FINAL PROJECT For MBA
FINAL PROJECT For MBA
FINAL PROJECT For MBA
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF
INDIA
PROJECT REPORT
Submitted by
SILPA P S
SNT18MBA26
Dr. SUMA S R
HOD MBA
of
DECLARATION
I undersigned, hereby declare that the project titled “RELEVANCE OF GREEN BANKING IN
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA” submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of
Degree of Master of Business Administration of A P J Abdul Kalam Technological University is
a bonafide record of work done by me under the guidance of Dr. SUMA S R, HOD,
DEPARTMENT OF MBA, SNIT BUSINESS SCHOOL, ADOOR .This report has not previously
formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma or similar title of any University.
DATE: SILPA P S
SNITADOOR
SREE NARAYANA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
®
Approved by AICTE, New Delhi & Affiliated to APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University
Theppupara, Adoor, Kerala-691554 Ph.: 04734 244600, 244700, Fax: 04734-243400
An ISO 9001 2008 Certified Institution
CERTIFICATE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This project was successfully completed and made possible due to the cooperation, assistance and
suggestion of many persons to whom I would like to express my sincere gratitude and thanks.
First of all, I thank the omnipotent one, the heaven above the light he instilled in me, for the grace
and will that I am here. This space wouldn’t be enough to extend my warm gratitude towards my
project guide Dr. SUMA S.R, HOD, Department of Management Studies, SREE NARAYANA
INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ADOOR, for her efforts in coordinating with my work and
guiding in right direction.
I thank the people, who help me in completing the survey and at last, but not the least sincere
thanks to my family membersand friends without whose love and encouragement this would not
have been a reality.
SILPA P S
LIST OF TABLES
4.6 Population 41
4.7 Sample Design 41
4.8 Sampling method 41
6 FINDINGS 62-63
7 RECOMMENDATIONS 64
8 CONCLUSION 65
REFERENCES
APPENDIX
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
RELEVANCE OF GREEN BANKING IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA
Green Banking is also a part of India’s mission of “Go Green” and plays an active role to
take environmental and ecological aspects as part of their lending principle. Green banking is
comparatively a new development in the financial world. Green banking means promoting
environmental friendly practices and reducing carbon footprint from banking activities. It is a
form of banking taking into account the social and environmental impacts and its main
motive is to protect and preserve environment.
Banking sector is one of the major sources of financing investment for commercial
projects which is one of the most important economic activities for economic growth.
Therefore, banking sector can play a crucial role in promoting environmentally sustainable
and socially responsible investment (SRI). Banks may not be the polluters themselves but
they will probably have a banking relationship with some companies/investment projects that
are polluters or could be in future.
This project compiles the relevance of Green Banking in sustainable development and also
explains how Indian Banks are initiating themselves to enter in Green concept.
Green Banking is a term referring to practices and guidelines that make banks
sustainable in economic, environment, and social dimensions. It aims to make banking
processes and the use of IT and physical infrastructure as efficient and effective as possible,
with zero or minimal impact on the environment.
Banks affect the environment indirectly by financing intermediaries who are the
major source of long term funding to various industries that pollute the environment heavily.
Hence, it is imperative to understand the need for sustainable practices for banking. Foreign
countries have understood the need of green banking and creating many opportunities in their
country to develop this but in India, the concept of green banking is catching up and banks
are actively looking for ways to portray themselves as a Green Bank. So need is to create new
strategies to develop Green banking in India and aware the public about the need and
importance of green banking.
Banks can play a major and decisive role in the global efforts to make the planet a
better place to live in. As major implementers of technology, banks themselves can adopt
green practices and thereby lead the way in this global initiative. Product innovation and
leveraging on the use of technology enable the banks and their customers today to reduce the
usage of resources such as paper, thereby aiding in environmental protection. Reserve Bank
of India provides a lot of guidelines for making the banks green for environmental
sustainability and environmental protection. As providers of finance, banks can ensure that
businesses adopt environment-friendly practices. Green banking is considered one of the
tools of ensuring sustainable development where economic activity will not have any
negative impact on the environment. Green banking is all about going beyond to keep the
world liveable without any significant damage.
This study aims to analyse the relevance of green banking in sustainable development of
India Green banking make our environment human friendly and enrich our economic
productivity. Banks as the financing agent of the economic and developmental activities have
an important role in promoting overall sustainable development. This study also focuses to
identify the challenges in implementation of green banking in India.
Chapter one introduction deals with the background of the study, Problem statement,
Need and Significance of the study, Scope of the study, Objectives of the study,
Limitations of the study.
Chapter two literature review deals with identify and reviews previous and relevant
work done on the topic.
Chapter three theoretical framework deals with review of theories related to the topic.
Chapter four research methodology deals with Objectives, Hypothesis, Research
Design, Sources of data, Primary data, secondary data, Population, Sample design,
sample size, Sampling method, Method of data collection, Drafting a questionnaire,
Pilot survey, Data Analysis techniques.
Chapter five data analysis deals with data analysis and interpretation.
Chapter six findings
Chapter seven recommendations
Chapter eight conclusion
CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
RELEVANCE OF GREEN BANKING IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA
Mankind is having the knowledge that the incremental emission of carbon and rapid scale
development without consideration of the environmental concerns are leading to the change
in climate. There are several studies which claimed the relationship between the natural
calamities and change occurring in climate because of the disregarding the environmental
sustainability. Banks affect the environment indirectly by financing intermediaries who are
the major source of long term funding to various industries that pollute the environment
heavily. In this regard, a new concept of Green Banking was coined, which considers the
ecological perspectives of banking.
Green banking services helps the banks towards the sustainable developments of the India. In
this context many authors expressed their opinions on the previous and recent developments
and trends in the banking sector relating to the green banking.
Bahl (2012) highlights the means of creating awareness about Green Banking to ensure
sustainable growth. Garrett’s ranking technique is used to analyse the most significant
strategies in respect of Green Banking. If the goal is to attain sustainable development
this can be achieved only through creating awareness and imparting education. Among
the internal sub systems emphasis should be given to publications, newsletters so as to
create awareness and effective means for external sub systems are event meetings,
media and websites. A proper formulated green policy guideline is needed for effective
Green Banking.
Verma (2012) analysed the evolution of green banking concepts in Indian banking and
its developments in Indian banks. The study was divided in two parts, one studied the
SREE NARAYANA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ADOOR 5|P ag e
RELEVANCE OF GREEN BANKING IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA
growth of green banking among banks and other studied the awareness about the
activities
Sweta et al. (2012) explored concept of green financial products. They did survey to at
Mumbai identify the awareness and attitude of user and customer for green financial
products. This gave them idea about the probable demand related to these products.
Bankers’ opinion was also taken about the green products via questionnaire. Key
findings from the Banker’s end revealed that, they have introduced such green funds for
reputation, green home loans are more popular and tax incentive is the prime tool to
promote the green products. As per view of Customers, majority were aware about
green home loans, they prefer to go for green products if there are monetary benefits. It
was concluded that, financial institutions and banks have an important role to play by
backing to the creation fruitful low carbon economy.
Jha and Bhome (2013) highlighted the ways to Go Green through ‘Green Banking’.
They tried to know the concept of green banking, identified the ways to adopt it, its
awareness amongst general Bank customers and bankers and finally to create its
awareness. The Data on Green Banking was collected through interview and
questionnaire. They found the positive development of green banking approach.
Karunakaran (2014) described new area of -types of banking risks mitigated by Green
Banking and steps to be undertaken for applying green banking. He found that there has
not been much inventiveness in this regard by the banks and other financial institutions
in India, though they play an active role in India’s developing economy. More than 100
countries have incorporated the equator principle. So, this principle has become a
common standard of project finance. None of banks or financial institutions has adopted
equator principle even for the sake of records.
Singhal, Singhal & Arya (June 2014) in their paper entitled Green Banking: An
Overview studied, how bank can go greener. According to study banking industries and
financial institution plays a very important role in the growth of an earth. Green banking
saves the energy and environment both. Now a day’s many bank offering green product
like ATM, Green credit cards, green CDs, electronic fund transfer, use of solar and wind
energy etc. but still it’s not completed. We have to make more efforts so we can save
environment and green banking is one of the best way to start this.
Khedekar (2014) in her research entitled banking with Technology- Green Banking
studied the various technology used by the banking industries to make the environment
green. According to study bank should provide basic plus premium internet banking
product such as opening bank account, Demat holding, standing instruction, investment
etc. This Study suggests that bank should conduct seminar and conference to educate the
public regarding the uses of internet banking as well as security issue. She suggests
“Virtual Banking” where customer can’t deal in cash to those branches which are far
from the main branch.
Malu, Agrawal, & Jajoo (2014) studied that banks can play an important role in
reducing the carbon footprint in the society. Earlier economic development means
reducing poverty, inequality and unemployment in the society, but the concept of
Economic development had changed to Sustainable development which means
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generation to meet their own needs (World Commission Environment and
Development 1987).The study suggested that sustainability in the banking sector can
take two forms-
Recycling programs, paperless banking, using energy efficient resources, and support
for community events for reducing pollution and so on.
They can adopt lending and investment strategies to promote environmentally
responsible projects and can also develop green products to ensure the sustainability in
their core business.
Jaggi (2014) studies the initiative by SBI and ICICI on Green Banking. SBI has
introduced a Green Channel Counter, no queue banking, enhanced commitment towards
achieving carbon neutrality, online money transfer, wind farms. Green Products and
Services initiative of ICICI Bank includes instabanking (anytime, anywhere), vehicle
finance and home finance. Moreover these banks have taken other steps for energy
conservation like duplexing (two side printing), recycling, CFLs, carpool etc.
Nath, Nayak (2014) attempt to study the green rating standard given by RBI, the World
Bank’s environmental and social norms and the initiative taken by bank in adopting
green practices. They also list strategies for adopting Green Banking. Green Rating
Standard is known as Green Coin Rating. Under this banks are evaluated on the basis of
carbon emissions and amount of recycling activities. World Bank has formed
environmental and social norms for financial institution. These norms provide ways to
reduce environmental impact. Banks are required to do Environmental Impact
Assessment, Annual Reporting and adopt sustainable technology. The researchers study
and list the initiative taken in respect of environment by different banks in India. If the
Indian banks want to achieve some position in global economy then they have to act as
good corporate citizens.
Sreesha (2014) identified the green banking initiatives adopted by public and private
sector banks. The guidelines of RBI for green banking was also focused that includes,
that
banks should make its products and services green, later the banks should go for green
infrastructure. Nearby 50 ways were given to adopt green banking that includes paper
less statements, Green companies investments, Assimilating Trees in Infrastructure,
Online Payments, Green Loans, Caring landscape during construction, Carbon credit
business, use of solar power, Recycling etc. It was concluded form the study that Public
sector banks are more into implementation of concept of green banking.
Packialakshmi and Ramesh (2014) analysed the green banking concept, benefits,
challenges, and methods on the basis of secondary information. They suggested
rationale of green banking. As per their opinion, green banking is mission oriented tasks
as the deposits done by customers will be used in eco-friendly things, it will be assured
by them, banks can reduce pollution, credit risk of unethical practices, increase green
plantation, improves credibility of employees, increase productivity, awareness of
healthy things, better CAMEL rating as well. It was concluded that with immense
benefits it will be bonus to Industries, Economy, and Banks.
Rajesh and Dileep (2014) have given the conceptual overview about how the green
initiatives will help in sustainable economic development. They highlighted various
activities by different banks, and provides a view that, various tools/ methods should be
focused by banks for moving further.
Rajput et al. (2014) gave the green banking scenario in India. For their study they
considered primary and secondary data to analyse the views of Delhi based bankers on
environment responsibilities and the framework for adoption of green banking. They
found that few Indian banks have only recognized the importance of the green banking
and still the activeness on the issue is missing. They quoted that only Yes bank and
Infrastructure finance & leasing corporation were the two signatories of United Nations
Environmental Program- Finance Initiative (UNEP- Fin. 2014). They determined that
RRBs have accommodated the concept more rapidly and contributed effectively in
green banking activities. At the end, they were of the view that RBI policy should be
clearer for the concept and training about the same should be imparted.
Sharma et al. (2014) studied consumer awareness regarding green banking concept and
green banking services - initiatives taken by various Public and Private sector banks in
India, Mumbai. And obstacles faced by consumers in availing green Banking services.
They found from their research that green initiatives like Communication through Press,
Bank environmental policy, Concession on energy savings, Solar ATMs, Green CDs is
not familiar in Green initiatives by the bank as per the respondents. Still Indian banks
have not accepted the principle equator policy to keep a record of their clients.
Krishna and Srinivas (2014) has done primary study on the customer’s perception
towards green banking. They included parameters like factors considered while going
for green banking, mode of green banking, Satisfaction towards services and problems
related to green banking. Opinion of customers related to these parameters were taken
and the major findings include that major customers were satisfied and were aware
about Internet banking, Busy server is the most important problem they perceive.
Promotion related to Green banking is needed, they concluded.
Sunmista and Sathana (2014) has done empirical study on attitude of the bank
employees towards the green banking initiatives of five Public sector commercial banks
in India. Their study revealed that attitude of the bank employees towards green banking
initiatives of the commercial banks differ with regard to their age factor. Other
demographic variables like qualification, Income, Family size etc. has no influence on
the attitude. It was concluded, employees are having positive attitude towards the green
banking initiatives of their banks considering the mean score value more than 3. They
were of the opinion from the study that, Banks were taking green initiatives and should
continue the same by creating Green buildings, follow Environmental standards.
Ragupathi. M and Sujatha .S (2015) in their paper entitled Green Banking Initiatives
of Commercial Banks in India, studied the way to go green through green banking.
According to this paper, earlier bank was not aware about the concept green banking.
But now a day’s banks are playing very important role in environment sustainability
program. By the green banking practice people is getting more aware about the global
warming and each business man's contributing in environment sustainability to make
this earth a better
place to live in. Green banking is not only greening the industries but it will also
facilitate in improving the assets quality of the bank in future.
Ahuja (2015) gave an overview of literature review about green banking, for making
the conceptual framework. She identified problems in the execution of the green
concept, where from her review, she identified customer education and awareness is
biggest concern and Private sector banks are able to implement the concept in a better
way. Later she explores the green initiatives by SBI to describe green banking.
Zhelyazkova and Kitanov (2015) have attempted to create a green banking business
model on the basis of the conceptual understand of green banking and its scope. They
highlighted that, in various parts of the world from past 10 years, many definitions for
the concept was coined, but still no precision in that was achieved. The described the
green banking is need for the banking, as bank is active economic transaction for earning
money, while they think such green products lessens down their margin and so they are
less motivated to initiate. Considering the scope of green banking, they were of the view
that mere green products is not part of green banking, but environmental pointers in the
risk valuation and management –control system is accommodated.
The Business Model proposed by them incorporates steps: First they suggest banks to
develop green products and give more interest to make it attractive that will lead to fund
receipts, which again can be given to companies for doing green activities, so problem is
if there is higher interest rate on deposit, banks can compensate by keeping high rate in
green loans, funds collected from this, should be used for giving more green loans. They
concluded that green banking is getting more consideration and first ones to adopt will
gain more market
Susanto (2015) defined green banking as banking which considers 3 Ps – Profit, Planet
and People. It was focused that Electronic banking provides the support to improve
banks’ customer services. It was concluded that green banking implementation will
make banks more awake about the environment practices like saving paper, fuel,
transportation etc. It will also make customers to go for electronic banking.
Ramila and Gurusamy (2015) have done analytical study based on secondary data.
They attempted to find the impact on profitability of the green initiatives like NEFT,
ECS, RTGS, POS, ATM and mobile banking. In that context they performed ANOVA
and it was found that ECS and ATM have more impact on the profitability of public
sector banks as compared to other initiatives for green banking.
Narang (2015) described the concept of green banking, the benefits, strategies, green
coin ratings and initiatives by public and private banks. The main strategies discussed in
the study includes, banks should engage with stakeholders and create awareness,
conduct energy audits, set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and
Timely ) green goals, green policy publication & execution and lastly monitoring the
progress regularly. It was concluded that RBI should frame a clear green policy and
bank should adopt a strategic plan for green banking.
Tara et al. (2015) focused on the relation of environment sustainability and green
banking. Described the stages of sustainable banking- Defensive, Preventive and
Offensive banking. They considered the case studies of ICICI and SBI for explaining
the current status of green banking and described the initiatives taken by them. Later the
laws and guidelines given by various world organizations were highlighted. It was
found, that Bank should consider the concern of sustainability as a morale duty and
should promote environmental friendly projects.
Gupta (2015) analysed the secondary data and studied the SWOC analysis of green
banking activities. She collected data from SBI, PNB and ICICI bank branches of
Mandi
district- Himachal Pradesh and gave an overview of their initiatives of green activities. It
was concluded that bankers have major role to play for environment sustainability. Bank
employees should be trained and oriented for green activities, should start investment in
low carbon activities.
Sharifi and Hossein (2015) has studied the green banking as need for environmental
sustainability. They described the various initiatives by public sector banks regarding
green banking. SWOC analysis was performed on banking sector regarding green
banking. Personal interview of bankers was undertaken and their opinion regarding the
benefits of green banking was asked, it was found there has not been much initiatives,
but some of the prime advantages highlighted included reduction in transaction cost, risk
management, cost awareness etc.
Hundal and Kumar (2015) has done survey of 100 UG and PG students of. Amritsar,
to know the preference of them towards environment friendly / Green products. They
considered seven factors like Desire, Trustworthiness, Preference, Ethical, Awareness,
initiative and Social welfare for factor analysis perception of consumers towards Green
Products. They determined the Cronbach's alpha to be 0.814 which is significant,
interpreting the reliability. They derived some subjective conclusions that, concept is
new, so it will need time for acceptance. People are less aware about the benefits of
green products, so green movement should be conducted. Another important concept of
Green Myopia is also developed as less costly products will be sold by other companies
compared to green products. Consumer don’t prefer costly green products it is great
concern.
Sindhu (2015) studied the awareness and preference of the customers on the initiatives
taken by Banks. It was found majority of respondents were aware and preferred Internet
/ Mobile Banking and ATM. There also exist a significant association between locality
and customers’ awareness/ Preference. It was concluded that, still much more awareness
is required considering the green products amongst customers of Kerala, where majority
were highly qualified.
Deka (2015) has done study on green banking initiatives for Assam. He focused on the
SBI green initiatives considering the secondary information. On the primary end,
customers of SBI were asked opinions about the green banking initiatives and its
adoption. It was found, majority of the respondents use ATMs, while 50% of the
respondents were aware about the green initiatives undertaken by bank. Online banking/
Mobile banking is not much preferred for usage, the reason is security issue. More than
50% customers believe that green banking leads to eco-friendly practices and it saves
time and cost. It was recommended from the study the more publications regarding
green banking and environmental impact should be done by bankers’ and Government
side.
Kumar and Anand (2015) have done primary study on the customers end at Hyderabad
city for public sector banks. They identified the awareness and knowledge about green
initiatives taken by public banks. They also studied the impact of innovation on
adoption intention of green banking initiatives. Key findings form study reveals that
there is an association between innovation / Knowledge and adoption intention of green
banking. Even there exist association between innovation and knowledge. They
concluded that if the customers are innovative and possess knowledge, they are more
likely to adopt green banking, so banks and management should provide information of
green banking to educated segment with SMS, Mails etc.
Miyagamwala (2015) has described the concept, mechanism, steps of green banking.
He considered primary survey as well, wherein the HDFC bank employees were
investigated about the green banking. It was found that natural conservation is very
important for green banking. Even corporations have started pursuing many green
programs, reduce wastage and attempted to increase profitability by going green.
Rao (2015) described the perspectives of bankers and customers. He has done primary
study at Manipal on identifying the awareness of customers for the green banking, Ways
taken up by bankers to promote the concept. Bankers were also asked about the benefits
of green banking, usage of green products by customers. Major findings included
majority of respondents get aware from online sources about green banking and phone
call messages is the highly effective tool of promoting green banking, Bankers has the
opinion that majority customers use internet/ mobile banking, half of the bankers were
agreed that
green banking leads to reduce operation cost and it also helps them to create promotion
for bank branch. Overall he concluded that, awareness about the concept should be
created in planned way and banks should play a pro-active role in environmental aspects
of the nation.
JeyaRani and Thangaraja (2016) gave conceptual foundation for green banking
considering Marketing Intelligence (MI). They considered the Kotler’s view about
marketing intelligence which is “systematic collection and analysis of publicly available
information about competitors and developments in the marketing environment.” They
used the model of MI in green banking practices, the view was created that, it is require
to survey the customers and ask the opinions about the technology or products they are
aware of considering the educational background, Income, age etc. Thereafter fair view
will be generated by banks about the new innovations to be done for attracting more
customers and to create goodwill, by this way green initiatives should be marketed
Barhate, G., & Tamboli. M (2016) considered the theory regarding green banking and
focused on conceptual explanation. They covered methods like paper less banking,
green credit cards, energy resources etc. for going green. They found there exists many
opportunities like creating environment friendly products, adoption of carbon foot print
design, Inventory wastage planning etc. Few challenges include newly opened banks
would find difficulties, talented and experienced staff needed, credit risks. It was
recommended that government should play active role and formulate green policy.
Rakesh et al. (2016) studied the concept of green Banking and rating standards given
by RBI. They also discussed World Bank’s environmental and social norms, the
initiatives taken by public and private sector banks in India for Green Banking practices.
They gave overview of current practices in the same regard. They concluded the concept
is good for Banks and its asset quality and it must be practiced.
Brar (2016) emphasizes on the green banking aspects of public and private sector and
compare the same. Primary data was collected from Gurgaon’s bankers about the green
banking. It was found that there is association between type of bank and usage of
Internet
banking/ Branch banking, while no association between type of bank and usage of ATM
and Mobile banking. Private sectors banks are more aware about the environmental
benefits of green banking. On the overall basis, it was concluded, private banks are more
into motivating customers for green practices and provision of online services.
Mahesh et al. (2016) focused on trends in banking for going green. They explained how
the green banking promotes environment friendly practices. They covered basic
theoretical things about the green banking like steps in green banking, risks mitigated,
initiatives by banks, sustainable development due to green initiative etc. They even
conducted interviews with customers and bankers to know about the awareness and way
to create awareness for green banking. It was concluded that bank believe a small step
towards green initiative would main restored environment. Bankers can create ethical
banking and create awareness about the environmental responsibilities amongst business
people.
Jayabal and Soundarya (2016) gave a theoretical framework about the concept of
green banking in India. Their main highlights included the description of banks’
initiatives for sustainable development. They describe, SBI became the first to set up
windmill, tries to reduce the carbon footprints. It was discussed that suzlon – having 55
percent market share in the company has tie ups with twenty five banks for the wind
power and green initiatives. It was concluded carbon footprints can be reduced by paper
less banking, energy consciousness, green building. It was suggested that Indian banks
should adopt green banking as model.
Kapoor et al. (2016) studied the need of green banking. Strategies for adopting green
banking was also focused like carbon credit, E- banking, energy consciousness, green
building, social responsibility services etc. It was observed from the study, that banks
are gradually moving towards sustainability through social banking. Banks has initiated
service innovations. Green Banking to be considered as preventive measure for
polluting Industries.
Sahoo et al. (2016) highlighted that there are very studies considering the relation of
adoption of green products and demographic variables. So, with the attempt to bridge
the gap, ANOVA test was applied on analyse the adoption of green banking products
among customers with different age groups. It was found there is significant difference
in usage of green products and age groups. They concluded, young generation prefers
the green products than middle age and senior age groups, as the later age groups lacks
awareness.
Malliga and Revathy (2016) conducted a primary study on the awareness of Customer
for Green Banking initiatives taken up by private Banks at Theni District. They
discussed the Green Products and SWOC analysis of Green Banking as theoretical
framework. Considering empirical side, initiative taken by few of the private banks at
the selected district was emphasized. They found majority of the banks give training for
green banking services, major problem in green banking system is lack of customer
interaction, giving security & privacy was the most important tool to create awareness
of the green banking concept, which was perceived by customers. It was concluded
Bank has to create Green goals and market them for creating awareness amongst
customers. At the end, Age was considered for checking its relation with other variables
through ANOVA, where a only one variable saving in time is found to be significantly
different regard to age of customers.
Narmadha (2016) attempted to know the awareness on Green banking among the
customers of six different banks at Chennai. They surveyed the usage, awareness of
Green Banking. Initiatives by banks, where majority were aware about the concept and
the initiative of Green checking. They also concluded from test that there is no relation
between age of customers and awareness / usage of Green Banking.
Ganesan and Bhuvaneswari (2016) studied the awareness of green banking, and level
of green banking concept prominent among the customers. They gave overview of
Green Banking and its steps. On the primary side, they have done survey at Chennai and
found age/ Educational qualification is associated with the awareness of Green Banking.
Considering awareness, it was also found, majority of the respondents were aware about
the concept and online/ Mobile banking but many other products are not known by
them.
They concluded Banks should take steps to create awareness and environmental
protection.
Ravikumar and Jagadeesha (2016) has done an empirical study on awareness of green
banking and usage of online banking by customers of southern Karnataka district. They
compared the parameters between the two cities. They performed Chi Square Analysis
keeping the three parameters- District, Profession and Gender. The relationship of these
three parameters and awareness of Green Banking / usage of online Banking was
studied. It was found, Mysore customers’ especially males are significantly more aware
and profession is also associated with awareness of the green banking. Considering
usage of online Banking, Business professionals are highly associated and again Mysore
customers are having higher usage, while gender doesn’t play any role in this.
Sahoo and Singh (2016) evaluated the adoption of green banking products among
customers having different educational qualification and different age groups
considering ANOVA test. They found young generation is more inclined towards green
banking products and more awareness is to be generated amongst senior and middle age
group. The educational qualification has no association with usage of green banking
products.
Vijayakumar (2016) studied the awareness level and satisfaction of Karnataka’s about
green banking services and green banking initiatives by banks. It was found that,
Majority were aware about the green checking account as one of the initiative of banks
under green banking, followed by cash deposit system and online banking. It was
determined from the sample respondents that there exist no significant differences in
awareness between green banking initiatives like e-statement, green loans, net banking
and Gender. Technical issues and lack of education were the major obstacles in availing
green services. It was concluded that Banks should strictly follow the equator principle
and there exist good opportunity in reducing carbon footprints.
Dileep G Menon, Avinash Shivdas (2017) in their paper “Green Banking Initiatives: A
review of Indian Banking Sector”, studied about the various green initiatives introduced
by different banks in India. The Indian banks are implementing the green banking
techniques in an effective manner it will act as a catalyst for protecting our environment.
Green Banking process helps the banks for creating cost efficient automated channels to
build consciousness and awareness among its various participants like customers,
business institutions and other financial institutions. Green banking involves in the
process of reducing paper works are possible since all the transactions are done through
online channels. Bank also introduced many products like green credit cards, green
mortgages etc. as part of the green projects.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
3.1 INTRODUCTION
The banking sector in India is the lifeline of the nation. It is the largest financial sector in
India. Indian banks have the potential to become fifth largest in the world by 2020 and third
largest by 2025. Banks have helped in country’s economic development and have transferred
the hopes of people into the reality.
The Traditional Banking sector in India can be defined as the banks whose primary activity is
to receive, keep and lend money. It has acted as the payment agent for its customers. It has
provided many facilities to the customers like the opening of an account, transfer of the
funds, providing of loans, clearing of cheque, clearing of demand drafts, etc. The main
objective of traditional banking is to increase their financial leverage by making more and
more profits without considering the negative impact of its activities on the environment.
In recent years Indian banks have witnessed the growing trend and have transformed its
operational strategies to a large extent. Green Banking is the new phenomenon in the
financial world which concentrates on environmental and socially responsible investing.
Green Banking is different from traditional banking as it is the concept of promoting
sustainable development in the country. In the era of Globalisation, global warming is
becoming one of the major issues across the world. The effects of Global warming have
found to be responsible for the destruction of the climate changes which have impacted the
land, water and human resources of the world. As people of the society are becoming more
concerned about the depletion of natural resources, organisations have started performing
their corporate social responsibilities. They have started modifying their working techniques
to maximize the greenery and to reduce the impact of their activities on the environment.
Green Banking is also called as the ethical banking which aims to protect the environment
and reduce the carbon footprint from banking activities. It encourages banks to carry out
environment-friendly investments by combining its operational improvements and
technology know-how in banking business activities. Green Banking has started priority
lending to those industries which are already green or putting its efforts to go green. The aim
of going green is to increase the energy efficiency and to use the biodegradable products.
Green Banking means ensuring environment friendly practices in banking sector and thereby
reducing internal and external carbon footprints. Banking industry is generally not considered
as polluting industry. But it impacts the environment in terms of increasing energy
consumption (lighting, air conditioning), paper consumption. A broader view of this is that
banking industry is linked to the external environment as it provides funds to others and
hence finances their activities. Banks are a source of funds. So they can contribute to
environment by ensuring environmentally responsible investment and a carefully evaluated
lending.
Green Banking therefore covers two aspects. The first one being judicious use of all
resources, energy and reducing carbon footprints and second being encouraging and
financing only environment friendly investment. So Green Banking is not only about making
sustainable use of resources but also about environment friendly dispensation of credit. A
proper scrutiny of all projects that are financed in terms of environment is another major
element of Green Banking.
Definition
According to RBI (IDRBT, 2013), green banking is to make internal bank processes,
physical infrastructure and Information Technology effective towards environment by
reducing its negative impact on the environment to the minimum level.
Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology defines Green
Banking as Green Banking is an umbrella term referring to practices and guidelines
that make banks sustainable in economic, environmental, and social dimensions. It
aims to make banking processes and the use of IT and physical infrastructure as
efficient and effective as possible, with zero or minimal impact on the environment‟.
3.3 BENEFITS OF GREEN BANKING
Basically Ethical (Green) banking avoids as much paper work as possible and rely on
online/electronic transactions for processing so that you get green credit cards and
green mortgages.
Less paperwork means less cutting of trees.
Creating awareness to business people about environmental and social responsibility
enabling them to do an environmental friendly business practice.
Green (Ethical) banks adopt and implement environmental standards for lending,
which benefit our future generations.
When you are awarded with a loan, the interest of that loan is comparatively less with
normal banks because ethical banks give more importance to environmental friendly
factors - ecological gains.
Natural resources conservation is also one of the underlying principles in a green
bank while assessing capital/operating loans to extracting/industrial business sector.
Green banks gives more importance to environmental friendly factors like ecological
gains thus interest on loan is comparatively less.
Free electronic bill payment services.
Online account opening form for opening green account.
Cash back will be credited to all new customers, opening “green accounts”.
Development of human capital of country
There are many methods of adopting green banking in India. Some of them are
1. Use Direct Deposit: Most employers will give employees the option to receive their
paycheck electronically. Not only does this speed up the availability of your money and
save you a trip to the bank, it saves paper, lots of paper work etc.
2. Online Savings Account: Online savings account and mobile banking is the easiest
way that you can do your part to bank green and help the environment. Green banking
includes setting up direct deposit to receive your paychecks, receiving electronic
statements from
your bank and by paying bills online. Online banking and mobile banking are also highly
effective ways to keep track of your finances and to avoid late payment fees.
3. Online Bill Payments: Paying bills online is something of a lifestyle change but it can
be done. Telephone bills, cable bills, utility bills, credit card payments and mortgage
payments can all be paid electronically. In fact, some online banking customers have
thrown away their checkbooks and completely converted to online payments. Not only
is the recordkeeping much easier, but again massive amounts of paper is saved.
4. Reward Debit and Credit Cards: Some banks have joined up with environment-
friendly groups like The Sierra Club or Defenders of Wildlife to create reward debit
cards and reward credit cards. Participating banks will make a small charitable donation
as a percentage of your online banking activity to help the environment.
5. Paperless Statements: Sending out bank statements by mail is a big waste of paper.
Signing up for online banking at most banks includes an option for customers to receive
their statements electronically through a secure login. Copies of banking records and
statements can then be stored electronically instead of in a filing cabinet. Receiving
statements electronically also reduces the chance of identity theft.
6. Net Banking: Online banking is when customers perform most of their banking related
functions without visiting the bank, personally. To do so, customers must possess an
internet banking ID and a password provided by the bank in which the individual
customer has an account.
7. Electronic Fund Transfer. Electronic banking, also known as electronic fund transfer
(EFT), uses computer and electronic technology as a substitute for checks and other
paper transactions. EFTs is initiated through devices like cards or codes that let you, or
those you authorize, access your account. Many financial institutions use ATM or debit
cards and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) for this purpose.
8. Mobile Banking: Mobile banking is a term used for performing balance checks,
account transactions, payments, credit applications etc. via a mobile device such as a
mobile phone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)
9. Use Green Credit Cards: By using Green Credit Cards, banks are promoting different
schemes of using plastic money rather than currency notes in order to save environment.
Green bonds
Green bonds are designated bonds intended to encourage sustainability and to support
climate-related or other types of special environmental projects. More specifically,
green bonds finance projects aimed at energy efficiency, pollution prevention,
sustainable agriculture, fishery and forestry, the protection of aquatic and terrestrial
ecosystems, clean transportation, clean water, and sustainable water management.
They also finance the cultivation of environmentally friendly technologies and the
mitigation of climate change.
Carbon Fund
Carbon Funds payments are designed to help countries and their stakeholders achieve
long-term sustainability in financing forest conservation. They are intended to help
reduce climate change impacts from forest loss and degradation by making forests
more valuable standing than cut down.
Green Insurance
This type of insurance typically encompasses two product areas:
- Insurance products with differentiate insurance premium on the basis of
environmentally related characteristic
- Those specially tailored for clean technology and emission reducing activities
Green Mortgages
The Facility helps the individual customers to get a lower interest green loan market
rate, who is ready to purchase new energy efficient homes this facility also allows
them to invest energy efficient appliances
Green Cards
A board family of green products includes debit and credit cards linked to
environment activities. This green cards offered by large credit card companies offer
to make Non-
government organizations donations equal to approximately One – half percent of
every purchase, balance transfer or cash advance made by the card owner.
Green Securitization
A variety of environment securitization techniques have begun to emerge, including
forest bond, eco securitization pilot program and green mortgages – backed
securities.
Green Index
Some banks have currently developed index that fluctuate as future environmental
opportunities and challenges.
India is on a higher growth trajectory for last one and half decade and the industrial
sector plays the most important role in India’s growth story. However, Indian industry faces
the challenges of controlling environmental impact of their business i.e. reducing pollution
and emission of their clients. Though government has been trying to address the issue by
framing environmental legislations and encouraging industry to follow environmental
technologies and practices, they would not be enough given the poor track records of
enforcement, public awareness and inability to derive competitive advantage by producing
eco-friendly products.
Incidentally, India’s is the world’s sixth largest and second fastest growing country in terms
of producing greenhouse gases. Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai are the three of the world’s ten
most polluted cities. The major polluting industries in India are (a) primary metallurgical
industries namely zinc, copper, steel etc. (b) paper & pulp (c) pesticides/insecticides (d)
refines
(e) fertilizers (f) tanneries (g) sugar (h) textiles (i) chemicals/pharmaceuticals etc.
The banking operation and investment by financial institutions should take care of
environmental management of these polluting industries by improving the overall
environment, the quality and conversation of life, level of efficiency in using materials and
energy, quality of services and products. In this context, the role of Green banking is
important for the sustainable development of India.
The Reserve Bank of India document titled ‘Policy Environment’ dated 8th
November, 2010 includes on Pages No. 56 and 57 a reference to Green Banking and Green
IT initiatives for banks in India. Banks in India too are adopting Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) and concerned about the protection of environment. Paper work is
being reduced enormously at various levels by bankers and customers. Along with providing
of on- site and off-site ATMs, some banks have also undergone ahead with innovative ideas
like installing Bio-metric ATMs, Solar-based ATMs, White-labelled ATMs, Brown ATMs,
SMS alerts, Mobile Banking etc. for the convenience of their customers [Ashok Singh
(2010)].Green Banking facility not only reduces environmental pollution, but also these
initiatives help the banks in reducing their cost of operations and delays as a result customer
satisfaction increases on a large scale. There are various banks in India that provide green
banking services to their customers.
Table 3.1
The banks where majority of the stake (more than 50%) is held by the government are called
Public Sector Banks. The shares of PSBs are listed in the stock exchange. Currently there are
26 public sector banks in India.
The State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian multinational, public sector banking and financial
services statutory body. It is a government corporation statutory body headquartered in
Mumbai, Maharashtra. SBI is ranked as 236th in the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's
biggest corporations of 2019. It is the largest bank in India with a 23% market share in assets,
besides a share of one-fourth of the total loan and deposits market. The bank was established
in 1806 as Bank of Calcutta and became as the State Bank of India in the year 1955 during
the nationalization of Imperial Banks in India. The bank offers various ranges of activities
such as
investment banking, consumer banking, commercial banking, assets management, pension,
insurance, mortgages and credit card, through it widespread network of branches in country
and overseas.
SBI-First bank in India that has launched green banking policy and set up windmills in Tamil
Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat in generating 15MW power. SBI has also planned to install
an additional 20 MW capacity of windmills in Gujarat soon and touch 100 MW power
generation through windmills within five years, windmills are set up with a definite objective
of reducing the dependence on the polluting thermal power and not on purely economic or
business consideration. SBI is promoting green power projects SBI is also offering green
home loans by adopting green banking policy. Export Import Bank of India (EXIM) and SBI
entered into an agreement to jointly provide long term loans up to 14 years to Spain based
company A stonfield Renewable Resources and Grupo T-Solar Global SA for building solar
plant in India (Yadav & Pathak, 2013). SBI has become a signatory to the Carbon Disclosure
Project in which they take various environmentally and socially sustainable initiatives
through its branches spread across the length and breadth of the country. SBI has launched
Green Channel Counter (GCC) facility at their branches in 2010 to change the traditional way
of paper based banking (SBI, 2014).
SBI had spelt out several initiatives within the bank to further the cause of green banking by:
Punjab National Bank (PNB) is a Banking and financial service bank owned by the
Government of India with its headquarters is in New Delhi, India. The bank was founded in
1894 and is the second largest public sector bank (PSB) in India, both in terms of business
and its network. The bank has over 180 million customers, 10,910 branches and 13,000+
ATMs post-merger with United Bank India and Oriental Bank of Commerce, effective from 1
April, 2020.
Bank has started using energy efficient appliances & conducting the electricity
auditing of their offices. On the other side the bank is also accenting on green
infrastructure.
A separate green audit sheet is being employed by the bank to access the impact of
various green banking initiatives implemented in the bank.
The bank has conjointly placed guidelines for supply the term loan to the business
units and commercial projects that are producing renewable energy and special
guidelines has been issued to curb the units that use environmental depleting
substances.
In the year 2010-11 the bank has sanctioned nine commercial projects of wind energy
comes with total sum of Rs.1850.81 million to push and develop the renewable supply
of energy.
In the year 2018- 2019, as a part of green initiative 2 tree plantation programmes were
organized and 200 trees were planted.
CANARA BANK
Canara Bank is one of the largest public sector banks owned by the Government of India. It is
headquartered in Bengaluru. It was established at Mangalore in 1906 by Ammembal Subba
Rao Pai and later the government nationalized the bank in 1969. The bank also has offices
abroad in London, Hong Kong, Moscow, Shanghai, Dubai, Tanzania and New York. As per
the announcement made by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 30 August 2019,
Manipal based Syndicate Bank merged from 1 April 2020, making it the fourth largest bank
in the country.
The bank has implemented various green banking initiatives such as internet banking,
tele-banking & mobile banking. Solar power biometric ATMs has been implemented
in a few rural areas.
Now the bank is not extending the finance to the new units which are involved in
producing and consuming Ozone depleting substances. The bank has also stopped
extending the finance small/medium scale unit engaged in the manufacturing of
Aerosols by using CFC.
The bank insisted to manufacturing units which emit toxic polluting substance to
implement water treatment plant and obtain NOC (No Objection Certificate) from
central/ state government pollution control board while lending the loan.
The bank is providing loans for implementing solar lighting system, till the date the
bank has financed 50,000 such unit lending Rs. 5-8 lac to each unit.
Union Bank of India was established on 11th November 1919 with its headquarters in the city
of Bombay now known as Mumbai. Union Bank has been playing a very proactive role in the
economic growth of India and it extends credit for the requirements of different sectors of
economy. Industries, exports, trading, agriculture, infrastructure and the individual segments
are sectors in which the bank has deployed credit to spur economic growth and to earn from a
well-diversified portfolio of assets.
Resources are mobilized through Current, Savings and Term Deposits and through refinance
and borrowings from abroad. The Bank has a large clientele base of over 5.7 crores.
The Green Initiatives taken by Union Bank of India
Union Bank of India marked is centenary year celebrations by Going Green and launching
series of green initiatives to reduce the carbon footprints and create a positive impact on the
environment. As a part of the program plantation of trees was done in the premises of Union
Bank Bhavan by Rai and field general manager Lal Singh. Besides saplings of trees were
distributed to customers and staff members of the Bank urging them to carry forward the
plantation program at their homes and office premises.
The Union Bank of India offers customers the option of a Green PIN, a green initiative and
value-added service, for a hassle-free ATM PIN generation fore debit cards both old and
new.
Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) is a major public sector bank based in Chennai, India, with
about 3,400 domestic branches, about 6 foreign branches and representative office. Founded
in February 1937 by Shri. M. Ct. Chidambaram Chettiar with twin objectives of specializing
in foreign exchange business and overseas banking, it has created various milestones in
Indian Banking Sector. IOB was the first bank to venture into consumer credit by introducing
a personal loan scheme. During nationalization, IOB was one of the 14 major banks taken
over by Government of India.
As a part of Green Initiative, the Bank is moving towards paperless banking, which will
reduce the cost as well as save time. Recently a unique product which can offer customized
MPOS collections instead of collections through Cheque/Cash has been implemented. Green
PIN for ATM debit cards has also been enabled. The Bank has a Business Intelligence
Suite which
gives interactive Dash Boards, alerts, analytics etc. System is established to store huge
amount of historical data and data relating to 12 years has been warehoused. The following
initiatives have also been taken:
Bank of Baroda is an Indian state owned (public sector) bank established in the year 1908 in
the princely state of Baroda. The Bank was nationalized in the year 1969 by the government
of India. It provides various ranges of banking products and financial services through its
branches such as corporate banking, investment banking, retail banking, asset management
etc. to the consumers. In year 2012 the bank was ranked 715 on Forbes Global 2000 list.
Internet banking, mobile banking was added as alternate delivery channel to reduce
the use of paper in banking procedure.
As a part of green banking initiatives various changes were made such as backup
consolidation, server and desktop virtualization.
While financing the commercial projects the banks give a due weight age to green
projects such as windmills and solar power projects which helps in earning the carbon
credit.
The bank insisted to implement water treatment plant and obtain NOC from central/
state government pollution control board while lending the loan to manufacturing
units which emit toxic polluting substance.
Promotion of measure of pollution control and efforts for environmental protection &
conservation and cleaning of environment.
The banks where major parts of the equity are held by private shareholders and not by state or
government are called private sector banks.
ICICI BANK
ICICI Bank is a leading private sector bank in India. The Bank’s consolidated total assets
stood at Rs.12.50 trillion at June 30, 2019. ICICI Bank currently has a network of 5,275
branches and 15,589 ATMs across India.
ICICI Bank was originally promoted in 1994 by ICICI Limited, an Indian financial
institution, and was its wholly-owned subsidiary. ICICI Bank offers a wide range of banking
products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery
channels and through its group companies.
ICICI Bank attempts to support other organisations in their endeavors to 'Go Green' by
funding and managing green technology projects.
ICICI Bank tried to reduce its footprint by providing customers alternate and non-
paper-based channels such as e-branches, e-statements, online banking and mobile
banking.
The bank is working with Green Business Centre in collaboration with other business
organization having focus on promoting green building, energy efficiency, recycling
etc.
ICICI has partnered with the Indian government, World Bank and UNAID to support
SME projects in the area of green research and clean technology. It is also working
with the Indian Army on water management, energy conservation and alternative
energy projects.
The bank has also partnered with TATA Power to raise awareness on energy
conservation at schools through the TATA Power Club. ICICI Group companies have
saved around 30,000 trees and 16 crore litres of water through green initiatives
HDFC BANK
HDFC Bank is one of India’s leading private banks and was among the first to receive
approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a private sector bank in 1994.
Today, HDFC Bank has a banking network of 5,345 branches and 14,533 ATMs spread
across 2,787 cities and towns. HDFC Bank offers a diverse range of financial products and
banking services to customers through a growing branch and ATM network and digital
channels such as Net Banking, Phone banking and Mobile Banking.
AXIS BANK
Axis Bank is the third largest private sector bank in India. The bank started its operations in
1994 when the Government of India allowed the private banks in Indian market. The Bank
offers the entire spectrum of financial services to customer segments covering Large and
Mid- Corporates, MSME, Agriculture and Retail Businesses. The Bank has a large footprint
of 4,528 domestic branches (including extension counters) with 12,044 ATMs & 5,433 cash
recyclers spread across the country as on 31st March, 2020.
The bank is also engaged in various corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities through
its trust- The Axis Bank Foundation. The bank donates it 1 percent of total annual net profit
for the social initiatives and the betterment of the society through their foundation.
Encourages its customers to subscribe for e-statements and other electronic formats of
communication to reduce paper consumption,
Encourages to adopt green building concept for its office space (Bank’s corporate
office ‘Axis House’ is designed and constructed as a Platinum LEED-Certified
“Green Building”) and many other similar activities.
Conducts tree plantation programs (Plant a Sapling initiative)
Uses renewable energy units for the purpose of street lighting.
Uses water collected from rainwater harvesting system and a sewage treatment plant.
Uses furniture made out of a high percentage of recycled materials.
Initiated solar-based UPS for ten ATMs under its Independent ATM Deployment
(IAD) model.
FEDERAL BANK
Federal Bank Limited is a major Indian commercial bank in the private sector headquartered
at Aluva, Kerala having more than thousand branches and ATMs spread across different
States in India. The Bank is a pioneer among traditional banks in India in the area of using
technology to leverage its operations and was among the first banks in India to computerize
all its branches. The Bank offer its customers, a variety of services such as Internet banking,
Mobile banking, on-line bill payment, online fee collection, depository services, Cash
Management Services, merchant banking services, insurance, mutual fund products and many
more as part of its strategy to position itself as a financial super market and to enhance
customer convenience.
Federal Bank has launched 'Soft PIN' facility for Debit cards, a go-green initiative as part of
its journey towards enhancing ‘Digital Convenience’ for its customers. Soft PIN, which
replaces printed ‘PIN- Mailers’, can be generated by the customers themselves through any of
the Bank’s 1500-plus ATMs across the country, thus avoiding the hassles involved in sending
and receiving of physical PIN Mailers.
It provided Federal Green Plus loan is extended to needy farmers to meet the cost /
expenses of any genuine direct agricultural purpose (including allied activities).
It also provided Plantation Development Loans
One of the earliest banks in South India, "South Indian Bank" came into being during the
Swadeshi movement. The establishment of the bank was the fulfillment of the dreams of a
group of enterprising men who joined together at Thrissur, a major town (now known as the
Cultural Capital of Kerala), in the erstwhile State of Cochin to provide for the people a safe,
efficient and service oriented repository of savings of the community on one hand and to free
the business community from the clutches of greedy money lenders on the other by providing
need based credit at reasonable rates of interest
Green Pin, the green initiative from South Indian Bank offers an effortless and hassle free
ATM PIN generation. This initiative helps in reduction of paper consumption as it avoids the
usage of Paper Pin Mailers - a system which is used currently whenever you request a
Debit Card
Pin. Thus, this initiative helps you to be a part of the Global Green Project to save the Earth
for the generations to come.
INDUSIND BANK
IndusInd Bank Limited is an Indian new generation bank in Pune, established in 1994. The
bank offers commercial, transactional and electronic banking products and services. IndusInd
Bank was inaugurated in April 1994 by then Union Finance Minister Manmohan Singh.
IndusInd Bank is the first among the new-generation private banks in India.
IndusInd Bank is a universal Bank with a widespread banking footprint with over 2.5 crore
customers, over 5,000 distribution points and nearly 2,000 branches across the country. With
‘Sustainability’ at the core, it offer a wide array of products and services for individuals and
corporates including microfinance, personal loans, personal and & commercial vehicles
loans, credit cards and SME loans.
Considering the severe water crisis building up across Indian cities, IndusInd Bank
focuses on the restoration and the conservation of water bodies, particularly in urban
centres. Water bodies are an important part of an urban ecosystem.
IndusInd Bank has lit up the streets of 29 villages in Rajasthan with 2,000 Solar-
powered Street Lights, benefitting over 1, 65,000 villagers. They were responsible for
managing the logistics and the installations. The use of solar energy to power these
street lights, with no dependency on grid power, helps in mitigating carbon emissions.
IndusInd Bank has partnered with Centre for Environmental Research & Education
(CERE) for the Schools on Solar initiative. This project aims to help schools adopt
renewable energy and also design innovative strategies to help students and staff
reduce energy consumption within the school premises. Besides decreasing the carbon
footprint, this programme also includes a dimension of sensitizing students about
Climate Change and sustainability by broadening the educational framework.
IndusInd Bank hopes that this will create a new generation of better-informed youth
who will work towards a more sustainable future.
3.8 CHALLENGES OF GREEN BANKING IN INDIA
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RELEVANCE OF GREEN BANKING IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA
4.2 HYPOTHESIS
Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between green banking and
sustainable development.
Alternate Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between green banking and
sustainable development.
Research design used in this study is descriptive. Descriptive research is a type of conclusive
research which is used to describe characteristics of a population or phenomenon being study.
There are two types of data used for this study which are primary and secondary data.
Primary data collected through questionnaire and secondary data for this study was collected
through various books, magazines, journals, newspaper and websites.
Data collection is one of the most important aspects of research. The information in the
research methodology must be accurate and relevant. The data collection method can be
classified into two methods.
Primary data
Questionnaire method have been used as a tool for a data collection in this research.
Secondary data
Secondary data means data that are already available i.e., they refer to data which has
already been collected and analyzed by someone else. The secondary data for the
study was collected from book, websites, magazines and journals etc.
Sampling design is a framework which gives the basis for the selection of sample from a
given population. Sample design has two elements they are sampling method and estimator
Sampling Unit:
The sampling unit is the bank employees of public, private and cooperative banks.
Sample Size:
The sample size of the study is 70.
For this study convenient sampling method is used. Convenience sampling is a type of
sampling in which people are sampled simply because they are "convenient" sources of data
for researchers.
For this study literature sources and surveys are used for data collection. Self- administrated
questionnaire was used to collect primary data.
The basic requisite of any research study is the appropriate data which can be collected with
the help of a questionnaire. So that the relevant questions can be prepared. Decision of
questions depends upon its purpose. Irrelevant and ambiguous questions should be avoided.
There are various types of questions that used for data collection
Yes/No questions
Multiple choice questions
Close ended questions
4.11 PILOT SURVEY
Before collecting the relevant data to test the hypothesis, it is essential to ascertain the
applicability of the instrument to the population being studies. Hence, a pilot study was
undertaken with an objective to evaluate the tools prepared for the study and to find whether
they are providing the information required.
PERCENTAGE ANALYSIS
Percentage is referred as a special kind ratio. Percentage is used in making
comparison between two or more series of data. They are used to describe
relationship. More over percentages can be used to compare the relative terms of the
distribution of two or more series of data.
Formula
Percentage of respondents = No: of Respondents ×100
AVERAGE (MEAN)
Average is most important and frequently used technique. Mean, also known as
arithmetic average, is the most common measure of central tendency and may be
defined as the value which we get by dividing the total of the values of various given
items in a series by the total number of items.
STANDARD DEVIATION
The standard deviation is a measure of the amount of variation or dispersion of a set
of values, a low standard deviation indicates that the values tend to be close to the
mean (also called the expected value) of the set, while a high standard deviation
indicates that the values are spread out over a wider range.
CHAPTER 5
Table 5.1
Gender of Respondents
1 Male 42 60%
2 Female 28 40%
TOTAL 70 100%
Gender of Respondents
Female
40%
Male
Male
60%
Female
Gender of Respondents
Interpretation: It is observed that 60% of respondents are male and 40% of the respondents
are female respondents.
2 29 to 38 years 18 25.7%
3 39 to 48 years 10 14.3%
4 over 49 years - -
Total 70 100%
29 - 38 years
26% 22 - 28 years
60%
Interpretation: The above pie-chart shows that 60% of the respondents belongs to the age
group 22 –28 years, 25.7 % fall under the category of 29 – 38 years, 14.3% belongs to the age
group 39 -48 years and there is no respondents belongs to the age group more than 49 years.
Table 5.3
2 Postgraduate 30 43%
Total 70 100%
Qualification of Respondents
43% Graduate
Post Graduate
57%
Interpretation: It is observed that 57% of the respondents are postgraduates and 43% of the
respondents are graduates.
Table 5.4
Designation of the respondents
9%
23%
31%
37%
Interpretation: The above pie-chart shows that 23% of the respondents are manager, 37% of
the respondents are assistant managers, 31% are banking assistant and 9% are banking trainee.
Table 5.5
Work Experience of the respondents
WORK EXPERIENCE
35
30
25 32
26
20
15
10
5
8
4
0
0 - 2 years 2 - 4 years 4 - 6 years Above 6 years
TOTAL 70 100%
BANKS
Cooperative
11% Public Sector
36% Public Sector Private Sector
Cooperative
Private Sector
53%
Interpretation: It is observed that 53% of the respondents are working in private banks, 36%
of the respondents are working in public banks and 11% of the respondents are working in
cooperative banks.
Table 5.7
Banks are using green system in their operations
2 NO 10 14%
TOTAL 70 100%
14%
86%
Interpretation: It is observed that 86% of the banks are using green systems in their day to
day operations and 14% of banks are not using green systems in their day to day operations.
Table 5.8
2 NO 2 3%
TOTAL 70 100%
3%
97%
Interpretation: It is observed that 97% of the banks took initiative to become green bank and
only 2 % are not taking initiatives to become green bank.
Table 5.9
Initiatives taken by banks to become a green bank
2 Mass 0 1 0
Transportation
3 Carbon Credit 2 2 0
Business
4 Energy 3 4 2
Consciousness
5 Social 5 8 4
Responsibility
Total 25 37 6
Table 5.10
Table 5.11
2 No 26 37%
Total 70 100%
37%
63%
Interpretation: It is observed that 63% of the banks faced challenges in implementing green
banking initiatives and 37% of the banks not faced any challenges in implementing green
banking initiatives.
Table 5.12
2 High Operating 5 9 2
Cost
3 Credit Risk 4 3 3
4 Reputational 2 2 0
Risk
5 Others 0 0 0
Total 16 23 5
Table 5.13
Calculation of mean and standard deviation
PUBLIC BANKS PRIVATE COOPERATIVE
BANKS BANKS
Count, N 5 5 5
Sum, Σ x 16 23 5
Mean, x̄ 3.2 4.6 1
Variance, s2 4.7 17.3 2
SD, s 2.16 4.15 1.41
Interpretation: As per the data obtained it is clear that the variation is high in case of public
sector banks when compared between mean and standard deviation of challenges in
implementing green banking initiatives. Hence, we can conclude that public sector banks
faces huge challenges as compared to private and cooperative banks.
Table 5.14
Bank taking active participation in educating customers about green banking
2 Agree 54 77%
3 Undecided 2 3%
4 Disagree - -
5 Strongly Disagree - -
Total 70 100%
60
50
40
30
20
10 14
0 0 0
2
STRONGLY AGREEAGREEUNDECIDEDDISAGREESTRONGLY
DISAGREE
Interpretation: In the survey, 20% of respondents strongly agree that banks taking active
participation in educating customers about green banking,77% of respondents agree that
banks taking active participation in educating customers about green banking, 3% of
respondents say that they have no idea about that and nobody disagrees to this statement.
Table 5.15
Green banking is important for sustainable development
2 No 2 3%
Total 70 100%
97% Yes
No
Interpretation: In the survey, 97% of respondents says that green banking is important for
sustainable development and 3% of respondents says that green banking is not important for
sustainable development.
Table 5.16
zing awareness campaigns to educate stakeholders on role of green banking for the susta
STRONGLY DISGREE
DISAGREE0
UNDECIDED
10
AGREE 48
STRONGLY AGREE12
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Interpretation: In the survey, 17% of the respondents strongly agree that bank are actively
organizing awareness campaigns to educate stakeholders on role of green banking for the
sustainable development, 69% respondents agree that bank are organizing awareness
campaigns to educate stakeholders on role of green banking for the sustainable development
and 14% of respondents say that they have no idea it and nobody disagrees to this statement.
Table 5.17
Bank provides training and education to the staff on environmental protection
46%
Interpretation: In the survey, 34% of the respondents say that bank always provides training
and education to the staff on environmental protection, 46% says that sometimes bank
provides training and education to the staff on environmental protection, 11% of the
respondents says that bank often provides training and education to the staff on
environmental protection and 9% of the respondents says that bank rarely provides training
and education to the staff on environmental protection.
Table 5.18
Bank uses e-waste management practices
2 Agree 52 74%
3 Undecided 8 11%
4 Disagree 2 3%
5 Strongly Disagree - -
Total 70 100%
60
50
40
30
52
20
10
8 8 2
0
Strongly Agree Agree Undecided DisagreeStrongly Disagree
Interpretation: In the survey, 12% of the respondents strongly agree that bank uses e-waste
management practices, 74% respondents agree that bank uses e-waste management practices
and 11% of respondents say that they have no idea about waste management practices and
nobody disagrees to this statement.
Table 5.19
Bank provides loan to environmental protection and energy saving projects
1 Always 28 40%
2 Sometimes 30 43%
3 Often 8 11%
4 Rarely 4 6%
5 Not at all - -
Total 70 100%
Oft Rarely
en6% Always Sometimes Often Rarely
11% Always Not at all
40%
Sometimes
43%
Interpretation: In the survey, 40% of the respondents say that bank always provides loans to
environmental protection, 43% says that sometimes bank provides loans to environmental
protection, 11% of the respondents says that often bank provides loans to environmental
protection and 6% of the respondents says that rarely bank provides loans to environmental
protection.
Table 5.20
Bank involves in setting up green branches
2 Agree 52 74%
3 Undecided 10 14%
4 Disagree - -
5 Strongly Disagree - -
Total 70 100%
10
Agree 52
Strongly Agree 8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Interpretation: In the survey, 12% of the respondents strongly agree that bank involves in
setting up green branches, 74% respondents agree that bank involves in setting up green
branches and 14% of respondents say that they have no idea about it and nobody disagrees to
this statement.
CHAPTER 6
FINDINGS
RELEVANCE OF GREEN BANKING IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA
6.1 FINDINGS
It is observed that 86% of the banks are using green systems in their day to day
operations and 14% of banks are not using green systems in their day to day
operations.
It is observed that 97% of the banks took initiative to become green bank and only 2
% are not taking initiatives to become green bank.
As per the statistics the respondent’s preference is high in case of private sector
banks in adopting green initiatives. The variation is high when compared with
standard deviation and mean of Initiatives taken by banks to become a green bank.
Hence we conclude that private banks took active participation in promoting and
adopting green initiatives.
As per the data obtained it is clear that the variation is high in case of public sector
banks when compared between mean and standard deviation of challenges in
implementing green banking initiatives. Hence, we can conclude that public sector
banks faces huge challenges as compared to private and cooperative banks.
In the survey, 20% of respondents strongly agree that banks taking active
participation in educating customers about green banking,77% of respondents agree
that banks taking active participation in educating customers about green banking,
3% of respondents say that they have no idea about that and nobody disagrees to
this statement.
In the survey, 97% of respondents says that green banking is important for
sustainable development and 3% of respondents says that green banking is not
important for sustainable development.
In the survey, 34% of the respondents says that bank always provides training and
education to the staff on environmental protection, 46% says that sometimes bank
provides training and education to the staff on environmental protection, 11% of the
respondents says that bank often provides training and education to the staff on
environmental protection and 9% of the respondents says that bank rarely provides
training and education to the staff on environmental protection.
12% of the respondents strongly agree that bank uses e-waste management
practices, 74% respondents agree that bank uses e-waste management practices and
11% of respondents say that they have no idea about waste management practices
and nobody disagrees to this statement.
In the survey, 40% of the respondents say that bank always provides loans to
environmental protection, 43% says that sometimes bank provides loans to
environmental protection, 11% of the respondents says that often bank provides
loans to environmental protection and 6% of the respondents says that rarely bank
provides loans to environmental protection.
In the survey, 12% of the respondents strongly agree that bank involves in setting
up green branches, 74% respondents agree that bank involves in setting up green
branches and 14% of respondents say that they have no idea about it and nobody
disagrees to this statement.
CHAPTER 7
RECOMMENDATIONS
RELEVANCE OF GREEN BANKING IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA
7.1 RECOMMENDATIONS
Make customers more and more aware about green banking through website.
Promoting different forms of electronic banking.
Providing environment friendly rewards to employees.
By financing more environment friendly projects.
Clear policies are required to alerting the present management systems to incorporate
sustainability issues.
Increase Social Responsibility services done by banks.
Carbon footprint reduction by energy consciousness.
Carbon footprint reduction by mass transportation.
Impart education through E-learning Programmes.
Concept of LEED certified green buildings should be adopted by banking sector.
Banks must organize training program on environment sustainable development to
their employees
Customers are not required to fill slip in the bank for the withdrawal of money rather
they could use ATM facility.
The banks should report in their annual reports the initiatives taken by them for
sustainable development.
Banks can introduce Green-funds for customers who would like to invest in
environment friendly projects.
CONCLUSION
RELEVANCE OF GREEN BANKING IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA
8.1 CONCLUSION
In the current scenario Indian cities are listed among the most 10 populated cities in the
world. The main reasons for these issues are excessive cut down of trees and construction of
multi storied building and the emission of hydro-fluro-carbon, nitrous oxide etc. that pollute
the environment. So in order to recover from these issues the best way is to adopt changes in a
way that is sustainable to the environment. If the Indian banks are implementing the green
banking techniques in an effective manner it will act as a catalyst for protecting our
environment.
Green Banking process helps the banks for creating cost efficient automated channels to build
consciousness and awareness among its various participants like customers, business
institutions and other financial institutions. Green banking involves in the process of reducing
paper works are possible since all the transactions are done through online channels. Bank
also introduced many products like green credit cards, green mortgages etc. as part of the
green projects. As a part of their CSR activities many banks are also taken initiatives to create
awareness among the business class and the public and also states about the importance of the
going green policy.
Green banking if implemented sincerely opens up new markets and avenues for product
differentiation. Green Banking will be mutually beneficial to the banks, industries and the
economy. Green Banking will ensure the greening of the industries and improving the asset
quality of the banks. Government should play major role and formulate green policy
guidelines and financial incentive for going green. Proper training and educational programs
by banks for the green initiatives will actually make Green Banking successful.
REFERENCES
JOURNALS
WEBSITES
https://indiacsr.in/sbi-introduces-green-reward-points-to-promote-sustainability
https://www.pnbindia.in/
https://canarabank.com/
http://www.federalbank.co.in/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Bank_of_India
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/indian-overseas-bank/stocks/companyid-
11713.cms
www.bankofindia.co.in/pdf/Green_Initiative_of_Bank0001.pdf
https://www.voicendata.com/bank-of-baroda-we-planning-green-center/
http://www.southindianbank.com/
https://www.icicibank.com/
https://www.icicibank.com/csr/green-india.html
https://m.economictimes.com/industry/banking/finance/banking/icici-bank-plans-to-
go-paperless-in-green-drive/articleshow/52601430.cms
APPENDIX
RELEVANCE OF GREEN BANKING IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA
APPENDIX
Dear Sir/Madam
I, SILPA P S, T6 MBA student of Sree Narayana Institute of Technology, Adoor,
conducting a project on the topic “RELEVANCE OF GREEN BANKING IN
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA”. So I request you to invest your
valuable time in filling up this questionnaire and help me in successful completion of
my work. The responses will be kept confidential and used for academic purpose
only.
1. Name :
2. Gender
- Male - Female
3. Age
-22 to 28 years - 29 to 38 years
- 39 to 48 years - over 49 years
4. Qualification
-Graduate -Postgraduate
5. Designation
- Other
6. Work Experience
-0 to 2 years - 2 to 4 years
- 4 to 6 years above 6 years
8. Do you believe whether banks are using green system in their day to
day operations?
- Yes - No
10. If yes, what all are the green initiatives taken by your perspective bank?
Mention if any
11. Does your bank faced any challenges in implementing green banking initiatives?
-Yes - No
- Other
Mention if
any
13. Does your bank taking active participation in educating customers about green
banking?
- Yes -No
15. Banks are actively organizing awareness campaigns to educate stakeholders on role
of green banking for the sustainable development of India?
- Undecided - Disagree
- Strongly Disagree
16. Does your bank provides training and education to the staff on
environmental protection and energy savings?
- Always - Sometimes
-Often -Rarely
- Not at all
- Undecided - Disagree
- Strongly Disagree
18. Does your bank provides loan to environmental protection and energy saving
related projects?
- Always - Sometimes
-Often -Rarely
- Not at all
19. Does your bank involves in setting up green branches (energy efficient
buildings/ green buildings)?
- Undecided - Disagree
- Strongly Disagree