Axis Bank has been serving the needs and aspirations of millions of Indians in each and every corner of the country for close to three decades. As India’s third largest private sector bank, we have always believed we have a central role to play in helping India move on a path towards inclusive and equitable development.
Guided by our purpose statement – Banking that leads to be a more inclusive and equitable economy, a thriving community, and a healthier planet’, our diversified and integrated business model combines our experience, our strengths as a financial institution, our stakeholders’ trust in us, and a spirit of innovation, to support our myriad of stakeholders, including our customers, employees, and the community at large move forward on this pathway.
The path to an inclusive and sustainable India is laden with difficult challenges and tough choices, filled with complexities that are dynamic and which will require us to think strategically and act cohesively.
As an organisation, our 'OPEN' philosophy has been the source of our ability to truly embrace the unknowns and continually adapt and evolve towards the best outcomes for the economy, the community, and the only planet that we share with each other.
The theme of this Report - Progressing on Purpose, aims to underscore our commitment to our Purpose and our efforts during the year across corporate governance, diverse banking activities, employee initiatives, physical operations, and community interventions as we progress on our chosen pathway.
Consecutive year of inclusion in the prestigious FTSE4Good Emerging Index series
Score in the CRISIL ESG Scores 2022 (Placed it the ‘Leadership’ category for being among Top-12 performers among 586 companies across 53 sectors)
Of NIFTY100 ESG Sector Leaders Index
Rated ‘A’ in MSCI ESG Rating 2022
DJSI score for FY 2021-22 (Placed in the above 80th percentile among global banks)
Constituents of S&P BSE 100 ESG Index
Rating from Morningstar Sustainalytics ESG Risk Rating
Score in the Refinitiv ESG Scores (79th position out of 1,116 banking services companies scored)
Constituents of MSCI ESG Leaders Index
CDP score for our responses for 2022
Most Sustainable Companies in Banking and NBFC category in BW India's Most Sustainable Companies 2023
I am very pleased to present Axis Bank’s ninth Sustainability Report for FY 2022-23, which is aptly titled ‘Progressing on Purpose’. During the year we continued to build on the sustainability pathway that we formally adopted during the previous year, demonstrating steady progress on our commitments and laying the foundation for the way forward. The report highlights key milestones of our strategy and actions, supporting our stakeholders including our customers, employees, communities and the environment.
Chair
LETTER FROM 
LETTER FROM Our purpose – banking for an equitable and inclusive economy, thriving communities, and a healthier planet – underscores our role as a responsible financial institution. Our ESG policy upholds this role enables us to contribute to the country’s economic growth by driving financial inclusion and providing sustainable finance, and promote sustainability principles across the industry.
As a leading financial institution in India, we remain committed to actively financing sectors that contribute to India’s growth in an equitable, sustainable manner and support India’s commitments towards the Sustainable Development Goals and climate action under the Paris Agreement.
In 2021, under the oversight of the ESG Committee of the Board, the Bank had taken public commitments to accelerate its lending activities towards the following goals:
| Goals | ACHIEVEMENTS (FY23) | |
|---|---|---|
| Wholesale banking – sectors with positive social and environment outcomes |
`0 croreIncremental financing by FY26 |
`0 croreIncremental financing in FY23 |
| Retail two-wheeler loan portfolio |
0%for electric vehicles by FY24, interest waiver of 0.5% on new EV loans |
0%EV loan portfolio in rupee terms |
Bharat banking is one of Axis Bank’s three strategic priorities. It has been our foremost pillar towards driving the economic integration of rural and semi-urban India (RuSu) and supporting the financial aspirations of its millions of inhabitants.
During the year, Bharat banking continued to move in the right direction with robust growth across assets and liabilities, and on the back of focused investments aimed at increasing the distribution footprint, launching new products and propositions, digitising the customer journeys to ease out processes, improving visibility, and forging relevant partnerships in the RuSu markets.
| Highlights for FY23 | ||
|---|---|---|
0%Growth in rural advances |
0%Growth in rural deposits |
0%Growth in disbursements |
0+CSC outlets in rural andsemi-urban India |
0Bharat banking branches |
0Districts served by Bharat banking |
0 millionBorrowers who are women under Axis Sahyog retail microfinance programme |
0Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) outlets |
0Business correspondent banking outlets (BCBO) |
We have always been a trusted banking partner to India’s public sector, offering diverse products and services curated to the requirements of government entities and citizens.
We have received accreditations from the Ministry of Urban Development, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the Office of Controller General of Accounts and the Institute of Government Accounts and Finance under the Ministry of Finance. We are authorised for Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Goods and Services Tax (GST), Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) collections, as well as collection of state taxes in 13 states and union territories. The Bank is also empanelled as the sole trustee banker for PFRDA for National Pension Scheme (NPS) collections and is an active player in the Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
| "We have been recognised as one of the top-five best-performing banks in the public financial management system (PFMS) as adjudged by the Office of Controller General of Accounts." |
0 smart citieswhere we have implemented unique, tailor-made solutions |
~0% urban bodies in Indiahave robust working relationships with us |
Since 2019, we have been on a journey to build a dynamic, digital future to realise the true potential of brand Axis, built around the philosophy of ‘Open’ and guided by the GPS strategy, standing on its three pillars of growth, profitability, and sustainability. Two key objectives of the GPS strategy are to deliver a world-class customer experience and emerge as a leader in digital and technology.
| Axis Bank’s digital leadership | ||
|---|---|---|
0+Members in BIU driving new-age data science |
0%Percentage of loan disbursals backed by Bank’s proprietary scorecard |
WinnerEconomic Times DataCon awards |
WinnerCypher – Data Engineering Excellence Awards |
0+Members in the in-house full stack engineering team |
~0 millionMonthly active users on Axis Mobile app |
~0 millionNon-Axis Bank customers using Axis Mobile and Axis Pay apps |
0 millionRegistered customer base for mobile banking (MB) |
0+DIY services available on MB platform |
4.8/5Axis Mobile is the world’s highest-rated mobile banking app on the Google Play Store |
0%Personal loans sourced digitally |
0%Credit cards issued digitally end to end |
0 lakhVirtual KYCs done monthly |
0 millionCumulative VPA base in the UPI space |
~0 millionMerchants transacting daily on our UPI stack |
We aspire to be India’s most customer-obsessed bank. We have embarked on a journey to deliver world-class customer experience through interventions across four inter-linked layers – listening to and acting on what the customers are telling, optimising all journeys where customers interact with the Bank, enabling colleagues who are engaging with customers and transforming the core operations that support all experiences.
Net promoter score (MPS)
FY 2022-23 100
FY 2021-22 133
Our employees remain our most important asset and ambassadors of our ‘Open’ philosophy. We recognise and appreciate the wealth of knowledge, perspectives and skills that our close to a lakh employees bring, and we strive to embrace this diversity to build a personal and professional environment where each of our employees feels empowered and supported.
~91,900Employees |
200+Freelancers working underGIG-Anywhere |
656Graduates welcomed from campus hiring programmes |
18,792Frontline bankers hired during the year |
25.7%Percentage of women as ofMarch 31, 2023 |
25.7%Overall diversity ratio of as onMarch 31, 2023 |
56%Women in frontline staff7 |
22%Women in STEM8 |
30%Women in workforce by 2027 |
7Frontline staff consists of sales channels, retail RMs, BRO/tellers
8STEM for Axis Bank comprises IT, BU, DBAT, ISS, BSG and CXT functions
As one of India’s largest financial institutions, we are committed
to driving meaningful and sustainable change across each layer
of our society, especially the most vulnerable or disadvantaged.
Our community interventions, under the oversight of the Board’s
CSR Committee and guided by our CSR Policy, are focused on
reaching the unreached and working with communities across
both urban and rural India to create new livelihoods, provide
new opportunities for education or new skills, and build their
resilience to existing and emerging challenges.
Our interventions are driven by us directly as well as through the Axis Bank Foundation, along with experienced partners across the themes of Lives and Livelihoods, Education, Financial Inclusion and Financial Literacy, Environmental Sustainability, and Humanitarian and Relief interventions.
As a Bank, our direct environmental footprint is attributable to the resources we consume to run our operations and to serve our customers and other stakeholders. This primarily includes purchasing electricity, using diesel generator sets at our branches, and use of paper in banking forms, statements, and other documents.
All the emission calculations (including intensity calculations), energy calculations (including intensity calculations), water usage, and waste estimations (including e-waste) are limited to the Bank’s operations in India. Also, these calculations do not include any subsidiaries and Axis Bank’s acquisition of Citibank’s Retail business in India, which was completed in April 2023, and its data will be reflected in the following Sustainability Report.
In FY 2022-23, we continued to stride ahead on our ESG journey, progressing on our stated ESG-aligned commitments, contributing to the national and international dialogue on sustainable development and climate action and strengthening our overall climate and ESG-related risk architecture.
Adherence to compliance norms included as non-financial goal for all employees
We fortifying our risk architecture and addressing climate-related risks responsibly. With a strategic focus on sustainability, we are proactively enhancing our systems to navigate environmental challenges, ensuring resilience and responsible banking practices.
Since 2021, when the ESG Committee was established, we have been actively pursuing our stated commitment to scale up our ESG and climate-risk related capabilities, capacity and frameworks at the enterprise level. Under the oversight of the ESG Committee of the Board, and led by its Risk function, we have built on our existing initiatives and launched new interventions. We are strengthening our climate-related Risk management and realising opportunities.
Actions undertaken under ESG Committee and Risk functions can be broadly placed into four focus areas
Axis Bank’s robust Risk Management Framework is overseen by its Board and guided by well-defined policies and supported by an independent Risk function.
The Bank’s Risk Management approach is underpinned by four pillars
At Axis Bank, we recognise that the ESG pillars, particularly robust governance, are essential for fostering long-term resilience, creating enduring value for our stakeholders and executing our purpose. Upholding the highest standards of accountability has always been an intrinsic part of our operations, guiding our decision-making processes and ensuring ethical business practices at every level.
As an institution of public trust, we are cognisant of the importance of open communication and two-way engagement with our stakeholders to be able to truly create shared value. Regular, structured engagements with our stakeholders help us understand their needs, gauge the external environment and mitigate risks. Open communication also enables us to communicate our priorities, and our sense of purpose and create positive impact.
In FY 2022-23, we adopted a new methodology to assess the material issues relevant for the Bank.
