The 12th Sustainability Report of the Company covers the sustainability performance for the period from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015. ITC reports its performance on an annual basis and the last Sustainability Report was published in June 2014.
ITC is headquartered at Virginia House, 37 J L Nehru Road, Kolkata, 700 071 (India).
The contact point for any clarifications on the Report or for requesting additional copies of this Report is Corporate Communications Department at the above address or e-mail: enduringvalue@itc.in.
The reporting principles and methodology are in accordance with the "Comprehensive" option of the fourth generation Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines - G4. The Reporting Principles and Standard Disclosures and the Implementation Manual of the GRI-G4 Reporting Guidelines have been followed. The relevant aspects/indicators from GRI-G4 Food Sector supplement have also been considered while reporting the Foods Business performance.
This Report highlights the Triple Bottom Line dimensions that reflect the organisation's significant economic, environmental and social impacts, or substantively influence the assessments and decisions of stakeholders.
ITC's Businesses/Units continue to proactively engage with key stakeholders, who either have a major interest or are significantly affected by the Company's operations, products or services. The details on stakeholder engagement are covered elsewhere in the Report.
In line with ITC's Policy on Responsible Sourcing, the Company continues its efforts to influence sustainability practices along the value chain with the intent to cover all significant supply chain partners in the years to come. In the current year, ITC has incorporated in this Report, the performance of 22 exclusive Third Party Manufacturers (TPMs) catering to the Notebooks segment of Education and Stationery Products Business and 2 TPMs of Cigarettes Business and ATC Limited, an associate company of ITC.
The economic performance reported here is excerpted from the Company's Report & Accounts (R&A) 2015, audited by independent External Auditors - M/s Deloitte Haskins & Sells.
The data in the environment & social sections of the Report is based on actual performance of the various businesses, factories, hotels and large offices of the Company, TPMs and subsidiary companies as detailed in the reporting boundary. An Integrated Sustainability Data Management System established in the Company to collect, collate and analyse environmental and social data, along with strong internal controls, support overall integrity and credibility of the disclosures in the Report.
In order to obtain an objective and impartial assurance on the Report, ITC has been seeking the same from third party agencies on all its Sustainability Reports since it started reporting in 2004. In the current year, authenticity of the data and systems disclosed in Sustainability Report 2015 and conformance with 'in accordance' - comprehensive requirements of the GRI G4 guidelines has been verified by M/s KPMG, an independent third party assurance provider. They have conducted the assurance engagement as per the International Standard for Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 and have provided assurance, at a 'reasonable level', the statement of which forms a part of this Report. The assurance statement by M/s KPMG covers the summary of the work performed, the manner in which the assurance engagement has been conducted, the extent to which ITC has applied GRI G4 Guidelines and the conclusions on the Report.
