Corporate Social Responsibility in India

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UPDATE: Companies in India can limit the disclosure of important information on their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and spending during a financial year when preparing their annual reports. The excluded details, however, will still need to be provided via the CSR-2 form, which is filed on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website. The changes are reflected in the revised Annexure-II to be included in the Board’s report.

For updates on the reporting requirements for corporate social responsibility in India, see:


India is the first country in the world to make corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandatory, following an amendment to the Companies Act, 2013 in April 2014. Businesses can invest their profits in areas such as education, poverty, gender equality, and hunger as part of any CSR compliance.

Amid the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has notified that companies’ expenditure to fight the pandemic will be considered valid under CSR activities. Funds may be spent on various activities related to COVID-19 such as promotion of healthcare including preventive healthcare and sanitation, and disaster management. Follow the latest India COVID-19 updates here.

The amendment notified in the Companies Act, 2013 requires companies with a net worth of INR 5 billion (US$70 million) or more, or an annual turnover of INR 10 billion (US$140 million) or more, or net profit of INR 50 million (US$699,125) or more, to spend 2 percent of their average net profits of three years on CSR.

Prior to that, the CSR clause was voluntary for companies, though it was mandatory to disclose their CSR spending to shareholders. CSR includes but is not limited to the following:

  • Projects related to activities specified in the Companies Act; or
  • Projects related to activities taken by the company board as recommended by the CSR Committee, provided those activities cover items listed in the Companies Act.

Businesses must note that the expenses towards CSR are not eligible for deduction in the computation of taxable income. The government, however, is considering a re-evaluation of this provision, as well as other CSR provisions recently introduced under the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019 (“the Act”).

CSR amendments under the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019

Until now, if a company was unable to fully spend its CSR funds in a given year, it could carry the amount forward and spend it in the next fiscal, in addition to the money allotted for that year.

The CSR amendments introduced under the Act now require companies to deposit the unspent CSR funds into a fund prescribed under Schedule VII of the Act within the end of the fiscal year. This amount must be utilized within three years from the date of transfer, failing which the fund must be deposited in to one of the specified funds.

The new law prescribes for a monetary penalty as well as imprisonment in case of non-compliance. The penalty ranges from INR 50,000 (US$700)  to INR 2.5 million (US$35,000) whereas the defaulting officer of the company may be liable to imprisonment for up to three years, or a fine up to INR 500,000 (US $7,023), or both.

The government, however, is reviewing these rules after the industry objected to the strict provisions,  especially with respect to the jail terms for CSR violations, and is yet to operationalize them.

The methodology of CSR

CSR is the procedure for assessing an organization’s impact on society and evaluating their responsibilities. It begins with an assessment of the following aspects of each business:

  • Customers;
  • Suppliers;
  • Environment;
  • Communities; and,
  • Employees.

The most effective CSR plans ensure that while organizations comply with legislation, their investments also respect the growth and development of marginalized communities and the environment. CSR should also be sustainable – involving activities that an organization can uphold without negatively affecting their business goals.

Organizations in India have been quite sensible in taking up CSR initiatives and integrating them into their business processes.

It has become progressively projected in the Indian corporate setting because organizations have recognized that besides growing their businesses, it is also important to shape responsible and supportable relationships with the community at large.

Companies now have specific departments and teams that develop specific policies, strategies, and goals for their CSR programs and set separate budgets to support them.

Most of the time, these programs are based on well-defined social beliefs or are carefully aligned with the companies’ business domain.

CSR trends in India

Since the applicability of mandatory CSR provision in 2014, CSR spending by corporate India has increased significantly. In 2018, companies spent 47 percent higher as compared to the amount in 2014-15, contributing US$1 billion to CSR initiatives, according to a survey.

Listed companies in India spent INR 100 billion (US$1.4 billion) in various programs ranging from educational programs, skill development, social welfare, healthcare, and environment conservation, while the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund saw an increase of 139 percent in CSR contribution over last one year.  

The education sector received the maximum funding (38 percent of the total) followed by hunger, poverty, and healthcare (25 percent), environmental sustainability (12 percent), rural development (11 percent). Programs such as technology incubators, sports, armed forces, reducing inequalities saw negligible spends.

Taking into account the recent amendments to CSR provisions, industry research estimates CSR compliance to improve and range between 97 to 98 percent by FY 2019-20.

Examples of CSR in India

Tata Group

The Tata Group conglomerate in India carries out various CSR projects, most of which are community improvement and poverty alleviation programs. Through self-help groups, it has engaged in women empowerment activities, income generation, rural community development, and other social welfare programs. In the field of education, the Tata Group provides scholarships and endowments for numerous institutions.

The group also engages in healthcare projects, such as the facilitation of child education, immunization, and creation of awareness of AIDS. Other areas include economic empowerment through agriculture programs, environment protection, providing sports scholarships, and infrastructure development, such as hospitals, research centers, educational institutions, sports academy, and cultural centers.

Ultratech Cement

Ultratech Cement, India’s biggest cement company is involved in social work across 407 villages in the country aiming to create sustainability and self-reliance. Its CSR activities focus on healthcare and family welfare programs, education, infrastructure, environment, social welfare, and sustainable livelihood.

The company has organized medical camps, immunization programs, sanitization programs, school enrollment, plantation drives, water conservation programs, industrial training, and organic farming programs.

Mahindra & Mahindra

Indian automobile manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) established the K. C. Mahindra Education Trust in 1954, followed by Mahindra Foundation in 1969 with the purpose of promoting education. The company primarily focuses on education programs to assist economically and socially disadvantaged communities.

Its CSR programs invest in scholarships and grants, livelihood training, healthcare for remote areas, water conservation, and disaster relief programs. M&M runs programs such as Nanhi Kali focusing on education for girls, Mahindra Pride Schools for industrial training, and Lifeline Express for healthcare services in remote areas.

ITC Group

ITC Group, a conglomerate with business interests across hotels, FMCG, agriculture, IT, and packaging sectors has been focusing on creating sustainable livelihood and environment protection programs. The company has been able to generate sustainable livelihood opportunities for six million people through its CSR activities.

Their e-Choupal program, which aims to connect rural farmers through the internet for procuring agriculture products, covers 40,000 villages and over four million farmers. It’s social and farm forestry program assists farmers in converting wasteland to pulpwood plantations. Social empowerment programs through micro-enterprises or loans have created sustainable livelihoods for over 40,000 rural women.

(This article was originally published in July 2012 and was last updated on March 23, 2020 to include the latest developments)

Further Reading

India Briefing is produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The firm assists foreign investors throughout Asia from offices across the world, including in Delhi and Mumbai. Readers may write to india@dezshira.com for business support in India.