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The Ministry of Power has issued a draft notification proposing mandatory energy and sustainability ratings for large buildings and building complexes with a built-up area of 20,000 square metres or more. Under the proposal, new commercial, office and residential buildings above this threshold would need to obtain a BEE Star Rating or an equivalent rating from agencies such as GRIHA, IGBC, LEED or GEM. The draft, issued under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, seeks to replace the existing 2018 building code rules and bring a uniform national benchmark to building energy performance.
The Ministry of Power has put out a draft notification proposing a mandatory energy performance rating system for large buildings, aimed at improving transparency around energy consumption and sustainability in India's commercial, office and residential real estate sectors. Issued in consultation with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, the proposal is intended to replace the Energy Conservation and Building Code Rules notified in 2018.
Under the draft rules, any new building or building complex with a proposed built-up area of 20,000 square metres or above would need to obtain a rating from BEE or a registered rating agency. The framework recognises existing systems such as GRIHA, IGBC, LEED and GEM, and requires all rating agencies to register with BEE. BEE's own "BEE Star Rating" would run from 3-Star to 5-Star, tied to compliance levels under the Energy Conservation and Sustainable Building Code, with minimum thresholds also set for the other recognised systems, such as IGBC Gold or LEED Gold.
The process involves registering on BEE's web portal, paying a prescribed fee, and submitting compliance documents certified by a Certified Energy Auditor or empanelled assessor. A provisional rating would be issued at the design stage, followed by a final rating within 30 days of receiving post-construction documents. For commercial and office buildings, the final rating would be valid for ten years, with renewal required within three months of expiry; residential buildings would have voluntary renewal. Registration fees are set at INR 1,00,000 for commercial and office buildings and INR 50,000 for residential buildings, with a INR 50,000 renewal fee for the former. Ratings must be displayed prominently on the premises and mentioned in promotional material, and BEE may conduct sample verification, with non-compliance findings made public and penalties enforceable by states.
The ministry's explanatory note pointed to the building sector's growing share of electricity consumption and peak demand, and noted that while BEE has already developed relevant codes, enforcement has varied across states due to differing institutional capacity. It flagged the absence of a mandatory, nationally harmonised rating framework as a gap limiting transparency for owners, investors and financial institutions, and reducing incentives for developers to exceed minimum efficiency standards.
The draft has been opened for public feedback, with objections or suggestions to be submitted within 21 days of its publication in the Gazette of India. The framework would apply only to new buildings for which construction begins after the notification is formally issued.
If finalised, the framework would shift India's largely voluntary approach to building energy certification toward a standardised, disclosure-based system for large new construction. By bringing rating agencies under a common regulatory umbrella and mandating public display of ratings, the move aims to give buyers, tenants and investors a consistent basis for comparison, while helping policymakers track compliance through a centralised database.
Source: Ministry of power
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