Energy Footprint + Intensity per Rupee of Revenue — BRSR Core Attribute

What this attribute is

Energy Footprint + Intensity per Rupee of Revenue is one of the nine BRSR Core attributes that SEBI requires every Top-1,000 listed entity to subject to independent reasonable assurance under SAE 3000 (Revised). It sits within NGRBC Principle 6 — Environment and is the sibling attribute to GHG Emission Intensity per Revenue — the GHG attribute measures the carbon footprint of energy use; this attribute measures the energy footprint itself.

The attribute captures three numbers:

1. Total energy consumed (in Joules — typically reported in GJ or TJ)
2. Energy intensity per rupee of revenue (PPP-adjusted)
3. % share of renewable energy in total energy consumed

Year-on-year intensity reduction signals energy efficiency improvement; year-on-year increase in renewable share signals decarbonisation of the energy mix. ESG-rating agencies + lender ESG covenants reference both metrics independently.

Formula and units

Energy Intensity = Total energy consumed (GJ)
                 ÷ Revenue from Operations adjusted for PPP

Renewable Share  = Renewable energy consumed (GJ)
                 ÷ Total energy consumed (GJ)

The SEBI BRSR Core wording is total energy consumed across renewable + non-renewable sources, expressed in Joules, divided by Revenue from Operations adjusted for PPP. The PPP adjustment normalises the rupee denominator using the World Bank International Comparison Program factor for India (or equivalent published source), so the intensity is comparable across geographies.

Standard units in BRSR practice:

• Energy: GJ (gigajoules) at the entity level; TJ (terajoules) for very large multi-plant entities. Conversion: 1 kWh = 3.6 MJ; 1 TJ = 10³ GJ = 10⁶ MJ.
• Intensity: GJ per ₹ Crore of PPP-adjusted revenue, or GJ per million USD of PPP-adjusted revenue.
• Renewable share: percentage (no unit).

Scope of “energy consumed” — numerator construction

Energy consumption aggregates across all source categories. Each must be converted to a common Joules basis using a published conversion factor (Net Calorific Value / NCV).

Non-renewable categories

• Purchased grid electricity (location-based) — kWh metered + applied with conversion 1 kWh = 3.6 MJ. Under location-based accounting, all grid electricity is counted regardless of REC / green-PPA designation; the renewable portion of the grid mix flows through the renewable-share split separately.
• Purchased fossil fuels — converted by fuel-specific NCV from IPCC 2006 Guidelines Volume 2 Chapter 1 (or actual GCV/NCV per supplier specification where available + documented). Typical:
  • Diesel (HSD): ~36 MJ/litre (NCV)
  • Petrol: ~32 MJ/litre
  • Furnace Oil (FO) / LSHS: ~40 MJ/kg (NCV)
  • LPG: ~46 MJ/kg
  • Natural gas: ~38 MJ/m³ at standard conditions
  • Coal (bituminous): ~25.8 MJ/kg (IPCC default; use actual GCV from supplier where available)
  • Petcoke: ~32 MJ/kg
• Self-generated electricity from fossil sources — DG sets, captive thermal power. Convert fuel input to MJ; report fuel-input MJ rather than DG-output kWh to avoid double-counting.

Renewable categories

• Captive solar / wind / hydro / biomass / biogas generation actually consumed on-site (net of grid export)
• Unbundled green PPAs where contractual energy attributes are documented + transferred
• REC retirement — entity retired RECs against its consumption; quantum equals the REC-backed kWh × 3.6 MJ

Categories netted out

• Energy sold to third parties (excess solar export to grid, wheeling to subsidiaries, tenant supply in shared premises) — net out of numerator
• Energy embedded in raw materials purchased — outside scope (would be Scope 3 upstream)
• Energy consumed by value-chain partners — outside scope (separate Value Chain Disclosure)

Worked example

Mid-size automotive component manufacturer for FY 2025-26. Single-plant operation.

Source	Quantity	Unit	NCV / Factor	GJ
Grid electricity (purchased)	18,00,000	kWh	3.6 MJ/kWh	6,480
Captive solar (consumed on-site)	2,40,000	kWh	3.6 MJ/kWh	864
Captive solar (exported to grid)	60,000	kWh	3.6 MJ/kWh	(216) — netted out
Diesel (DG set + boiler)	50,000	litres	36 MJ/litre	1,800
Natural gas (process heat)	1,20,000	m³	38 MJ/m³	4,560
LPG (canteen + maintenance)	4,000	kg	46 MJ/kg	184
Total energy consumed				13,888 GJ

Renewable component:

• Captive solar consumed on-site: 864 GJ
• Renewable share = 864 / 13,888 = 6.22%

Intensity:

• Revenue from Operations (FY 2025-26): ₹450 Crore
• PPP factor (illustrative World Bank ICP for India): ~24.5 → PPP-adjusted revenue = 450 / 24.5 = USD 18.37 million PPP
• Energy intensity = 13,888 GJ / USD 18.37 million PPP = 756 GJ per million USD PPP

For year-on-year comparison: FY 2024-25 intensity for the same entity was 820 GJ per million USD PPP → reduction of ~8% YoY, attributable to the captive solar commissioning + diesel-to-natural-gas conversion in the heat-process line.

Boundary alignment with denominator

The boundary that defines what energy is in the numerator must match the boundary of the revenue denominator:

• Standalone listed entity — only the listed-entity Indian operations’ energy. Denominator: standalone revenue from operations.
• Consolidated — all subsidiaries + JV operations’ energy. Denominator: consolidated revenue from operations.
• Acquired entity mid-year — pro-rate both numerator + denominator from the acquisition date, OR exclude entirely until the next FY (consistent treatment).

Boundary mismatch is the highest-frequency audit qualification on this attribute. The BRSR cover note must explicitly declare which boundary applies, and the assurance partner must verify both numerator + denominator on the same boundary.

Common audit findings

1. Fuel volumes not reconciled to purchase invoices + tank-level reconciliation. Self-reported DG fuel + boiler fuel often understates because issue registers don’t tie to vendor invoices + opening / closing tank levels. Reconcile via: opening stock + purchases − closing stock = consumption. Variance > 2% requires investigation.
2. NCV factor source not documented. The methodology section often cites “IPCC” without specifying the exact table / year — preventing reproducibility. Best practice: cite IPCC 2006 Guidelines Vol 2 Chapter 1 Table 1.2 explicitly, with the specific NCV row used per fuel.
3. Self-generated DG fuel counted twice — once as fuel input + once as electricity output. Pick one (fuel input is the BRSR convention) + document the choice.
4. REC retirement not evidenced. Renewable-share claim that depends on REC retirement requires the I-REC / Indian REC retirement certificate from the registry. Without retirement evidence, the kWh remains location-based non-renewable.
5. Captive solar export double-counting. Net-metering export to grid is sometimes left in the “captive renewable consumed” bucket. Net out the export from the renewable consumption.
6. Grid factor confusion. This attribute uses energy quantum (Joules), not GHG emissions — so CEA grid emission factors are NOT applied here. The CEA factor applies to the GHG Emission Intensity attribute, not this one. Mixing these up under-states or over-states energy intensity.
7. PPP factor not documented. Same issue as the GHG attribute — the World Bank ICP factor used + the year of the factor must be disclosed.

Renewable share — leadership extension vs Core scope

The renewable share (% of total energy consumed) is part of the BRSR Core assured scope alongside the absolute total + intensity. This is distinct from the GHG attribute where market-based Scope 2 (REC-backed) is a Leadership disclosure but the assured intensity is built on location-based Scope 2.

For energy specifically, the renewable share + the location-based total energy + the location-based intensity are all in scope for reasonable assurance. The market-based energy figure (where the entity has REC retirement) can also be disclosed, and is sometimes included in extended-scope engagements at the audit committee’s request.

XBRL filing

This attribute is filed in the BRSR XBRL instance document under the Principle 6 Essential Indicator 1 elements from the MCA-published BRSR taxonomy module. Element names, namespace prefixes, and unit references should be verified against the current MCA taxonomy version before generating the instance document. Both current-year and previous-year context references must be populated, and the value carried in the XBRL must reconcile to the assured value in the signed BRSR Core report.

The source-category split (renewable vs non-renewable; per-fuel breakdown) is filed alongside the intensity figure. See XBRL Taxonomy for BRSR for the structural overview.

How this attribute rolls up into the BRSR Core engagement

This attribute is one of the four Core attributes under Principle 6 (alongside GHG, water, and waste / circularity). The signed BRSR Core assurance report attests this number to reasonable assurance under SAE 3000 (Revised). Workpapers retained by the assurance partner cover the per-source category reconciliation, vouching to fuel purchase invoices + tank-level reconciliation, REC retirement certificates (where renewable share is claimed via REC), and boundary alignment between numerator + denominator.

For the engagement that produces the signed assurance opinion, see BRSR Core Assurance.

Related reading

• NGRBC Principle 6 — Environment — parent pillar
• GHG Emission Intensity per Revenue — sibling Core attribute (energy + GHG share the same boundary + PPP convention)
• Water Withdrawal Intensity — sibling Core attribute
• CEA Grid Emission Factors — used for GHG, NOT energy (distinction matters)
• Document Evidence Requirements — full evidence checklist including fuel + REC documents
• XBRL Taxonomy for BRSR — XBRL filing structure
• BRSR Core Assurance — service
• ISAE 3410 / Standalone GHG — service