ITH SUSTAINABILITY TAKING centre stage in an enterprise’s strategic and operating environment, ESG (short for environmental, social and governance) has become quite the buzzword in corporate circles, both Indian as well as global. The past few years have seen a ballooning of ESG-focussed funds—including both private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funds—in India. Per a report from Bain & Co., assets under management (AUM) by ESG-focussed PE funds in India more than doubled to $650 million in 2021. Another report from Bain says the AUM of these PE funds is expected to grow 90 per cent in the next five years, up from 39 per cent in the past five years. For start-ups, data from analytics firm Entrackr shows that of the top 25 early-stage deals from January-June this year, six were environment-related.
