Supply chain management (SCM) has been traditionally linked with procurement of raw materials to an integrated manufacturing process for the conversion into finished products. Increasing awareness about the eco-friendly aspects of business and organizations has necessitated the imbibition of added connotations, referred to as green initiatives, to the existing definitional form of SCM. This new concept called Green SCM or GSCM throws light on the eco-friendly sustainability aspects of SCM operations and logistics on one hand and speaks about the reduced environmental footprints left behind by human activities on the other. This paper tries to portray the gradual development and a shifting trend towards imbibing green initiatives in the operational practices of organizations, so as to conform to the need of the hour and move towards a sustainable and eco-friendly business environment. This exhaustive review aims at recording and documenting the development and chronological evolution of GSCM concepts from its traditional SCM manifestation. The paper also tries to champion GSCM as a remedy to the increasing ecological footprint and ever increasing environmental concern involving SCM. The paper discusses the extension of GSCM from the traditional concepts, its definitional perspectives, implementation hurdles and also puts forth a long list of empirical evidences and literary arguments to justify the massive positive impact of GSCM on environmental management. The business sustainability, profitability and economic aspects have also been focused while discussing the management of reverse logistics and global value-seeking approach of GSCM practices.

From the dim dawn of civilization, human society has been exploiting and using Mother Nature indiscriminately to fulfill its needs, wants and desires. The concepts of natural sustainability or eco-friendly standards were not known to our forefathers. So, as centuries passed, this limitless greed and indiscriminate human activities in the name of societal development or business activity expansion or simply on the plea of industrialization, finally took its toll on the nature. Nature has also started revolting, as manifested through several man-made calamities, global atmospheric and climatic changes, etc. Therefore, it is time that the human society starts taking a broader look for a sustainable coexistence.

As society and education flourished, so did business management research, concepts of sustainable green initiatives and terminologies like `Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM)' and `Environmental Footprint'. Business networks now stretch across the corners of the planet and true as the words by Adam Smith, an invisible hand indeed runs the entire show across the globe. Business and its networks now do not mean just the village shop and its bunch of customers. Business in the true sense has reached a global stage where big MNCs through their immense business networks of procurement activities (supply chain network) and delivery activities (distribution network or channels) intertwine the length and breadth of the globe. With every passing decade of the last century, however, even this connotation has changed and the distinction between the two defined networks have blurred out. Now, the key concept from the world's business-sustainability gurus is the concept of a super structure that starts from raw material extraction down the flow till the disposal of after use end-products. This holistic ideology is imbibed with a strong sense of environmental sustainability and green concepts of industrial and environmental coexistence. Today, the concept of GSCM is an operational buzzword offering a large array of study and research avenues.

Supply Chain Management Journal, Chronological Road Map, Green Supply Chain Management, Business Environment, Chronological Evolution, Environmental Management, Societal Development, Business Management Research, Supply Chain Network, Innovative Strategies, Logistics Management, Distribution Channels, Manufacturing Industry, Inventory Optimization Policies, Performance Measurement System, Total Quality Management.