The integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria into financial decision-making has fundamentally transformed global and Indian capital markets. This study empirically investigates the impact of macro-level ESG performance indicators on Nifty 50 stock returns in India over the ten-year period from 2015 to 2024. Three ESG indicators were selected: carbon intensity (CO₂ e emissions per PPP-adjusted GDP) as the environmental indicator, aggregate mandatory CSR expenditure (₹ Crores) as the social indicator, and India’s Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) composite score as the governance indicator. Annual Nifty 50 returns served as the dependent variable. Secondary data were sourced from the World Bank Open Data Portal, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs National CSR Portal, and the National Stock Exchange of India. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression were applied using IBM SPSS. Key findings reveal that India’s carbon intensity improved by 16.29% over the decade; aggregate CSR expenditure grew by 246.80% from ₹20,131.86 crores to ₹69,817.52 crores; and governance quality remained stable with a mean WGI score of 52.26. The most significant finding is a highly significant negative correlation (r = −0.933, p < 0.01) between CSR expenditure and carbon intensity, confirming the effectiveness of India’s mandatory CSR regime in improving environmental outcomes. The multiple regression model revealed that ESG indicators collectively explain 40.1% of the variance in Nifty 50 annual returns (R² = 0.401), with the environmental indicator serving as the strongest individual predictor (Beta = −1.746). The study concludes that ESG performance in India functions primarily as a long-term risk management and sustainability mechanism rather than a direct short-term driver of stock returns.