CRISIL Ratings FAQs

It is an opinion on an issuer’s ESG profile arrived at by assessing its exposure to ESG risks, impact on society and the environment, its internal governance factors, and ability to manage such ESG risks and opportunities over the medium term. It involves cross-sector, relative benchmarking of issuers in India and is assigned on a scale of 0-100.

ESG Ratings are different from credit ratings. ESG Ratings are provided by CRISIL ESG Ratings, and credit ratings are provided by CRISIL Ratings Ltd (CRL).

An ESG rating is an assessment of an entity’s exposure and its ability to manage ESG-related risks and opportunities. A credit rating represents the rating agency's opinion on the likelihood of a rated debt obligation being repaid in full and on time.

No. ESG rating is not a recommendation to buy, hold or sell any security. It could be seen as one of the inputs used by investors to make an investment decision.

The ESG rating is usually updated annually, subject to availability of ESG disclosures such as the business responsibility and sustainability report (BRSR). However, each company under our coverage is monitored on a continuous surveillance basis for ESG related material events that could potentially lead to a change in the rating. Based on the materiality of such events, CRISIL ESG Ratings may take appropriate rating actions before the annual update cycle.

No. Our ESG ratings are based on publicly available information only.

ESG rating is based on publicly available information (assured and non-assured) released by rated entities through their websites, BRSR, sustainability report, annual report, exchange filings, investor presentations, sustainability reports, credit rating rationales, etc. It also factors in other material ESG information available in the public domain through reliable sources, such as data reported by industry associations, regulators and various government agencies.

Our assessment framework comprises over unique 500 KPIs across the E, S and G pillars. The sub-pillars include greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, waste management, water management, resource use and impact on biodiversity under E; employee and worker management, stakeholder management and product quality and impact on communities under S; and board composition, board and director independence, board functioning, management track record and control, disclosure and financial statements and shareholder rights under G.

ESG ratings are provided on a scale of 0-100, where 100 represents the maximum. This is in line with the standardised scale prescribed by SEBI.

The ESG rating methodology can be accessed at .

Institutional and retail investors, asset managers, lenders and corporates (including issuers) subscribe to our ESG ratings. For more information on our subscription plans, please click here

SEBI regulates ERPs in India. CRISIL ESG Ratings is registered with SEBI as a full-service ‘Category 1’ ERP.

Institutional and retail investors, asset managers, corporates (including issuers), regulators, lenders and other stakeholders. ESG ratings can be used in making investing and lending decisions, ESG risk monitoring, evaluating best practices among peers, and identifying opportunities.

ESG ratings can be used in making investing and lending decisions, ESG risk monitoring, evaluating best practices among peers, and identifying opportunities.

The ESG Rating will be denoted in the format, CRISIL ESG XX.

Our ESG rating is an evaluation of a corporate’s sustainability performance. It assesses the company’s exposure to ESG risks and ability to manage ESG opportunities. The ‘XX’ represents the numeric value of the overall ESG rating. The higher the rating (where 100 is the highest and 0 is the lowest), the better the company’s performance in managing such ESG risks and opportunities.

ESG score and rating are used interchangeably and are not different from each other.

A transition or parivartan score reflects the incremental changes that the company has made in recent years, or concrete plans/targets to address the risk and opportunities involved in transitioning to more sustainable operations.

The ‘CRISIL ESG XX’ score encapsulates the transition assessment and, in a way, represents the combined ESG rating as defined by section 5 ‘Type of ESG Ratings / Scores’ of the Master Circular by SEBI. Given that it is an integral part of the assessment, it is not explicitly disclosed.

The environmental score is a combination of company and sector scores, where sector scores have a 40% weight. The company score is an assessment of the issuer’s material environmental parameters in relation to its peers within the sector. The sector score is an indicator of how the sector fares relative to other sectors on various environmental issues.

The social score is a combination of company and sector scores, where sector scores have a 25% weight. The company score is an assessment of the issuer’s material social parameters in relation to its peers within the sector. The sector score is an indicator of how the sector fares relative to other sectors on various social issues.

The governance score is arrived at by assessing about 100 parameters under the broad categories of board composition, board and director independence, board functioning, management track record and control, disclosure and financial statements, and shareholder rights. Assessment of governance parameters are sector agnostic and comparable across sectors.

Detailed ESG reports are accessible to subscribers only. For more information on our subscription plans, please click here

Companies can subscribe to detailed ESG reports of other entities rated by CRISIL ESG Ratings. For more information on our subscription plans, please click here

Yes, a draft ESG report will be shared for feedback with the rated entity before publication. This is in line with the SEBI regulations that require ERPs to grant an opportunity of appeal and representation, if requested by the issuer.

In line with the SEBI regulations, CRISIL ESG Ratings & Analytics Ltd provides ESG ratings only for issuers/securities that are listed or proposed to be listed on a stock exchange recognised by SEBI.