Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) is the sustainability disclosure framework of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, mandated under Regulation 34(2)(f) of the SEBI Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations. The top 1000 listed entities by market capitalisation must file the BRSR as part of the annual report, mandatory since FY 2022-23.
The framework now runs on two tracks: the full BRSR disclosure, and the BRSR Core, a subset of key performance indicators that must be independently assessed or assured on a glide path that reaches the top 1000 listed entities in FY 2026-27, the financial year that began on 1 April 2026. Several hundred companies face that requirement for the first time this year.
What is BRSR and where it comes from
BRSR replaced the older Business Responsibility Report through a SEBI circular of 10 May 2021, moving Indian listed companies from a largely narrative report to quantitative, comparable sustainability disclosure. Filing is voluntary beyond the top 1000, and the report travels with the annual report to the stock exchanges.
The framework is built on the nine principles of the National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC), covering ethics, product responsibility, employee wellbeing, stakeholder responsiveness, human rights, environment, policy advocacy, inclusive development and consumer value. Disclosures sit in three sections: Section A for general information, Section B for management and process, and Section C for principle-wise performance, split into Essential indicators that are mandatory and Leadership indicators that are voluntary.
Who must file BRSR, and the BRSR Core glide path
The full BRSR applies to the top 1000 listed entities by market capitalisation. The BRSR Core, introduced by SEBI’s circular of 12 July 2023, is a subset of KPIs under 9 ESG attributes, with intensity ratios adjusted for purchasing power parity, and it carries an independent assessment or assurance requirement phased by market capitalisation:
| Financial year | Listed entities covered, by market capitalisation |
|---|---|
| FY 2023-24 | Top 150 |
| FY 2024-25 | Top 250 |
| FY 2025-26 | Top 500 |
| FY 2026-27 | Top 1000, the year that began 1 April 2026 |
FY 2026-27 is the step that changes the market: roughly 500 companies outside the top 500 face independent assessment or assurance of their sustainability KPIs for the first time, filed with the FY 2026-27 annual report.
Assessment or assurance: the March 2025 easement
The original BRSR Core framework required reasonable assurance. SEBI’s circular of 28 March 2025 relaxed this to an option: a listed entity may undertake either assurance under recognised assurance standards or assessment, meaning third party assessment against the standards developed by the Industry Standards Forum in consultation with SEBI. Assurance was not removed; the entity chooses the route.
The board must ensure the assessment or assurance provider has the necessary expertise and carries no conflict of interest: the provider and its associates cannot sell products or supply non-audit, non-assessment or non-assurance services such as consulting to the listed entity or its group. The reporting work and the verification work therefore sit with different firms by design.
Value chain disclosures: who, when and how much
ESG disclosures for the value chain apply to the top 250 listed entities on a voluntary basis from FY 2025-26, deferred and softened from the earlier comply-or-explain position. Assessment or assurance of value chain disclosures is voluntary from FY 2026-27.
- A value chain partner is an upstream or downstream partner individually comprising 2 percent or more of the entity’s purchases or sales by value.
- The entity may limit disclosure to partners covering 75 percent of purchases and sales by value, an optional cap rather than a binding threshold.
- An entity disclosing value chain data must state the percentage of sales and purchases the covered partners represent.
- First-year reporters may omit prior-year value chain numbers.
Voluntary does not mean inconsequential: large listed customers gathering value chain data turn BRSR into a supplier requirement, so unlisted suppliers increasingly meet BRSR-shaped questionnaires in commercial relationships.
What else changed recently
The 28 March 2025 circular also introduced a voluntary leadership indicator under Principle 6 for Green Credits generated or procured by the entity and its top ten value chain partners, applicable from FY 2024-25 disclosures. The BRSR is filed with the stock exchanges in both PDF and XBRL format on the same day as the annual report, which makes the data machine readable and ratio errors visible, and non-filing draws exchange fines of 2,000 INR per day under the LODR enforcement framework. Adoption has outgrown the mandate: more than 1,200 companies now publish a BRSR against the roughly 1,000 required, a figure SEBI leadership cited through 2025 and 2026.
How a company should prepare for FY 2026-27
- Confirm the tier. Establish where the entity sits by market capitalisation and whether the top 1000 BRSR Core requirement now applies.
- Close the data gaps. The Core KPIs reward measured data: energy, emissions, water, waste, safety, wages and diversity figures with auditable trails.
- Choose the verification route. Assessment against Industry Standards Forum standards or assurance under recognised standards, with a provider free of conflicts.
- Map the value chain early. Identify the 2 percent partners and begin collecting their ESG data even while disclosure stays voluntary.
- File clean XBRL. Validate intensity ratios and cross-section consistency before the annual report goes out.
BRSR questions, answered
What is BRSR in simple terms?
BRSR is SEBI's mandatory sustainability reporting framework for the top 1000 listed companies in India by market capitalisation. It requires quantitative disclosure across nine responsible business principles, covering environment, social and governance performance, filed with the annual report since FY 2022-23.
What is the difference between BRSR and BRSR Core?
BRSR is the full disclosure framework across Sections A, B and C. BRSR Core is a subset of key performance indicators under 9 ESG attributes, with intensity ratios adjusted for purchasing power parity, that must be independently assessed or assured on a market capitalisation glide path reaching the top 1000 listed entities in FY 2026-27.
Who must get BRSR Core assessed or assured in FY 2026-27?
The top 1000 listed entities by market capitalisation. The glide path ran top 150 in FY 2023-24, top 250 in FY 2024-25 and top 500 in FY 2025-26, and reaches the top 1000 for the financial year that began on 1 April 2026.
Is reasonable assurance mandatory for BRSR Core?
No longer as the only route. SEBI's circular of 28 March 2025 lets a listed entity choose between assurance under recognised standards and third party assessment against the standards developed by the Industry Standards Forum in consultation with SEBI. The provider must be free of conflicts of interest, including consulting relationships with the entity or its group.
Are value chain ESG disclosures mandatory under BRSR?
No. Value chain disclosures apply to the top 250 listed entities on a voluntary basis from FY 2025-26, with assessment or assurance of those disclosures voluntary from FY 2026-27. A value chain partner is one comprising 2 percent or more of purchases or sales by value, and coverage may be capped at 75 percent of purchases and sales.
Does BRSR apply to unlisted companies?
No. The mandate covers the top 1000 listed entities, with voluntary adoption beyond. Unlisted businesses meet BRSR indirectly, as suppliers and customers of listed companies that collect value chain data, which is why BRSR-shaped questionnaires now circulate well beyond the listed universe.
In what format is BRSR filed?
As part of the annual report to the stock exchanges, in both PDF and XBRL format on the same day as the annual report. The structured format makes figures machine readable and comparable across companies, so internal consistency between sections matters as much as the narrative.
GreenSutra prepares listed companies and their suppliers for the FY 2026-27 step with end to end BRSR reporting services covering data architecture, Core KPI readiness, value chain mapping and assessment or assurance preparation.
