'Emerging markets including India more focused on sustainability'

The finding was made in Grant Thornton's International Business Report, a survey of 2,500 companies in 34 economies

Business leaders in emerging markets are more focused on the sustainability of their operations compared with peers in developed markets, a Grant Thornton report says.

According to Grant Thornton's International Business Report (IBR), a survey of 2,500 companies in 34 economies, there is a growing business focus on sustainability in emerging markets and India businesses are of the opinion that reliability of energy supply important for their growth strategy over the next 12 months.

"Corruption in allocation of energy resources, and continuing subsidies to provide power to consumers below cost have resulted in chronic underinvestment in infrastructure," Grant Thornton India LLP Director Vivek Vikram Singh said.

Singh further noted that "the new government's initiatives on infrastructure investments in power, especially solar; as well as their boldness in reducing subsidies, is being seen as strong indicators of achieving grid tariff parity by 2020."

Over 76% of African business leaders, 72% in Latin America and 67% in Southeast Asia said that the cost of energy is important to their growth strategy over the next 12 months, while in Europe and North America just 50% of business leaders believe so.

Meanwhile, 93% of survey respondents from India said reliability of energy supply was important for their business growth strategy over the next 12 months. Around 88 per cent believed the same for cost of energy while 83 per cent said switching to greener energy was important for their growth strategy.

"The focus on sustainability in emerging economies is driven by a number of factors including the resource-intensity of their growth and the impact climate change is already having on their local environment," Grant Thornton global leader for energy and cleantech Nathan Goode said.

Businesses in these economies clearly have a keen appetite for investment in green technologies which have moved on rapidly as the supply of more traditional energy sources has become more volatile, Goode added.