Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is contemplating to adopt a new reporting standard with respect to environment, social and corporate governance (ESG), which is being benchmarked on the international sustainability reporting guidelines.

With this initiative, ONGC is eyeing to become one of the first public sector enterprises to have this stringent reporting standard to strengthen transparencies in its statutory reporting norms.

The new ESG reporting is going to enhance the corporation’s credit rating to a large extent, both in the country and abroad. This rigorous reporting format also immensely increases a corporate’s capacity to raise funds from both debt and equity markets worldwide.

In this new reporting format, the three parameters of environment, social and corporate governance are extensively studied. In the environment head, factors such as energy and emissions, preservation of the ecosystem, water utilisation and waste management are covered.

ONGC plans to hire a consultant shortly to revamp its integrated reporting system to strengthen its corporate governance policy and ensure greater transparency in its business.

Director (exploration) and director incharge, HSE, ONGC, A K Dwivedi said, “Globally, the ESG Reporting system is emerging as the latest trend in integrated reporting. The system embraces sustainability factors to help identify companies with superior business model and is said to offer investors long-term performance advantages”.