How do we answer CDP's question on the share of operational spend that goes on energy?
Pick a 5% band from 0% to 100%, or don't know. Energy spend divided by operational spend, using the same boundary for both. Operational spend is cost of goods sold plus operating costs, leaving out extraordinary items such as gains or losses on asset sales, and interest or tax on profits.
What CDP wants to learn
How sensitive your business is to energy cost and supply. A foundry or a kiln will land in a high band; an assembly shop in a low one.
What counts as operational spend
- Cost of goods sold: raw material, energy and labour directly in the product.
- Operating costs: wages, rent, transport, energy, maintenance and other overheads.
- Not included: extraordinary items such as gains or losses on asset sales, interest, and tax on profits.
Rules for the calculation
- Use the same facilities and geographies for energy spend and operational spend.
- Energy means electricity, fuel and the like, wherever it appears in the two cost groups.
- The answer is a band: 0%, then more than 0 to 5%, more than 5 to 10%, and so on up to more than 95 to 100%, or Don't know.
Example with made-up figures for a foundry (Rs crore)
- Cost of goods sold: 24. Operating costs: 6. Operational spend: 24 + 6 = 30.
- Energy: furnace power 2.4, coke 1.1, diesel 0.1. Energy spend: 3.6.
- Share: 3.6 / 30 x 100 = 12%.
- Answer: more than 10% but less than or equal to 15%.
Example only.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads electricity and fuel invoices into rupee and quantity totals, so the energy spend half of this sum comes straight from the bills.
Sources: CDP, Full Corporate Questionnaire, Module 7 reporting guidance (April 2025), question 7.29
Last reviewed 2026-11-03. CDP updates its questionnaire and guidance every year; check the current version before answering.