions this week with our valued local partners will enable us to enter in to a clear dialogue with the regulatory community that this can be an important staging point too, for the Indian economy as a whole.
“Integrated reporting is fast becoming the new global norm for corporate reporting, recognised by international investors. Efforts towards its widespread adoption in India will accelerate the country and its companies towards fully realising the opportunities for foreign investment and international trade.”
Richard Howitt will also brief local representatives as the IIRC representative in the international business leaders’ group which advises the G20 governments, including India. He will discuss the outcome, as a member of its recent Task Force on Energy, Climate Change and Resource Efficiency.
The International Integrated Reporting Council invites companies to join the India Integrated Reporting ‘laboratory’ and the IIRC’s own international business network, and to take part in training in integrated reporting.
