BRSR: a section-by-section guide

The Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) is SEBI's required ESG report for the top 1,000 listed companies by market capitalisation. It is part of the annual report, under Regulation 34(2)(f) of the LODR Regulations.

The BRSR replaced an older and much thinner report, the Business Responsibility Report (BRR). It is longer, more numerical and more standardised. Because every covered company uses the same format, BRSRs can be compared across companies and years in a way that glossy sustainability reports cannot.

For analysts, the BRSR is the single most useful ESG document for an Indian listed company. It has workforce data, safety records, complaints, energy, water, emissions, waste and governance information in one place, usually for both the current and the previous year.

From BRR to BRSR

• 2012: SEBI requires the top 100 listed companies by market capitalisation to file a BRR.
• 2015: extended to the top 500.
• 2019: extended to the top 1,000, from FY 2019-20.
• May 2021: SEBI introduces the BRSR, voluntary for FY 2021-22.
• FY 2022-23: the BRSR becomes mandatory for the top 1,000.
• July 2023: SEBI adds BRSR Core, a subset of key indicators that must be independently assessed or assured.
• March 2025: SEBI allows assessment as an alternative to assurance, eases value chain rules and adds green credits.

Section A: General disclosures

• Company details: name, address, exchanges, paid-up capital, reporting boundary (standalone or consolidated) and the name of the assurance or assessment provider for BRSR Core
• Products and services: main business activities and products, with their share of turnover
• Operations: number of plants and offices, markets served, share of exports
• Employees: permanent and other employees and workers, by gender; differently abled staff; women on the board and in key roles; turnover rates
• Group companies: holding, subsidiary, associate and joint venture companies, and whether they take part in the company's business responsibility initiatives
• CSR: whether CSR applies, turnover and net worth
• Complaints: grievances from each stakeholder group (communities, investors, shareholders, employees, customers, value chain partners), with numbers filed and pending
• Material issues: the company's material responsible business conduct issues, whether each is a risk or an opportunity, and how it responds

Section B: Management and process disclosures

• Policies: whether the company has a policy for each of the nine NGRBC principles, whether the board has approved it, and whether it extends to value chain partners
• Certifications and targets: national and international standards adopted, and specific commitments with timelines
• Governance: a statement from the director responsible for the BRSR, the highest authority responsible for the business responsibility policies, and any board committee for sustainability decisions
• Review: how often the board or committees review performance on each principle, and whether an independent agency has assessed the policies

Section C: Principle-wise performance

One block for each of the nine principles, each split into essential indicators (mandatory) and leadership indicators (voluntary). The most used numbers are here:

• Principle 1: fines, penalties and anti-corruption data
• Principle 3: benefits, safety incidents, retention, parental leave
• Principle 5: wages and human rights complaints
• Principle 6: energy, water, emissions, waste, environmental compliance
• Principle 9: consumer complaints, recalls and data breaches

BRSR Core indicators appear inside the BRSR and are marked so that readers can see which numbers have been independently assessed or assured.