Scope 2 in India: CEA factors and versions
How Indian companies calculate Scope 2 from grid electricity, why the CEA database version matters, and how location- and market-based figures differ.
For many Indian companies, grid electricity is a large share of the greenhouse gas emissions they report. The calculation looks simple: units consumed multiplied by a factor. In practice, the factor is where the questions start. Which factor? Which edition? Which year does it describe? Is the figure location-based or market-based?
This post explains the pieces. It deliberately gives no factor values: always take the value from the source publication itself.
What Scope 2 covers
Under the GHG Protocol, Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heat and cooling that a company consumes. The fuel is burned at the power station, not at your site, but your consumption causes it. That is why it sits apart from Scope 1 (direct emissions from sources you own or control) and Scope 3 (other value-chain emissions).
For an Indian manufacturer, Scope 2 is mostly grid electricity bought from a distribution company, plus any electricity, steam or heat bought from a third party.
Location-based and market-based
The GHG Protocol’s Scope 2 Guidance asks companies to look at the same consumption in two ways.
Location-based. Multiply consumption by the average emission factor of the grid where the electricity is consumed. It answers the question: what are the emissions of the electricity physically supplied where we operate? In India, the grid factor most companies use comes from the Central Electricity Authority.
Market-based. Reflect the electricity you have chosen to buy, through contractual instruments. Examples include supplier-specific emission rates, power purchase agreements with renewable generators and energy attribute certificates. Where you hold no such instrument for some consumption, a residual or grid factor is used for it.
The two figures can differ a lot. A company with a large renewable power purchase agreement may report a much lower market-based figure than its location-based one. Neither is wrong; they answer different questions. What matters is that each figure says which method it uses, and that the instruments behind a market-based figure are documented as evidence.
The CEA CO₂ Baseline Database
The Central Electricity Authority publishes the CO₂ Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector. It reports emission factors for the Indian grid, and Indian companies commonly use its grid emission factor for location-based Scope 2.
The database is published in numbered versions. Each version is based on generation data for particular years, and later versions add newer years. So “the CEA factor” is not one number. It is a series, and you need to know which entry in which version you used.
Why the version matters
Three things can go wrong, and each is worth planning for:
- A factor carried forward without comment. Last year’s workbook is copied, the factor cell comes with it, and nobody records that it is last year’s edition.
- A version that does not match the period. The factor used describes a different year of generation than the one being reported, and the report does not say so.
- No trace of which version was used. The reported figure is right, but nobody can show which edition produced it, so it cannot be re-performed.
Each of these turns a simple multiplication into a question for your assessor. The fix is the same for all three: record the source, the version and the effective period next to the factor, and make every calculation record which version it used.
How Sustano maps CEA versions
In Sustano’s factor library, the CEA CO₂ Baseline Database versions are mapped to reporting years as follows:
| Reporting year | CEA CO₂ Baseline Database version |
|---|---|
| FY2023-24 | V20.0 |
| FY2024-25 | V21.0 |
| FY2025-26 | V21.0 |
Check the current CEA publication before you report, and confirm the version your assessor expects for the year.
Beyond the grid factor
A defensible Scope 2 figure needs more than the right factor.
- Consumption by facility and month. Electricity bills or meter readings for each site, with the unit (kWh or MWh) stated and converted consistently.
- Boundary. Which facilities are included, on what consolidation basis, and why any are excluded.
- Instruments for market-based figures. Contracts, certificates or supplier declarations, covering the same period and volume you claim.
- Approvals. Who entered each monthly figure, who reviewed it and who locked it.
Where Sustano fits
Sustano reports Scope 2 by both the location-based and the market-based method. Every emission factor shows its source and year, and each calculation remembers the version it used. Any reported Scope 2 figure can be followed back to its factor, the plant entries and their evidence, and the people who approved them. An out-of-date factor is flagged before it reaches a report.
Read more about carbon accounting, or see the glossary entries for Scope 2 and the CEA grid emission factor.