BSE launches first green index

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), on Wednesday, launched ‘BSE Greenex’, a first ever environmentally-friendly equity index, which will enable investors take more informed decisions in the green theme of India.

Union Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily inaugurated the initiative at the BSE to launch BSE Greenex, a new 20-share index, that was dominated by large cap firms from banking, capital goods and pharma sectors on debut.

ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC, Sun Pharma and BHEL are the major constituents. Even as the exchange stated that eligible companies from BSE 100 will be included, the initial lot comprises only of big names. Only a handful of companies out of the benchmark Sensex index have qualified for a berth in the index which tracks the “carbon- performance” of companies.

Notable exclusions from Sensex heavyweights include Reliance Industries, ONGC and Coal India from the energy space, cigarette maker ITC and IT firms such as Wipro and Infosys.

“The BSE Greenex Index is a veritable first step in creating a credible market based response mechanism in India, whereby both businesses and investors can rely upon purely quantitative and objective performance-based signals, to assess ‘carbon performance’,” the exchange said.

The new Index includes the top 20 companies which are good in terms of Carbon Emissions, Free-Float Market Capitalisation and Turnover. gTrade Carbon Ex Ratings Services (gTrade) has co-developed the BSE Greenex index in close association with the BSE.

The index will help create viable market based solutions for industries, investors and governments, to promote energy efficient practices and encourage impact investing in economically and environmentally sustainable businesses, official communication said.