What Is BRSR or Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting?

BRSR stands for Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting. SEBI introduced the framework to make certain listed companies disclose their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in a standard, comparable format. It is the backbone of formal sustainability reporting for listed India.

BRSR is not just a data return. It is a structured way for a company to show how it manages its impact on the environment and society, and how it is governed, so that investors and other stakeholders can compare companies on the same basis.

The purpose is straightforward. Standardised ESG disclosure lets investors identify sustainability-related risks and opportunities and make better decisions, and it lets companies demonstrate their sustainability position and progress. Higher standards of transparency help attract capital. This is the same discipline that sits behind good ESG consulting.

BRSR reporting seeks disclosures against the nine principles of the NGRBC. Reporting under each principle is split into essential indicators, which are mandatory, and leadership indicators, which are voluntary. Companies are encouraged to report the leadership indicators as well.

BRSR Full Form and Meaning

The BRSR full form is Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting. In a company context, the BRSR full form is the same: it is a reporting framework notified by SEBI for specified listed companies in India, filed as part of the annual report. So when someone asks what BRSR reporting is, the short answer is standardised ESG disclosure against the nine NGRBC principles.

BRSR at a Glance

BRSR Applicability: Is BRSR Mandatory and Who Must File?

Yes. BRSR is mandatory for the top 1000 listed entities in India by market capitalisation. BRSR applicability has covered these entities since FY 2022-23, and they file BRSR as part of the annual report. Market capitalisation is taken as on 31 March of the relevant year.

Are unlisted companies covered? Not yet. BRSR applicability is currently a listed-company requirement. A lighter, voluntary format, often called BRSR Lite, may be used by unlisted or smaller companies that wish to start reporting, and the framework could be extended in future based on thresholds of turnover or paid-up capital.

Can smaller or unlisted companies report voluntarily? Yes. Companies outside the top 1000 can adopt BRSR voluntarily, and many do so to meet investor, lender and customer expectations, or because they sit in the value chain of a large listed company. Preparing early often begins with an ESG due diligence services exercise to baseline current data.

BRSR vs BRR: How BRSR Came About

Sustainability reporting gives a picture of a company's economic, environmental and social impact. SEBI was an early adopter among global peers. ESG-style disclosure for listed entities began in 2012 with the Business Responsibility Report (BRR).

The shift from BRSR vs BRR is a shift in rigour. In 2019, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs issued the National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC). In 2020, an MCA committee recommended replacing the BRR with a stronger, more quantitative format, the BRSR, to bring Indian disclosure in line with global practice. SEBI BRSR rules then made the framework mandatory for the top 1000 listed entities from FY 2022-23.

The Nine NGRBC Principles Behind BRSR

The BRSR 9 principles are the nine principles of the NGRBC. Each principle carries essential indicators (mandatory) and leadership indicators (voluntary), and each maps to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

BRSR Format: Sections A, B and C

The BRSR report format is structured into three sections.

1. Section A - General Disclosures. The basics: who the company is, what it does, its structure, its operations, and its reporting boundary.
2. Section B - Management and Process Disclosures. The policies, governance and systems behind each of the nine principles.
3. Section C - Principle-wise Performance Disclosures. The heart of the report: performance data against each principle, split into essential and leadership indicators.

The official BRSR report format PDF, along with the BRSR Core format, is published by SEBI within the LODR Master Circular and the BRSR Core circular. Building the systems behind that data is where an ESMS earns its keep.

BRSR Core and Assessment or Assurance

BRSR Core is the part SEBI wants independently checked. It is a focused subset of ESG attributes, drawn from the full BRSR, chosen because they matter most to credibility and comparability. Since the March 2025 circular, companies may choose assessment or assurance for BRSR Core, where assessment follows the standards of the Industry Standards Forum (ISF) and assurance means an independent assurance engagement. We explain the detail in our dedicated guide to BRSR Core.

The requirement arrives in phases by market capitalisation.

Where a company chooses assurance, the standard is reasonable assurance. That is a higher bar than the limited assurance common in many other jurisdictions. Reasonable assurance tests source evidence, larger samples and the effectiveness of internal controls, and it ends in a positive opinion on the reliability of the data. That is why it rewards early preparation: the checker looks at the evidence trail, not just the totals. When you are ready for the engagement itself, our team provides independent ESG assurance.

Latest BRSR Guidelines and Updates You Need to Know (2026)

BRSR has changed a lot since it began. Here is the current position, drawn from SEBI's December 2024 board decision, the Industry Standards of 20 December 2024, and the easing circular of 28 March 2025. Together these form the working BRSR guidelines for the current cycle.

Assessment or Assurance, Not Assurance Only

For BRSR Core, "assurance" has been replaced with "assessment or assurance", giving companies a choice of a third-party assessment under ISF standards or an independent assurance engagement.

Value Chain Disclosures Eased and Deferred

Value chain ESG disclosure moved from comply-or-explain to voluntary. The scope narrowed to upstream and downstream partners that individually make up 2% or more of purchases or sales by value, with the option to cover up to 75% of total purchases and sales. Disclosure applies from FY 2025-26, and assessment or assurance of value chain data from FY 2026-27. Reporting prior-year data in the first year is voluntary. This applies to the top 250 listed entities.

Green Credits Added

A new leadership indicator under Principle 6 requires disclosure of Green Credits generated or procured by the company and its top 10 value chain partners, effective FY 2024-25.

Industry Standards and the BRSR Guidance Note

The ISF, made up of ASSOCHAM, FICCI and CII, issued Industry Standards, in effect a detailed BRSR guidance note, to standardise BRSR Core reporting, applicable from FY 2024-25. Part A covers general requirements, including PPP-adjusted and output-based intensity ratios and a spend-based approach where primary data is missing. Part B explains the requirements across all nine Core attributes, with clarifications on emission factors, water estimation, wage and POSH definitions, and CERT-In cyber incident reporting.

How BRSR Maps to Global Frameworks

A common question is whether BRSR duplicates a company's other reporting. It does not have to. BRSR is designed to interoperate with global frameworks, so one well-built data set can serve several of them. This is the same logic behind good sustainability reporting across frameworks.

Companies already reporting under GRI or the ISSB's IFRS S1 and S2 may cross-refer those disclosures to BRSR to avoid repeating work.