Corporate sustainability reporting under BRSR: Impact on financial performance of listed Indian Firms

One of key tools that makes corporate governance in India more transparent and accountable is corporate sustainability reporting. The impact of Business Responsibility & Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) on financial performance of Indian listed companies is examined in this study. The study uses a quantitative methodology and is based on a panel data set of 150 listed businesses from National Stock Exchange for the fiscal years 2021–22 to 2023–24. Four variables of the selected financial performance indicators such as Return on Equity (ROE), Return on Assets (ROA), Net Profit Margin (NPM), & Earnings Per Share (EPS) are used to measure financial performance. This supports our theory that BRSR adoption improves financial performance metrics. Results indicate that there are different relationships between financial performance and the quality of BRSR disclosure, with significant positive correlation with ROA and NPM and a neutral to negative association with ROE in some sectors. Our statistical finding contrast by sectors, while the information technology and banking sectors exhibit strong positive correlations, the manufacturing sectors do not. The study concludes that improvements in long-term sustainability and stakeholder trust arising from BRSR are dependent upon specific industrial sector and are compensated through differential short-term financial impacts.