Corporate Governance and Financial Transparency in Indian Companies

Corporate governance and financial transparency determine whether investors, lenders and the public can trust a company with their resources. This project examines how these two concepts have developed and operate in Indian companies, with particular emphasis on listed public companies. The study begins by explaining the concepts and the principal theories, namely agency, stewardship, stakeholder and principal-principal perspectives. It then traces the evolution of Indian governance norms from the voluntary code of the Confederation of Indian Industry and the work of the Birla, Naresh Chandra, Narayana Murthy, Irani and Kotak committees to the Companies Act, 2013 and the SEBI Listing Regulations, 2015. The report analyses board structure, independent directors, committees, related party transactions, whistle-blowing, financial reporting under Ind AS, auditor independence and the role of the National Financial Reporting Authority. Five cases, namely Satyam, Tata Sons, IL&FS, the Infosys whistle-blower complaints and Think & Learn, are used to illustrate how failures arise and how regulation has responded. The study concludes that India's legal framework is now broadly comparable to that of leading economies, but that concentrated ownership, doubtful independence of directors, slow enforcement and formalistic compliance continue to limit its effectiveness. It recommends measures to strengthen independent directors, audit quality, enforcement, related party oversight and whistle-blower protection. Keywords: corporate governance, financial transparency, SEBI, Companies Act 2013, independent directors, audit, Ind AS, India.