Tata Motors is asking suppliers about sustainability and carbon. What does it actually expect from an auto component MSME?

In its FY2024-25 report, Tata Motors says suppliers are assessed against ESG standards, new suppliers face a sustainability pillar in its Manufacturing Site Audit, and it will set renewable energy standards for suppliers. It publishes no supplier carbon threshold, so bring measured Scope 1 and 2 and a reduction plan.

What Tata Motors has published about its suppliers

• A Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative since 2017, and AIKYAM, a supplier collaboration programme launched in 2023, with lighthouse projects on renewable energy, water conservation, waste reduction and circular economy.
• A Supplier Code of Conduct, an Environmental Procurement Policy and Sustainability Guidelines for Suppliers, covering governance, legal compliance, management system certification, transparency and reporting, safety, labour and human rights.
• A sustainability pillar added to its Manufacturing Site Audit questionnaire, so new suppliers are checked on sustainability before they are approved.
• Supplier assessments against ESG standards, with the supplier ESG programme overseen by its Executive Committee and Chief Purchasing Officer.
• A stated plan to set renewable energy standards for its suppliers and work with them so the standards are practical and cost-effective.

Why your carbon number matters to Tata Motors

Tata Motors' commercial vehicle business has committed to net zero by 2045, with science-based targets as milestones, and to 100 percent renewable electricity in its own operations by 2030 under RE100. It has also set internal targets to cut the embodied emissions in its vehicles by 2030. Embodied emissions come from the materials and parts in a vehicle, which is where suppliers come in.

Its FY2024-25 report puts purchased goods and services at 94,07,066 t CO2, calculated by the spend-based method: rupees spent multiplied by an average factor. That method cannot tell one forging supplier from another, so a supplier who sends a measured, allocated figure gives the buyer something it does not yet have.

What to have ready before the next supplier meet or audit

1. Twelve months of Scope 1 and 2 by plant, built from fuel invoices and electricity bills, with the emission factor for each line.
2. Emissions per unit of what you sell, such as kg CO2 per tonne of forgings or per part.
3. Your renewable share today: rooftop solar, open access or green tariff units as a percentage of all electricity used.
4. A short reduction plan with dates and expected tonnes, for example an induction furnace upgrade or a rooftop solar plant.
5. ISO 14001 status. The report says suppliers covering 68 percent of Tata Motors' annual purchase value hold ISO 45001 or ISO 14001.

What the report does not tell you

The FY2024-25 report does not publish a supplier carbon limit, a renewable share deadline for suppliers, or a target-setting deadline. Ask your Tata Motors buyer for the current Sustainability Guidelines for Suppliers and the sustainability questions in the Manufacturing Site Audit, and answer those first.

A forging unit's figure for Tata Motors (example figures)

• Grid power: 18,00,000 kWh x 0.675 kg CO2 per kWh (CEA, FY 2025-26) = 12,15,000 kg, or 1,215 t
• Furnace fuel: 2,00,000 scm of PNG x 2.05 kg CO2 per scm = 4,10,000 kg, or 410 t
• Scope 1 and 2: 1,215 + 410 = 1,625 t for 6,000 t of forgings shipped
• Intensity: 1,625 / 6,000 = 0.271 t, or 271 kg CO2 per tonne of forgings
• Tata Motors bought 2,200 t: 2,200 x 0.271 = 596 t CO2 allocated to Tata Motors

This is a gate-to-gate figure for your own plant. If the buyer asks for a cradle-to-gate product footprint, the steel you buy must be added, and it is usually the larger part.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads your electricity bills and fuel invoices into Scope 1 and 2 records by plant and month, so the per-tonne figure and the share for Tata Motors come with the documents behind them. Tata Motors decides how it uses supplier data in sourcing.

• Your MSME carbon number
• Replace a spend-based estimate with your own data
• Decarbonisation roadmap for an OEM
• Does ISO 14001 cover climate change?

Sources: Tata Motors, 80th Integrated Annual Report 2024-25, including BRSR FY2024-25: sustainable sourcing, AIKYAM, Manufacturing Site Audit sustainability pillar, supplier renewable energy standards, net zero and RE100 commitments, Scope 3 by category (purchased goods spend-based), ISO certification share, GHG Protocol, Scope 3 Calculation Guidance, Category 1: supplier-specific, hybrid, average-data and spend-based methods, CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, version 22.0: 0.675 kg CO2 per kWh for FY 2025-26

Last reviewed 2026-11-03. Re-check against Tata Motors' next BRSR when published, including any supplier target or renewable energy standard.