Abstract:
Since the introduction of the non-financial reporting mandate for business entities by the Government of
India's Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1993, the manufacturing landscape has changed. The
regulatory framework for checking the environmental impacts of chemical based manufacturing plants
has strengthened with much of activity reported in the past decade. A thorough study of published
literature revealed that the various manufacturing steps in pharmaceutical units involve a wide variety of
chemical syntheses. These processes are associated with large amounts of energy consumption causing
high green-house gas (GHG) emissions and waste generation. The purpose of this review article is to
discuss how the pharmaceutical companies are approaching sustainability while considering environmental
aspects along with economic and social welfare of the society. Accordingly, a comparative
analysis, through an exploratory study of the trends followed in India and in other countries has been
reported. The underlying endeavor is to provide a better understanding of the sustainability trend in the
Indian pharmaceutical manufacturing sector and where it is headed. Apart from the extensive review of
technical literature published in journals, various reports published by profit and non-profit making
organizations have been studied for the purpose of developing a better understanding about sustainability
practices in the Indian context, supported by examples from around the world. In addition, the
benefits of various methodologies to achieve sustainability in pharmaceutical organizations have been
discussed. The authors hope that the paper will enhance the understanding regarding how pharmaceutical
setups can achieve sustainability by adopting various practices, what are the various performance
metrics available and how reporting sustainability brings transparency and efficiency in an
organization. The authors propose for a further study on integration of various approaches adopted by
Indian pharmaceutical organizations' global counterparts.
