Environmental deterioration is increasing with rapid growth and development in many sectors of society. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are important in promoting sustainability by educating students and implementing sustainable practices. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the contribution of select Indian Higher Educational Institutions to sustainability, identify areas where they are lagging, and recommend ways for improvement. A novel environment sustainability index consisting of 39 parameters for the Indian context was developed after reading the extant literature and sustainability reports of HEIs in India. This index was developed to gauge the sustainability practices of select HEIs. For the study, three Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), viz IIM Bangalore, IIM Udaipur, and IIM Lucknow, were selected as the sustainability reports of these three institutions were available. The reports for the years 2023–24 were taken for content analysis. Further, the reports and websites of the institutions were extensively analyzed to code the required data. The study found studies in the international context related to environmental sustainability in HEIs, but very few studies were found in the Indian context. Further, in Indian studies, the environmental index for HEIs could not be traced. This lack of an Index to Indian HEIs was the major impetus behind this study. A thorough investigation of such practices through a comprehensive index will provide HEIs with their strengths and weaknesses to improve in the future. The study recommends that HEIs can significantly improve their sustainability impact by adopting a holistic approach.