Reframing ESG Compliance as Sustainability Intelligence: Designing Data-Driven Governance for Connected Financial Ecosystems in India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63503/aisem.55Keywords:
ESG, Sustainability Intelligence, Connected Financial Ecosystem, Corporate Governance, Institutional FrameworkAbstract
Environmental, Social and Governance is an emerging requirement that is increasingly institutionalised in India by statutory corporate law, securities regulation, and financial supervision. The Companies Act, 2013, Section 166(2) codifies the fiduciary obligations towards stakeholders, whereas Section 135 obliges companies to engage in Corporate Social Responsibility. At the securities level, the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting framework, enforced by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, requires organised ESG reporting by leading listed companies. With this strong regulatory framework, however, ESG practice in India is still mainly compliance-oriented and disclosure-based. There is reporting on sustainability measurements that are not formally incorporated into board governance, capital allocation processes, or supervisory risk models. This chapter holds that India needs to progress beyond procedural conformity to sustainability intelligence, an institutional model of data-driven governance that incorporates environmental and social measures into the strategic, financial, and regulatory approaches to India's networked financial system. The chapter suggests a regulated governance framework that balances fiduciary practice, financial regulation, and market discipline in accordance with sustainability goals. It concludes that India has the normative and technical capability for this transformation; what is needed is only regulatory convergence, judicial clarification, and the integration of structures
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