A joint IICA-Safe in India BRSR Study (and NGRBC adaptation) for India’s automobile sector
On 16th July 2026, the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, released two publications on responsible business in India’s automobile sector at the National Conference on Responsible Business Conduct (NCRBC) 2026 in New Delhi:
1. Research Study on Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) of Listed Companies in Automobile Sector in India, a joint report by IICA’s School of Business Environment and Safe in India Foundation (SII).
Manufacturing Sector, developed by IICA with guidance from a multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee. Sandeep Sachdeva, Co-Founder and CEO of SII, served on the committee.
The joint IICA-SII study assesses the quality of BRSR disclosures by listed automobile companies, while the sectoral adaptation of the NGRBC defines the expectations of responsible conduct specific to automobile manufacturing and its value chain.
Why this matters for the Indian auto sector and responsible business conduct:
The Economic Survey 2024-25, based on SII’s working paper, links better working conditions to higher labour productivity, stronger manufacturing capability and more sustainable growth. Responsible business is good for business and good for the country.
India has built the framework for this. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs released the National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC) in 2019. Since FY 2022-23, SEBI’s BRSR framework has required the top 1,000 listed companies to disclose their performance against the NGRBC’s nine principles.
India’s automotive sector’s scale and export focus give it the ability to set standards well beyond its own boundaries and help India be more productive and responsible.
The IICA-SII joint study assesses BRSR filings of 80 listed automobile companies (16 OEMs/Brands and 64 mostly tier 1/ direct suppliers) across two reporting cycles: FY 2022-23 (79 companies) and FY 2023-24 (80 companies). Each company’s response to every BRSR indicator was reviewed manually and rated on a five-point scale adapted from SEBI’s earlier BRR evaluation framework (i. Clear, Complete & Accurate,
ii. Complete & Accurate, iii. Only Accurate, iv. Incorrect, and v. Not Reported).
The study assesses the quality of disclosure, not companies’ actual ESG performance.
Research Study on BRSR – Highlights (some good, some not so good):
1. Good: Overall reporting quality improved between FY 2022-23 and FY 2023-24, helped by stronger governance structures, better data management systems and investor-driven disclosure practices.
2. Not so good: Non-reporting is concentrated in the Leadership indicators, which include the supply chain; e.g., c.16% under Principle 3 (Worker Well-Being) and c.22% under Principle 5 (Human Rights).
The NGRBC was conceived as a generic framework, applicable uniformly across sectors and from large companies to micro enterprises, with sector-specific guidelines envisaged to make it more readily actionable. This adaptation is the result of a structured exercise to translate the NGRBC’s nine principles into guidance that reflects the value chain, ESG risk profile and operating realities of automobile manufacturing. It covers OEMs of two- and three-wheelers, passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles,
and Tier 1, 2 and 3 suppliers.
A multi-stakeholder process:
The guidelines were shaped by an Advisory Committee with members from IICA, the Ministry of Labour & Employment, the Ministry of Heavy Industries, NITI Aayog, SEBI, SIAM, ACMA, the Employers’ Federation of India, CII, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, IIM Bangalore, independent experts and SII. The ILO served as technical advisor. The committee met several times to set the scope, identify the sector’s material ESG themes and calibrate the Core Elements.
The process also included stakeholder consultations with sector and labour representatives in Delhi and Pune.
Adaptation of NGRBC for Automobile Manufacturing Sector - Highlights:
1. Every Core Element states who it applies to, OEMs, Large Suppliers, all Suppliers, or MSMEs.
2. Obligations are scaled to capacity. For example, small and medium suppliers may report in line with “BRSR Lite”.
3. Value chain accountability: OEMs and Large Suppliers should map their entire value chains and monitor Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers for traceability and risk oversight.
4. OEMs and Large Suppliers should embed sustainable sourcing, including fair labour practices, across Tier 1–3 supply chains (Principle 2).
Important Next steps:
SEBI should make value-chain disclosures mandatory rather than voluntary, extend them beyond Tier-1 to deeper tiers, and use the sectoral NGRBC adaptation to inform an automobile-specific BRSR format.
OEMs (brands) and large suppliers should map the value chains and monitor Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers, carry out Human Rights Due Diligence, extend grievance mechanisms to supply-chain workers, and report supply-chain indicators in BRSR.
Value/Supply chain (MSME suppliers) should meet the adapted NGRBC’s baseline (statutory compliance, safe workplaces, formal wage payments, and workers’ rights displayed in local languages), with support from OEMs (brands) and large suppliers.
We will continue advocating the above to these stakeholders through ongoing communication and where possible, workshops e.g., Workshop on Responsible Business Practices for the Automobile Industry with UNDP in India, co-designed with SII for ACMA (Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India) members.
Safe in India welcomes any suggestions on next steps and how to use these reports to improve sustainability reporting and responsible business practices in the automobile industry.
Download the reports:
We would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. team@safeinindia.org
Blog authored by Dhanraj B, Senior Manager, Research & Advocacy, SII
Stay safe and spread the word to your automobile sector and government contacts and please send us any feedback you have to help us do our job better at team@safeinindia.org.
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