Bizongo becomes the first B2B marketplace to help the sector turn ESG compliant. To enable 100,000 MSMEs to turn ESG compliant in the next 24 months, Bizongo has launched Bizongo environmental, social, and governance (ESG) Scorecard. This will help bolster ESG consciousness among Indian MSMEs and larger enterprises. With this, Bizongo has also become the first B2B marketplace to offer ESG-related intelligence.
Aniket Deb, Co-founder & COO, Bizongo, said “In its essence, ESG is a framework that helps businesses build customer loyalty, attract investors, make operations sustainable, and improve financial performance. In line with this, Bizongo’s ESG Scorecard will enable MSMEs on its platform to assess their ESG performance and help them integrate it into their internal policies and practices.”
The scorecard will allow MSMEs to monitor and track their compliance across various ESG components, including social parameters, such as minimum wage policy, Child labour and Forced labour, Harassment and Discrimination, and product quality and testing. It will also focus on environmental parameters, such as the Environment Management System (or ISO 14001, energy management process/policy, policies/processes for optimum, water consumption/ water conservation, circular economy/ recycle/reuse program, management of solid/liquid waste, and GHG emission. On the Governance front, the tool will assess compliance on grievance redressal/whistleblowing, code of conduct, anti-bribery, frauds/malpractice incident, and sub-contractors’ due diligence.
Leveraging Bizongo’s digital vendor management platform, the scorecard will help MSMEs on the platform validate their credibility in following mandatory compliances, especially when applying for Zero Defect Zero Effect (ZED) certification. It will also simplify availing ZED benefits, such as subsidy on cost of tech adoption, reimbursement on acquisition and installation of Plant & Machinery/ Testing equipment, and concessions in Pricing/processing charges by banks, among others.
The MSME sector in India is characterized as resource intensive, with 19.4 million MSMEs in the manufacturing industry consuming 25% of the total energy in the industrial sector and generating 110 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. This consumption is expected to increase as India further boosts manufacturing activity.
“India being the incumbent host of the G20 Presidency for 2023, the country would like to pioneer the cause of sustainable development goals during the current term and support climate change protection policies. This makes it even more imperative for the sector to invest in ESG. The Government of India has also been advising MSMEs to observe aggressive green practices and manufacture goods with ‘zero defects’ so that they have a ‘zero effect’ on the environment. In line with this Bizongo has taken a mandate to enable MSMEs to ensure that this transition happens, and this scorecard is a starting point that is available for every MSME to use and adopt,” Aniket added.