CII's Greenco Rating to broaden its reach

The GreenCo Rating System, an initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Green Building Centre formally launched last year to check if companies were environment-friendly, is targeting to rate 45 companies by this calendar year.

The initiative, started as a pilot in February 2011 and was formally launched in March last year. Of the 50 companies that volunteered, it has rated six including the Bangalore International Airport Limited, ACC Limited, ITC Limited (Bhadrachalam), Karnataka-based Vasavadatta Cement and JK Tyre. “We are targeting to bring around 100 companies under the programme and provide ratings to some 45 companies by the end of this calendar year,” N Muthusezhiyan, senior counsellor, CII - Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre, told Business Standard.

The rating programme is a voluntary initiative that seeks commitments from companies in manufacturing and services sectors to optimally use natural resources starting from production to waste disposal. The entire rating process goes through three phases — training, feasibility study and assessment programme — and it is valid for three years. “We had set some guidelines when we started the initiative and now are fine-tuning these. The guidelines were same for all companies across sectors. But, with the changing needs we are now making them more sector-specific,” he said.

The rating is based on nine parameters — energy efficiency; water conservation; use of renewable energy, mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, conservation and recycling of materials; waste management; establishment of a green supply chain, product stewardship and lifecycle assessment.

Companies across the globe have taken initiatives in areas such as energy efficiency, water, GHG and  waste reduction to reduce their ecological footprint.  

“While it is a relatively new concept for India Inc, many companies have started adopting measures to integrate environmental concerns in their businesses to improve performance and competitiveness,” he said.