Corporate Governance, ESG and Economic Resilience: Reassessing the Role of Indian Companies During Economic Shocks

Economic shocks, from the global financial crisis to COVID-19, supply-chain disruption, inflation and energy-price volatility, test not only the balance sheets of firms but also the quality of the institutions that govern them. This article asks whether strong corporate governance and meaningful environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices enhance the capacity of Indian companies to withstand, adapt to and recover from economic shocks. Using a doctrinal and qualitative socio-legal methodology with a limited Asia-Pacific comparison, it analyses the Companies Act, 2013, the SEBI Listing Regulations, the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) framework, official documents, corporate reports and international scholarship. The article argues that governance capacity is the principal channel through which ESG contributes to resilience: ESG matters where it is embedded in board oversight, risk management and stakeholder relationships, and matters little where it operates as a reporting exercise. Three Indian episodes illustrate governance failure, regulatory repair and operational continuity, although causal claims remain deliberately cautious. The analysis finds that BRSR has improved transparency but cannot by itself guarantee substantive ESG performance. The article proposes an ESG-Integrated Corporate Resilience Framework for India and a set of regulatory and corporate reforms. For economists and policymakers, the findings suggest that firm-level governance is one component of macroeconomic resilience, though it cannot substitute for sound fiscal, monetary and financial-sector policy.