62 pages carry this tag.
A step-by-step reading of a real BRSR: Ambuja Cements' filing for FY 2025-26. What the workforce, safety, energy, emissions, water and related-party data show, the effect of two mergers on the numbers, and the questions an analyst would ask. Educational, not investment advice.
Stakeholders are the people and groups who affect or are affected by a company. The main stakeholder groups, two simple mapping tools, and how stakeholder issues turn into financial risk.
The "S" in ESG is about people: workers, workers in the supply chain, local communities and customers. The four stakeholder groups, how social issues reach the financials, the social data in the BRSR, and the Indian features that make the S pillar different.
The core numbers for judging how a company treats its people: LTIFR, TRIR and fatalities for safety; turnover; women's share of the workforce and of wages; the gender pay gap; and training. How each is calculated, where it sits in the BRSR, and how to read it.
Four labour codes replaced 29 central labour laws, with key provisions in force from 21 November 2025. The new wage definition, gratuity for fixed-term staff, social security for gig workers, the higher layoff threshold, the state gig worker laws, and the costs companies have already booked.
Companies are expected to respect human rights in their own operations and their supply chains. The UN Guiding Principles, the four steps of due diligence, forced and child labour risks, the limits of supplier audits, the EU due diligence law after the 2026 changes, and the lessons of Rana Plaza.
India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 and the Rules notified on 14 November 2025. Who is a data fiduciary, the core duties, the 18-month phase-in, penalties of up to ₹250 crore, and how to judge a company's data privacy risk from its disclosures.
A mine, plant or dam needs more than legal permits: it needs the acceptance of the people around it. India's land acquisition and forest rights laws, free, prior and informed consent, the Niyamgiri and Sterlite examples, and the signs that a project's social licence is weak.
India is one of the few countries that makes companies spend on CSR by law. Who must spend, how much, on what, what happens to unspent money, and how analysts should read CSR disclosures.
Social bonds fund projects that help defined groups of people. Sustainability bonds fund a mix of green and social projects. ICMA's principles, the six project categories, target populations, SEBI's 2025 rules and how to test social impact claims.
The main tools for measuring social and environmental impact: the theory of change, the five dimensions of impact, the GIIN's IRIS+ metrics and the Operating Principles for Impact Management, with a worked example that adjusts results for what would have happened anyway.
The Social Stock Exchange segments of NSE and BSE let non-profits raise donations through listed zero coupon zero principal instruments. The eligibility rules, how a ZCZP issue works, the 2026 changes including the new CSR route, the market's size so far and what donors should check.
For IT services companies, people and data are the core ESG issues: attracting and keeping talent, protecting client and personal data, and powering offices and data centres with clean energy. The issues, the data and the rules to know.
For drug makers, the biggest ESG risks are about product quality and trust: manufacturing compliance, ethical marketing, effluents and access to medicines. The issues, the data and the Indian rules to know, including revised Schedule M and UCPMP 2024.
Lower is better. Compare employees with employees and workers with workers, and peers in the same sector. Read it together with fatalities: a low LTIFR...
TRIR captures more injuries than LTIFR, so it is usually higher and gives a fuller picture of safety. A falling LTIFR with a steady or rising TRIR may...
High turnover raises hiring and training costs and can signal problems with pay, culture or management. Normal levels differ by sector: IT services and...
Calculate it at each level, not just overall. A company with 30% women overall but very few in senior roles has a pipeline problem. Compare it with...
A positive figure means women's median pay is lower. The median reduces the effect of a few very high salaries. The gap mainly reflects where women sit...
More training can mean better skills and lower turnover, but quantity alone says little. Check how much is skills training rather than mandatory...
Moving to a low-carbon economy in a way that protects the workers and communities who depend on high-carbon industries.
Overstating a company's or fund's social credentials, such as labour standards, diversity or community benefits.
Any person or group that affects, or is affected by, a company's activities.
The board committee that sets and monitors a company's corporate social responsibility policy and spending.
A company's spending on social and environmental causes outside its core business; in India, a legal requirement for larger companies.
A special bank account into which a company must move CSR money allocated to ongoing projects but not yet spent.
The list in the Companies Act of activities on which companies can spend their CSR money, and the funds to which unspent amounts can go.
A bond whose proceeds fund projects with clear social benefits for a defined target population, such as affordable housing, healthcare or loans to small businesses.
Investing with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.
A map of how an activity is expected to lead to a desired change, from inputs and activities to outputs, outcomes and long-term impact.
A framework from the Impact Management Project that describes any impact by what outcome occurs, who experiences it, how much change there is, the contribution of the activity and the risk that it differs from expectations.
The GIIN's free system of standard impact metrics, including a catalogue of metrics and core metric sets for common impact themes.
The extent to which an investment causes impact that would not have happened without it.
A SEBI-regulated segment of NSE and BSE where non-profits and social enterprises raise funds for social projects, with standard disclosure and assessed impact reports.
A listed security issued by a non-profit on a Social Stock Exchange that pays no interest and returns no principal, so it works as a donation.
A qualified professional who independently assesses the impact reports of non-profits that raise money on a Social Stock Exchange.
The skills, knowledge, health and experience of a company's workforce, treated as a source of value.
The number of work injuries that cause lost working time, per one million person-hours worked.
The number of recordable work injuries, including those without lost time, per 2,00,000 hours worked.
Work-related deaths, reported as a count or per a set number of hours worked.
The share of employees who leave a company during a year, calculated as leavers divided by average headcount.
Policies and outcomes that aim to give people of different genders, backgrounds and abilities fair access to jobs, pay and promotion.
The difference between the median pay of men and women, as a percentage of men's median pay.
People who work at a company's sites but are employed through contractors or agencies rather than directly.
A person who earns from short tasks outside a traditional employment relationship, often through a digital platform such as a delivery or ride-hailing app.
India's four codes on wages, industrial relations, social security and occupational safety, which replace 29 central labour laws.
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, which requires employers to prevent and resolve sexual harassment complaints.
The global standard, endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011, that sets out the duties of states and the responsibilities of businesses on human rights.
An ongoing process to identify, prevent, reduce and account for harm to people linked to a company's operations and value chain.
Work done under threat or coercion, which the worker has not freely agreed to, including bonded labour tied to debt.
Work that deprives children of their childhood, education or health, or that is banned for their age.
An inspection of a supplier's site and records to check working conditions, safety and environmental compliance against a buyer's standards.
The ongoing acceptance of a company or project by local communities and other stakeholders, beyond its legal permits.
Measures to move people displaced by a project and restore or improve their homes, livelihoods and living standards.
The right of communities, especially indigenous and tribal peoples, to give or withhold consent to a project that affects them, freely, before it begins and with full information.
India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, which sets the rules for processing digital personal data.
Under the DPDP Act, the person or organisation that decides why and how personal data is processed.
A company's responsibility to make sure its products do not harm the people who use them.
Selling and promoting products honestly, without misleading claims, pressure tactics or improper inducements.
Access to affordable and useful financial services, such as accounts, credit, insurance and payments, for people and small businesses that have been underserved.
Related topics: Valuation, DCF, Relative valuation, Cost of capital, Financial statements, Cash flow, Earnings quality, Red flags
