India will require an estimated $22.7 trillion, or about ₹2,167 lakh crore, in cumulative investment by 2070 to achieve its net-zero target, but faces a projected financing gap of $6.5 trillion, or around ₹620 lakh crore, highlighting the need for stronger corporate climate-transition disclosures, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
International finance may have to meet up to 42% of the country’s total investment requirement. IEEFA said lenders and investors are increasingly using transition-plan credibility to price risk, allocate capital and determine long-term access to domestic and global financing. Companies unable to present comparable and verifiable plans could risk losing access to capital.
The institute has proposed a two-phase strengthening of the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting framework. The first phase would introduce a short transition-plan snapshot that reorganises information already required under BRSR or voluntarily disclosed by companies into a standardised, comparable format.
IEEFA said the snapshot could initially be mandatory for companies in high-emitting sectors such as power, steel, cement, oil and gas, chemicals and commodities among the top 500 listed firms by market capitalisation. Other companies in the top 500 could adopt it voluntarily before mandatory coverage is extended to all top 1,000 BRSR-reporting entities.
The second phase would add 23 priority metrics to BRSR. A first batch of 13 would cover net-zero ambition, short-term emission targets, transition levers, capital expenditure allocation, scenario analysis, board oversight, internal carbon pricing and climate-risk integration.
A second batch would deepen disclosures on medium-term targets, green or low-carbon revenue, transition-financing sources, Scope 3 emissions, climate-linked incentives, value-chain engagement and workforce reskilling.
The roadmap runs from FY27 to FY32. The short-term phase covers FY27-FY28, the medium term FY29-FY30 and the long term FY31-FY32, giving companies time to strengthen data systems, governance and assurance practices.
The proposal builds on BRSR Core, whose assessment or assurance obligations are set to cover the top 1,000 listed companies by FY27.
IEEFA’s recommendations follow an assessment of 33 Indian companies across six high-emitting sectors using 77 metrics. It found that BRSR provides a strong sustainability-reporting base but remains largely backward-looking and does not adequately connect climate targets with capital expenditure, revenues, funding and risk management.
The report also flagged weak scenario analysis, inadequate Scope 3 coverage, limited assurance and insufficient accountability or climate-linked incentives. Disclosure quality varied sharply with company size and investor visibility, leaving a small group of leaders and a wider base of compliance-driven reporters.
Globally, 139 of 198 countries and 1,276 of 1,987 companies tracked by the Net Zero Tracker had set net-zero targets as of May 2026. IEEFA said embedding transition planning within BRSR could improve comparability and capital access without creating a separate disclosure regime.
