Absolute corporate greenhouse gas emissions rose sharply in FY25, with IIM Bangalore’s analysis of Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) filings showing a 53.1% proportion of the top 1,000 listed companies reporting an increase in operational emissions and total Scope 1 and 2 emissions climbing 4.29% year-on-year.
Power sector and energy-intensive industries at the centre
The study attributes a large share of the net increase to the power sector, which accounted for roughly 32.9 million tCO₂e of the total 53.7 million tCO₂e rise in emissions. That concentration underlines the outsized role of energy-intensive industries in shaping the nation’s corporate climate footprint.
Scope 1 emissions represent direct operational releases from sources such as boilers, furnaces and company vehicles, while Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling. The combined Scope 1 and 2 tally stood at 1.31 billion tCO₂e in the reporting cycle.
Scope 3 disclosures grow but gaps remain
Disclosures of Scope 3 emissions — those arising across the value chain and supply chain — increased by 44% year-on-year, reaching 1.48 billion tCO₂e, which now exceed the combined Scope 1 and 2 emissions. This confirms that supply-chain footprints are substantially larger than direct operational emissions for listed firms.
Despite this improvement in reporting, the analysis notes that 57.1% of listed entities still do not report Scope 3 data, leaving significant transparency gaps on the broader climate impact of corporate activities.
Poor renewable adoption and rising energy demand
Clean energy uptake across the sampled companies remains limited. About 68.43% of the evaluated firms obtain under 20% of their total energy consumption from renewable sources. At the same time, absolute energy consumption is expanding: 37.58% of firms recorded a year-on-year increase in energy use of over 10%.
- Renewables share: Majority of firms below 20% renewable energy.
- Energy growth: Over one-third of firms saw >10% rise in energy consumption.
- Energy intensity: Improved per-rupee energy use, indicating economic output grew faster than energy demand for many firms.
The report highlights a nuanced picture: while the share of renewables is rising faster than overall energy consumption, baseline renewable adoption is low and reporting deficiencies persist. Nearly 47.15% of companies did not report physical output energy intensity, and almost one-third could not provide year-on-year changes in their renewable energy share.
Industrial water use also expanding
Water demand tracked upwards alongside energy. A third of companies (33.60%) recorded a water withdrawal increase of more than 10% year-on-year, and 76.07% of firms consumed between 80% and 100% of the water they withdrew, indicating limited reuse or discharge reductions across the sample.
What this means for business and stakeholders
For investors, lenders and policymakers, the findings signal several structural challenges. The concentration of emission increases in energy-intensive sectors means that decarbonisation will require targeted industrial interventions, accelerated grid decarbonisation and faster corporate adoption of renewables and efficiency measures. For companies, rising Scope 3 disclosure signals improved governance but also points to material risks embedded in supply chains that remain poorly quantified for a majority of firms.
For consumers and citizens, the data suggest that corporate emissions in aggregate continue to grow despite India’s broader clean-energy push — underlining the need for clearer corporate transition plans and stronger monitoring of sustainability claims.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Combined Scope 1 & 2 emissions | 1.31 billion tCO₂e |
| Scope 3 emissions (disclosed) | 1.48 billion tCO₂e |
| Net increase in emissions | 53.7 million tCO₂e |
| Power sector contribution to increase | 32.9 million tCO₂e |
Policymakers and regulators may view these findings as a prompt to tighten reporting standards, incentivise corporate renewable procurement and address disclosure gaps — particularly for Scope 3. Firms will face rising scrutiny from investors and customers for both their direct emissions and the emissions embedded in their supply chains.
In short: emissions reported by India’s largest listed companies rose in FY25, driven largely by power and energy-intensive industries; Scope 3 reporting has improved materially but remains incomplete; and low renewable shares alongside rising energy and water consumption point to substantive transition challenges ahead.
