ESG & CSR Advisory · India

Compliance is no longer optional.

BRSR readiness. CSR strategy. Rule 8(3) independent assessment.

Schedule a diagnostic call → Our services
₹40,794 Cr
India’s CSR spend, FY2024-25. Up 17% year on year
Top 1,000
Listed entities face mandatory BRSR Core assessment or assurance from FY2026-27
₹10 Cr
Average CSR obligation that triggers mandatory independent impact assessment under Rule 8(3)
The context

The rules changed. Most CSR teams did not.

SEBI and MCA have both moved. BRSR reporting is mandatory for the top 1,000 listed entities, and BRSR Core assessment or assurance reaches all 1,000 in FY2026-27. Rule 8(3) makes independent impact assessment compulsory for companies with an average CSR obligation of ₹10 Cr or more, on every project with an outlay of ₹1 Cr or more. And most CSR teams are still working with the same resources they had when this was all voluntary.

IDCL works with Indian corporates and PSUs on BRSR readiness, CSR strategy, independent impact assessment, and M&E systems. We are a specialist advisory firm. This is the practice, not a side offering.

Who this is for: companies inside the SEBI BRSR reporting universe, and companies whose average CSR obligation across the three preceding financial years crosses the Rule 8(3) threshold. If you are outside both, tell us on the call and we will say so.

Learn how we work →
What we do

Five areas of practice.

Five services, all of them ESG and CSR compliance. No generalist practice, no sector drift, no handover after the pitch.

01

BRSR Core Readiness Diagnostic

Gap analysis across all BRSR Essential and Leadership indicators, materiality mapping, and a board-ready findings report with a 90-day compliance roadmap. Delivered in 6–8 weeks.

02

CSR Strategy & Annual Framework

Schedule VII-aligned CSR plan, budget structure, implementing partner due diligence, and board committee documentation, built to hold up to regulatory review.

03

Rule 8(3) Independent Impact Assessment

Field-based beneficiary assessment, theory of change validation, and a quantified outcome report. Written to be placed before the Board and annexed to the annual report on CSR.

04

Monitoring & Evaluation Systems

Indicator frameworks, data collection methodology, and quarterly dashboards structured for regulatory filing and actual programme oversight.

05

ESG Advisory Retainer

Monthly advisory, regulatory update briefings as SEBI, MCA, the BRSR Core Industry Standards, GRI and ISSB guidance evolve, and review of ESG disclosures before they go out.

Not sure where to start?

The BRSR diagnostic is the right first step.

Book a call →
Proof of work

Selected engagements.

What we have done, and what followed from it. If you want to speak to a past client before engaging us, we can arrange that.

Needs Assessment · 13 states

Mission Smile

National needs assessment across 13 states. Population and birth-rate modelling, treatment-backlog estimation by state, and partnership mapping across state health departments, RBSK and NHM.

✓ Adopted by the client as its impact documentation and used to secure corporate CSR funding
Impact Assessment · Meerut

Gyanoday

Independent impact assessment of an educational programme in Meerut. Beneficiary interviews, outcome data, and a formal assessment report.

✓ 228 stakeholders sampled. Students, teachers, parents and staff. Mixed method, SDG mapped
Needs Assessment · Jharkhand

PSU Livelihood Initiative

Needs assessment for a PSU-funded mushroom farming livelihood programme. Beneficiary profiling, feasibility analysis, and phased implementation recommendations, then monitoring through the delivery year.

✓ Assessment converted into a funded PSU programme across 3 panchayats

IDCL was founded in London in 2018, and the India practice has been rebuilt for the current regulatory cycle. Over nine years of its founder’s international development practice, now applied to Indian compliance.  Contact us →

Why IDCL

How we work.

Four commitments a larger consultancy cannot make.

BRSR Specialists

ESG and CSR advisory is our only practice. We track SEBI and MCA guidance continuously, down to circular level.

Senior Throughout

Your engagement is led at the senior level from scoping to delivery. The person who reviews your BRSR gap is the same person who presents findings to your board.

Fixed Scope, Fixed Fee

Scope and fee are agreed before work starts. No hourly billing, no surprise change orders, no scope creep on your budget. The diagnostic gives you a usable picture whether or not you engage us further.

Independent by Position

Rule 8(3) requires the assessment to be carried out through an independent agency, which rules out the partner that ran the project assessing its own work. We do not implement CSR projects, so that conflict does not exist. And where we have designed or advised on a programme, we do not evaluate it.

Your BRSR deadline does not move. Your preparation can.

Schedule a 30-minute call →
Shreshtha Verma, Founder and Director, IDCL India
About the founder

Shreshtha Verma, Founder & Director

MBA, IIM Raipur · MSc Violence, Conflict & Development, SOAS University of London · BA (Hons) History, Hansraj College, University of Delhi · PRINCE2 Certified · ESG Practices, NSE Academy and Grant Thornton · Over nine years in international development and ESG consulting, built in London, rebuilt in India.

Get in touch

Schedule a diagnostic call.

30 minutes. We’ll tell you where we can help, and where we can’t.

We use these details only to respond to your enquiry. We do not sell your details or add you to a mailing list, and we share them with no one beyond the provider that delivers this form to us. We delete them on request. Write to team@idcl.co.in to have your data removed.

Direct contact
Shreshtha Verma
Founder & Director, IDCL India Pvt. Ltd.
✉︎  team@idcl.co.in
✆︎  +91 87644 33339
Offices
Correspondence office
B/6-67, 6th Floor, I.T. Square
Knowledge Park 3, Greater Noida
Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh 201308
Registered office
137-B, Sadul Ganj
Bikaner, Rajasthan 334003
What happens next
1

We confirm your message and schedule a 30-minute call within 3 business days.

2

On the call, we understand your situation: deadline, compliance exposure, what’s already in place.

3

We tell you whether you need the diagnostic, or whether you already have what you need.

4

If it makes sense, a proposal follows within 10 working days.