Structuring barriers to sustainability reporting among Indian SMEs with implications for sustainable development goals

Standard setters have increased their commitments to ensuring more standardized and high-quality information as the need to address climate change evolves. In this regard, businesses are crucial, and their contribution to SDGs is highly essential. As such, large corporations are mandated to publish sustainability reports. While some small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) engage in sustainability initiatives or environmental, social, and governance (ESG), they do not always disclose them. Consequently, this study addresses this gap by identifying and structuring the barriers to sustainability reporting among Indian SMEs. A systematic literature review identified 14 barriers spanning organisational, regulatory, financial, informational, and stakeholder-related dimensions. These barriers were then structured using Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) and MICMAC analysis following the judgements of a panel of nine experts (seven SME managers and two academics). The resulting structure represents the collective judgement of this panel and is not statistically generalisable. The results indicate that lack of regulation, limited awareness, and financial constraints function as high-driving barriers underpinning the reporting hierarchy, while difficulties in materiality assessment and reporting cost are comparatively more dependent outcomes. These findings offer Indian policymakers, SME support agencies, and industry bodies a prioritised, expert-informed basis for designing interventions that can help SMEs move toward sustainability reporting and, in turn, indirectly support the visibility and accountability of SDG-relevant practices.