India sustainability reporting rules: BRSR and BRSR Core explained

India's sustainability reporting framework has two layers. Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) applies to the top 1,000 listed entities by market capitalisation. BRSR Core takes a smaller set of indicators from that report and adds a phased assessment or assurance requirement. In the 2026-27 financial year, that second timetable reaches the top 1,000 listed entities.

The distinction matters because a company can be required to publish BRSR before it enters the BRSR Core assessment or assurance cohort. Value-chain reporting follows a different rule again: for the top 250 listed entities it is voluntary from the 2025-26 financial year, with a defined test for deciding which suppliers and customers are included.

BRSR and BRSR Core are not the same filing

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) introduced BRSR as the sustainability reporting format for listed companies. It became mandatory for the top 1,000 listed entities by market capitalisation from the 2022-23 financial year.

The full report covers company policies, management processes and performance across nine principles of responsible business conduct. It combines general disclosures with management questions and indicator tables, including essential indicators that must be reported and leadership indicators that remain voluntary.

BRSR Core is a subset of that framework. It concentrates on quantitative indicators under nine environmental, social and governance (ESG) attributes, including greenhouse gas emissions, water, energy, waste, employee wellbeing, gender diversity, inclusive development, customer fairness and corporate openness. SEBI created the subset so that a more consistent group of figures could be assessed or assured as the requirement expands.

The BRSR Core timetable reaches 1,000 companies in 2026-27

SEBI introduced BRSR Core through a four-year glide path. The top 150 listed entities entered in 2023-24, followed by the top 250 in 2024-25 and the top 500 in 2025-26. The final scheduled cohort, the top 1,000, enters in 2026-27.

The current wording allows an entity to use either assessment or assurance for BRSR Core. That is broader than the original assurance-only approach. It does not remove the need for dependable records: the figures still have to withstand an independent review process selected under the applicable requirements.

SEBI also requires the provider to have the necessary expertise and to avoid conflicts of interest. A provider or its group cannot sell specified non-assurance or non-assessment services to the reporting entity or its group. Procurement therefore needs to check independence as well as technical capability.

Value-chain reporting is voluntary, but the boundary is defined

For the top 250 listed entities, ESG disclosures for the value chain are voluntary from 2025-26. Assessment or assurance of those disclosures is voluntary as well. This is a relief from a mandatory timetable, not an instruction to collect data from every business contact.

SEBI defines value-chain partners using purchases and sales. A partner is in scope where it accounts for at least 2% of the reporting entity's purchases or sales by value. The listed entity may cap the exercise once the partners selected under that test cover 75% of purchases and sales by value.

That boundary gives companies a starting point for supplier and customer mapping. It also means the finance and procurement records used to rank partners need to reconcile with the reporting perimeter. The Scope 3 supplier data collection guide covers the evidence, estimates and review controls needed when value-chain information is requested from other businesses.

Green credits cannot replace the underlying emissions figure

The 2025 changes added disclosure treatment for green credits. If a company reports a green-credit adjustment against greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption or waste, it must also show the original unadjusted value and explain the adjustment separately.

This prevents the credit from making the operating figure disappear. A reader should be able to see the company's actual emissions or resource use, then see the separate effect of the claimed credit. The distinction is particularly important where different credit programmes use different eligibility rules or units.

What reporting teams should settle before the next filing

1. Confirm the market-cap ranking used for scope. Record whether the company is inside the top 1,000 BRSR population and the relevant BRSR Core cohort.
2. Separate full-report ownership from Core evidence. The BRSR narrative and the BRSR Core indicator file overlap, but they are not the same deliverable.
3. Reconcile intensity denominators. Keep the revenue, purchasing-power-parity and output measures used in intensity calculations tied to controlled finance and operating records.
4. Document the value-chain boundary. If the company reports voluntarily, retain the 2% partner test, the 75% coverage calculation and any estimation methods.
5. Check reviewer independence early. Assessment or assurance procurement should not begin after the data is finalised.
6. Show gross performance before credits. Keep unadjusted emissions, water and waste figures visible wherever a green-credit adjustment is disclosed.

The immediate task for most large Indian listed companies is no longer deciding whether sustainability reporting applies. It is keeping the broad BRSR filing, the narrower BRSR Core review and any voluntary value-chain disclosure on the correct timetable, with evidence that can be traced back to the business records.

Sources

• SEBI: Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting by listed entities, 10 May 2021
• SEBI: BRSR Core framework for assurance and ESG disclosures for value chain, 12 July 2023
• SEBI: frequently asked questions on BRSR Core, April 2025