Environmental Sustainability through Green Supply chain management practices among Indian Manufacturing Firms with special reference to Tamilnadu

The escalating deterioration of the environment is a major concern for business organisations today. Green is a strategy implemented to improve the environmental sustainability and with supply chains evolving dynamically towards competitive advantage, Green Supply chain management practices has gained importance in business research. Though sustainability is the major concern in today‟s organisations, very little research has been done to investigate the GSCM practices in Indian Industries and their Environmental Performance. An empirical study was conducted through survey method in 155 manufacturing Industries in Tamilnadu, India. The study investigates the pressures for implementing GSCM practices and the relationship between GSCM practices and Environmental Performance. With extensive review of literature, the research proposes a model that demonstrates the relationship between Green SCM pressures, Green SCM practices and Environmental Performance in manufacturing companies. Six external pressures on today‟s business organization relevant to India were considered for the study. GSCM practices include the Inbound/procurement practices, Design and production practices, Outbound practices and the Reverse logistics of the company was studied using a five point Likert scale. Rigorous statistical methods were used to validate and access the constructs. The method used was Path analysis using Smart PLS software. The results showed a significant positive relationship between the constructs. It implies that the Green SCM pressures that influence Green supply chain practices can improve environmental performance and hence enable organisations to be responsible citizens. The research empirically attempts to bring out the need for Green practices and environmental sustainability