Sustainability in India: A Battle Between Ideals and Survival
The average person in India has no urgency or desire whatsoever to save the planet. They are too focused on survival. This poses a policy communication and prioritization problem for political leaders in India. No matter how bad the environment becomes, there are bigger problems like ‘whose God is the more important God.’ Rare visionary states like Tamil Nadu have a view on sustainability, although they are concerned more about future economic and job growth sustainability than the environment. No action will take place until education outcomes and productivity growth improve fast - yes, not happening!
Ground-level Insights: Indian Context
Most businesses greenwash and ESG people are lost in their own self-serving interests to add any real meat to impact. In the last six months, as I spent time learning corporate finance, valuation, and accounting, one truth was obvious - 'Indian board rooms and shareholders care about bonuses, dividends, and the highest rate of return consistently. There is no space for idealism.’
India’s market is not known for innovation, just jugaad and ROI. Generally, building anything innovative trumps ROI. Therefore, the adoption of renewable energy is a no-brainer, and this is already a commodity. For the government, this is a geopolitical lever, so we have cheap capital and input to solve this in abundance. And the solutions stop at solar, thanks to the Chinese cost disruption. Every other sustainability speak is mostly blah, with a few exceptions such as companies like Tata, DCM Sriram, etc. Essentially, there is zero to low incentive for innovation. And ESG is mostly ideological rubbish with little balance sheet impact.
When I was working on sustainable finance as a problem statement for the Indian market, I realized that the science talent needed to solve this does not exist in India in finance, nor does a knowledge ecosystem. I had quit my job two years ago with four keywords - SME, India, Finance, and Sustainability. I stick to the first three now; the last I've come to realize will be an eventuality, so it's not my problem or priority now. This is largely because my analysis says SME India has more existential problems of productivity and competitiveness than the environment.
Featured Article: Definition of Sustainability: A to Z Guide on Sustainability
Final Thoughts
In some parts of Kerala, an Indian state, traffic police on the streets were given ‘helmet ACs’ to counter the heat. My realization, the average person and communities are already in adaptation mode, adjusting to whatever the world throws at them. They take each day as it comes, as do their incomes. A billion Indians live hand to mouth. We need jobs and food. There is a lot of invisible collateral damage already and it will get worse, but I chose to prioritize maximizing livelihood opportunities through enabling SMEs over the environment, because hunger for a decent life is a more pertinent problem for India.
