Only one in four companies report their Scope 3 emissions.
That’s not a niche data point—it’s a signal that most companies in India are still unsure, or unprepared, to account for the biggest chunk of their carbon footprint: their value chains.
This insight is one of many drawn from the Business Responsibility & Sustainability Reporting Barometer 2025. It was released on 5th June, 2025 – World Environment Day by ECube, StepChange, and Earth Inherited. The report was formally presented to Pramod Rao, Executive Director at SEBI, underscoring its pivotal role in informing regulatory frameworks and fostering robust corporate sustainability practices within the Indian market.
Now in its second year, the Barometer analyses sustainability disclosures from 819 listed companies, spanning Rs 8 trillion in annual revenue and 12 key sectors.
The report is useful because it holds up a mirror for companies to reflect on their performance, and opens a window to understand how others in their sector are doing.
All data comes from Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reports (BRSR) filed by companies across the 12 sectors. These filings, now mandatory for India’s top 1000 listed entities, cover environmental, social, and governance indicators—ranging from emissions and energy to board-level oversight and inclusion.
The Barometer assesses over 50 metrics per company, with data standardised and analysed to surface sector-wide patterns and persistent disclosure gaps.
Five Key Signals from 2024-25
1. Scope 3 is still a blind spot
Despite growing global focus, most companies aren’t tracking or disclosing value-chain emissions.
· Only 23% of companies reported Scope 3 data.
· Coverage is lowest in Textiles (10%) and highest in Power (42%).
This gap becomes critical as value-chain transparency is expected to become mandatory in the coming year.
2. Renewable energy uptake is limited
· Across sectors, the median renewable energy share remains below 10%.
· A few outliers, like Pharmaceuticals, show what’s possible—with some companies using over 90% renewable energy.
This points to both untapped potential and uneven planning.
3. Water and waste risks are high, but poorly reported
· Textiles use a median of 407 kilolitres of water per crore of revenue.
· Chemicals and Pharma are seeing rising hazardous waste, but most companies don’t disclose how they manage it.
The numbers reflect growing pressure on natural systems—but not enough corporate visibility or accountability.
4. Social disclosures remain patchy
· Only 41% of companies disclose any worker training or upskilling.
· Female participation in heavy sectors like Metals and Power is under 5%.
· People with disabilities make up less than 1% of the workforce in every sector.
There are exceptions—IT/ITeS leads on gender inclusion—but consistency remains elusive.
5. Assurance and board oversight are weak
· Less than 20% of companies provide third-party assurance of their ESG data.
· Fewer than half disclose board-level ESG oversight.
This creates a credibility gap. Without governance backing, ESG risks remaining a checkbox.
The Barometer isn’t a performance leaderboard—it’s a sectoral benchmark. It lets companies see how they compare, where they lag, and what’s moving the needle across peers. That’s valuable not just for sustainability teams, but for CFOs, board members, investor relations heads—anyone navigating where ESG intersects with capital, regulation, or reputation.
Some will see the data as pressure. Others will see it as clarity. The difference is mindset.