ESG + BRSR Practitioner Certification

Section A looks trivial. It gets read first. Errors in Section A undermine the credibility of everything after it.

This module walks through corporate identity and holding-subsidiary disclosures, HSN-coded product classification, workforce breakdown (permanent vs non-permanent, gender split, differently-abled), the wages column that reconciles with the Wages Code 2019 categories, union membership, turnover, CSR spend under Section 135 of the Companies Act, and the reconciliation checks assurance providers run first when they open a Section A pack.

1. 1. Section A opener: corporate identity, listing, reporting boundary 9 min
2. 2. Products and services: HSN, NIC, and the conglomerate problem 10 min
3. 3. Workforce: permanent, non-permanent, workers versus employees 11 min
4. 4. Wages medians: the row assurance providers test hardest 10 min
5. 5. Turnover, CSR spend, holding-subsidiary transactions 9 min

Section B is a policy audit dressed as a reporting section. For each of the nine NGRBC principles the format asks whether the company has a policy, whether it covers the value chain, whether it is Board-approved, whether it has been reviewed. This is where the practitioner turns a Section B response into an internal review that stands up in an assurance walkthrough, not a marketing exercise.

Includes the NGRBC 9-Principle Policy Pack template you can lift into your own Board agenda.

1. 1. Section B decoded: the yes-no-NA table row by row 10 min
2. 2. The nine mini-policies you actually need 11 min
3. 3. Grievance mechanisms: one register, nine intake channels 10 min
4. 4. Board oversight and committee structure for BRSR 9 min
5. 5. Template: the NGRBC 9-Principle Policy Pack 14 min

Section C is where the numbers live. This module walks through the first four principles: Principle 1 ethics and transparency, including where POSH complaints data and Related Party Transaction disclosures live; Principle 2 sustainable and safe products, including R&D expenditure classification and lifecycle-assessment references; Principle 3 employee well-being, including LTIFR calculation and safety training hours; and Principle 4 stakeholder engagement, including a materiality assessment methodology and the materiality matrix template.

1. 1. Principle 1: ethics, transparency, accountability 11 min
2. 2. Principle 2: sustainable and safe products 10 min
3. 3. Principle 3: employee well-being and the LTIFR calculation 12 min
4. 4. Principle 4: stakeholder engagement and materiality assessment 11 min

The heavy environmental and human-rights disclosures live in Principles 5 to 9. This module walks through human rights complaints and forced-labour disclosures, GHG Scope 1, 2 and 3 accounting with worked examples using CEA emission factors, water withdrawal and discharge, waste categorised by CPCB Rules, policy advocacy transparency, CSR alignment with Principle 8, and Principle 9 customer value including the crossover with DPDP data breach reporting and product recall disclosures.

1. 1. Principle 5: human rights 10 min
2. 2. Principle 6 part one: GHG emissions Scope 1, 2 and 3 14 min
3. 3. Principle 6 part two: water, energy, waste, biodiversity, air, EPR 12 min
4. 4. Principle 7: policy advocacy 9 min
5. 5. Principles 8 and 9: inclusive growth and customer value 11 min

BRSR Core is the subset of BRSR disclosures identified by SEBI Circular 12 July 2023 as key ESG attributes that require third-party assurance. This module walks through the Circular clause by clause, the nine BRSR Core attributes and their intensity-ratio calculations, the limited vs reasonable assurance distinction under ICAI SSAE 3410, the assurance provider selection matrix (ICAI empanelled sustainability assurance practitioner vs Big 4 sustainability practice), and the eight common assurance findings that get qualified in first-time engagements and how to prevent them.

1. 1. What BRSR Core is and why it exists: Circular 12 July 2023 clause by clause 11 min
2. 2. The nine BRSR Core attributes and their intensity ratios 12 min
3. 3. Verification mechanics: SSAE 3410 assurance vs ISF assessment, and how to choose 12 min
4. 4. Verification provider selection: SSAE 3410 assurance providers and ISF-empanelled assessors 13 min
5. 5. The eight common assurance findings and how to prevent them 13 min

BRSR fails on data collection, not on writing. This module builds the operating layer: a data owner matrix that maps every row in Sections A, B and C to a department and role; a monthly data collection calendar that runs Q1 through Q4 with owner sign-offs; a GHG Scope 1-2-3 worksheet with worked example inputs from a mid-size Indian manufacturer; a water withdrawal-consumption-discharge register; a waste register categorised by CPCB Rules. Every template is embedded in the lesson and can be lifted into a live filing quarter.

1. 1. The Data Owner Matrix: mapping every BRSR row to a name 14 min
2. 2. The Monthly Data Collection Calendar: Q1 through Q4 with owner sign-offs 12 min
3. 3. GHG Scope 1-2-3 Worksheet: worked example for a mid-size Indian manufacturer 15 min
4. 4. Water and energy accounting: withdrawal, consumption, discharge, intensity 11 min
5. 5. Waste accounting by CPCB category: the Waste Register template 14 min

The delivery quarter. This module walks the BRSR from Q4 draft through internal audit sign-off, Board approval, the SSAE 3410 assurance engagement, the final XBRL upload to BSE and NSE portals, and post-filing engagement with ESG rating agencies. Includes the value chain reporting response for the top 250 listed entities under the comply-or-explain framework, and a forward-looking chapter on the IFRS S1 and S2 ISSB transition that Indian filers should start preparing for now.

1. 1. The BRSR filing timeline: month by month from Q4 to next-year AGM 10 min
2. 2. Internal audit sign-off and Board approval: the resolution your Company Secretary needs 9 min
3. 3. Drafting the SSAE 3410 assurance engagement letter 11 min
4. 4. The XBRL filing: BSE Listing Centre and NSE NEAPS portal mechanics 9 min
5. 5. Value chain reporting: now voluntary, and why sensible top 250 filers still disclose 11 min
6. 6. Post-filing: ESG rating agency engagement and question preparation 10 min
7. 7. The IFRS S1 and S2 ISSB transition roadmap: what Indian filers should be doing now 11 min