SIDBI, D&B Sign MoU To Create Sustainability Index For MSMEs

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and Dun & Bradstreet on Monday signed an MoU to create the SIDBI -D&B Sustainability Perception Index.

The index will be presented as a quantitative measurement for policy makers and enablers to nudge businesses towards adopting an ESG framework in their business strategy over the coming years.

To be released every quarter, the survey will capture the sentiment of businesses on various business parameters that, when analysed at an aggregate level, will provide valuable insights on adoption of an ESG framework.

The survey will cover the views of the respondents about the preceding quarter and the outlook for the upcoming quarter. This will help analyse the changing sentiment over a six-month period. It will also capture information on critical events that have an impact on MSMEs.

Sivasubramanian Ramann, Chairman and Managing Director of SIDBI said that, sustainability disclosure and reporting play an important role to help MSMEs and investors to reduce risks across their supply chain and enable an efficient decision-making process, toward greening MSMEs as well as lending institutions. He further added that understanding and awareness about ESG is gaining momentum in MSMEs and it is relevant in view of changing scenario related to climate aspects.

Sigy Thomas Vaidhyan, Industries Commissioner & Director of Industries & Commerce, GoTN sais, in view of several programs being run by central & state government for MSMEs, she hoped that sustainability index shall act as barometer of enterprise responsiveness. She mentioned that state values partnership with SIDBI and offered all help from state government in this regard.

Avinash Gupta, Managing Director and CEO, Dun & Bradstreet said, “Across the globe, ESG has become a mainstay conversation in corporate boardrooms and, more importantly, in the allocation of capital. According to a Dun and Bradstreet survey highlighting top compliance and procurement challenges, 51 per cent respondents said they needed more data to verify entities and 43 per cent said it is difficult to identify application of ESG guidelines within the due diligence processes of the customer. Inefficient data usage and management are at the core of such challenges.”