Total sewage generation from urban centres in India grew from about 5 billion litres a day in 1947 to about 30 billion litres a day in 1997. There are over 10,000 environmental and development-oriented NGOs, citizen groups, pressure groups, etc., in India  a number that is almost 20 times that of the figure in 1985. This is also reflected in the rising instances of public interest litigation. Ordinary citizens are concerned about pollution linked health impacts, water shortages, and contamination of water and soil. Corporates are concerned about potential risks faced on account of public interest litigation, adverse publicity, shortage of raw material, etc.
Financiers are concerned about lending risks arising from environmental risks faced by corporates.
Environmental issues are inextricably linked up with technical and scientific jargon. They are therefore dependent on the often-conflicting versions provided by environmentalists, industrialists and regulators. The Tata Energy Research Institute has taken one major step towards addressing this ambiguity, by launching the Eco-Rating System. Eco-Rating is aimed at providing an indicator for environmental performance or risk, associated with corporate facilities. It may be seen as 'green' equivalent of a credit rating system.