India’s rapid economic growth in last several years has made us aware of two stark realities: it has lifted millions out of poverty; and that this economic growth has been accompanied by accelerated depletion of natural resources and rapid deterioration in environment quality. Even after six decades of effort to support development and growth, the dimensions of poverty in India is staggering. India is ranked 127th in the Human Development Index. As such poverty and destitution affects the well being of us all.

India is not endowed with sufficient natural capital in comparison to the population it supports. Though India is home to 18% of the world’s population, it only has 2.4% of the planet’s landmass, 4% of the fresh water resources and about a percent of the world’s forest. India’s ecosystems are already highly degraded. Most Indian rivers have water quality unfit for direct human use. Air quality in Indian cities is degrading despite significant improvements in emissions from vehicles and industries. The country however continues to remain on the threshold of a grave ecological crisis.

The current paradigm of rapid economic growth along with the need of conserving the natural and ecological resources, challenges the very foundation of the manner in which business is done today. It challenges the traditional business management theory, which echoes Milton Friedman’s famous statement that there is ’only one responsibility of business: to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits.’

The fact that rapid economic growth is the only realistic means to lift the poor out of extreme poverty and the fact that most economic activities depend on product and services provided by the ecosystems, necessitates the ushering of a new business paradigm which enables rapid economic growth without compromising the capacity of the ecosystem to sustain, nurture and fuel economic development and human well-being. For the business fraternity, this calls for a sustainability approach of doing business, wherein business success is measured not only in terms of its financial bottom line, but also in terms of its performance in social and environmental areas. The integration of triple bottom line in the mainstream business practices is what is often referred as Corporate Sustainability.