Project Report

On

Corporate social responsibility

In the partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Masters in
Business Administration

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY:

Deepti Agarwal
(Director)

Department of MBA

(IPS College of Technical Education, Jaipur)

1
 Candidate’s Declaration
I hereby declare that the work, entitled “CORPORTE SOCIAL RESPONSIBLITY” in
partial fulfillment for the award of Degree of “MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
(MBA)” in IPS Business School, Rajasthan Technical University is a record of my own
investigations carried under the Guidance of Mrs. Nutan Mathur.
I have not submitted the matter presented in their Dissertation anywhere for the
award of any other Degree.
Sonali Sharma
sem 4TH
IPS Business School, Jaipur
Counter Signed by
Mrs. Nutan Mathur
Associate Professor
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This present work will remain incomplete unless I express my feelings of gratitude towards a number of persons who
delightfully co-operated with me in the process of this work. First of all I would like to thank my Faculty of MBA
for their encouragement and support during this course of my study. I extend my hearty and sincere gratitude to my
coordinators, for their valuable direction, suggestions and exquisite guidance with ever enthusiastic encouragement
ever since the commencement of this file. This file would not have taken shape, without the constant guidance of
Dr. Ashish Sharma sir, Prof. Sudhir Agarwal sir and Prof. Deepti Agarwal ma’am who helped and resolved all the
technical as well as other problems related to the file. I want to thank them for always providing me with a helping
hand whenever I faced any bottlenecks, inspire of being quite busy with their hectic’s.
 INDEX

Serial no. Contents Page no.

1 Introduction 4-5
2 Objectives 6
3 Evolution of CSR 7-8
4 Current CSR status of India 8-10
5 Benefits of CSR 11-12
6 Challenges for CSR in India 13-18
7 Suggestions for implementing 19-21
CSR
8 Top 10 CSR implementing 22-28
companies
9 Observations 28-30
10 Conclusion 31
11 Learnings from the project 32
12 Bibliography 33

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 INTRODUCTION

Corporate social responsibility

Business or corporate is a need of any country in order to grow its economy which will
ultimately help the country to be a developed country. When we think of a business or
corporation, their main aim is to earn profit and in order to earn a profit, they often practice
some practices which may or may not be ethically correct. Hence in order to prevent the
corporate from doing such activities government makes some laws as per the requirement of
time and society.

While earning a profit, businesses are required to follow the law and even to make their policies
customer-friendly and not exploitive for the customers or for the society. Businesses are
required to do some work without expecting any benefits in order to serve society. The logic
behind making businesses serve the society without any benefit is that the businesses use the
social as well as natural resources in order to gain optimum utilization of their money and to
get higher returns on their investments, hence the businesses should be more obliged to give
something in return to the society without expecting any profit or benefit. This obligation of
corporate to do something in favor of society at large without any benefit in return is known as
Corporate Social Responsibility.

Corporate Social Responsibility is practiced all over the globe as a voluntary activity in which
the companies work for the society without expecting any profit in return. The acts are done
for the benefit of society to help not only the society but also work in favor of the company’s
goodwill hence the work is not solely done for welfare purposes.

Corporate Social Responsibility in the global perspective is nothing new but when we talk about
Corporate Social Responsibility from the Indian perspective, it has roots in India much before
from the entry of any other external factors in India. We find evidence of the existence of
Corporate Social Responsibility in the Scriptures from ancient times.

Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives are based on four different

categories:

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1.Ethical Responsibility

Ethical responsibility is about looking after the welfare of the employees by ensuring fair labor
practices for the employees and also the employees of their suppliers. Ethical labor practices
for suppliers mean that the companies will ensure the use of products that have been certified
as meeting fair trade standards. Ensuring fair labor practices for employees means that there
will be no gender, race, or religious discrimination among the employees and each employee
will be given equal pay for equal work and better living wage compensation.

2.Philanthropic Responsibility:
Philanthropic responsibility means serving humanity. This criterion pays attention to the
wellbeing of the unprivileged or needy people who badly require our support to sustain
themselves on this planet. Companies fulfill their philanthropic responsibility by donating their
time, money, or resources to charities and organizations at nationaliii or international levels.
These donations are mainly given to a variety of worthy causes including human rights, national
disaster relief, and clean water and education programs in underdeveloped countries.

3.Environmental Responsibility:
Currently, we need to focus on two main areas of our environment: limiting pollution and
reducing greenhouse gases. Companies are bound to fulfill their economic responsibility
because awareness of environmental issues is growing largely among the consumers and today,
they want businesses to take necessary steps to save our planet and preserve all the lives in it.
Companies that are concerned about reducing air, land, and water pollution have increased their
standing as good corporate citizens while benefiting society

4. Economic Responsibility:
Economic responsibility is an interconnected field that focuses to strike a balance between
business, environmental, and philanthropic practices. Economic responsibility abides by, the
set standards of ethical and moral regulations.

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OBJECTIVES

1. To analyze the development of CSR in India and its changing trends.

2.Benefits of CSR

3. To study the challenges faced by CSR in India.

4. provide suggestions for accelerating CSR initiatives.

5. Top 10 companies initiating CSR.

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Evolution Of Corporate Social Responsibility: Historical View

The history of CSR in India runs parallel to the historical development of India. CSR has
evolved in phases like community engagement, socially responsible production, and socially
responsible employee relations. Therefore, the history of Corporate Social responsibility in
India can be broadly divided into four phases:

• Phase One – The first phase of CSR was driven by the noble deeds of philanthropists
and charity. It was influenced by family values, traditions, culture and religion along
with industrialization. Till 1850, the wealthy businessmen shared their riches with the
society by either setting up temples or religious institutions. In times of famines, they
opened their granaries for the poor and hungry. The approach towards CSR changed
with the arrival of colonial rule in 1850. In the Pre-independence era, the pioneers or
propagators of industrialization also supported the concept of CSR. In the 1900s, the
industrialist families like Tatas, Birlas, Modis, Godrej, Bajajs and Singhanias promoted
this concept by setting up charitable foundations, educational and healthcare
institutions, and trusts for community development. It may also be interesting to note
that their efforts for social benefit were also driven by political motives.
• Phase Two – The second phase was the period of independence struggle when the
industrialists were pressurized to show their dedication towards the benefit of society.
Mahatma Gandhi urged the powerful industrialists to share their wealth for the benefit
of the underprivileged section of the society. He gave the concept of trusteeship. This
concept of trusteeship helped in the socio-economic growth of India. Gandhi regarded
the Indian companies and industries as “Temples of Modern India”. He influenced the
industrialists and business houses to build trust for colleges, research, and training
institutes.

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Phase Three – In the third phase from 1960-1980, CSR was influenced by the emergence of
Public sector undertakings to ensure the proper distribution of wealth. The policy of industrial
licensing, high taxes and restrictions on the private sector resulted in corporate malpractices.
This led to the enactment of legislation regarding corporate governance, labor, and
environmental issues. Still, the PSUs were not very successful. Therefore there was a natural
shift of expectation from the public to the private sector and their active involvement in the
socio-economic growth. In 1965, the academicians, politicians, and businessmen set up a
national workshop on CSR, where great stress was laid on social accountability and
transparency.

• Phase Four – In the fourth phase from 1980 onwards, Indian companies integrated
CSR into a sustainable business strategy. With globalization and economic
liberalization in the 1990s, and partial withdrawal of controls and licensing systems
there was a boom in the economic growth of the country. This led to the increased
momentum in industrial growth, making it possible for the companies to contribute
more towards social responsibility. What started as charity is now understood and
accepted as a responsibility.

Corporate Social Responsibility was not recognized in the act of 1956 and it was not even
mandatory for the corporation to conduct activities beneficial for the society at large.

Current Status Of CSR In India

CSR activities performed by the corporate giants lacked specific guidelines about their
measuring yardstick, investment parameters, areas to be covered for CSR activities, etc. With
the span of time India became an opened economy from a closed economy, all due to the LPG
movement launched in India in the year 1991.

Since time immemorial CSR as a term lacked a precise definition, structure, criteria‘s and
transparency. All Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) were following the CSR guidelines issued

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by the Director of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises since 2010. However the
Companies Act, 2013 brought an end to the long wait by inserting Sec. 135 under the Companies Act
2013. The provisions under the Companies Act 2013 are as follows.

• Every company having net worth of rupees five hundred crore or more, or turnover of
rupees one thousand crore or more or a net profit of rupees five crore or more during
any financial year shall constitute a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the
Board consisting of three or more directors, out of which at least one director shall be
an independent director.
• The Board’s report under sub-section (3) of section 134 shall disclose the composition
of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee.
• The Corporate Social Responsibility Committee shall,— (a) formulate and recommend
to the Board, a Corporate Social Responsibility Policy which shall indicate the activities
to be undertaken by the company as specified in Schedule VII; (b) recommend the
amount of expenditure to be incurred on the activities referred to in clause (a), and (c)
monitor the Corporate Social Responsibility Policy of the company from time to time.
The Board of every company referred to in subsection (1), shall ensure that the company spends,
in every financial year, at least two percent. of the average net profits of the company made
during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of its Corporate Social
Responsibility Policy: Provided that the company shall give preference to the local area and
areas around it where it operates, for spending the amount earmarked for Corporate Social
Responsibility activities: Provided further that if the company fails to spend such amount, the
Board shall, in its report made under clause (o) of sub-section (3) of section 134, specify the
reasons for not spending the amount. Explanation – For the purposes of this section – “average
net profit” shall be calculated in accordance with the provisions of section 198.
• The Board of every company referred to in subsection (1) shall,— (a) after taking into
account the recommendations made by the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee,
approve the Corporate Social Responsibility Policy for the Stakeholder Companies
respond to the needs of stakeholders, customers, employees, communities, etc and
disclose contents of such Policy in its report and also place it on the company’s website,
if any, in such manner as may be prescribed; and (b) ensure that the activities as are

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 included in Corporate Social Responsibility Policy of the company are undertaken by
the company.

However, there still exist various issues and challenges in making the CSR activities to be performed
successfully and due to which some amendments have been done in recent years as discussed below:

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Under the Act, if companies that have to provide for CSR, do
not fully spend the funds, they must disclose the reasons for non-spending in their annual report. Under
the Bill, any unspent annual CSR funds must be transferred to one of the funds under Schedule 7 of the
Act (e.g., PM Relief Fund) within six months of the financial year.

However, if the CSR funds are committed to certain ongoing projects, then the unspent funds will have
to be transferred to an Unspent CSR Account within 30 days of the end of the financial year and spent
within three years. Any funds remaining unspent after three years will have to be transferred to one of
the funds under Schedule 7 of the Act. Any violation may attract a fine between Rs 50,000 and Rs
25,00,000 and every defaulting officer may be punished with imprisonment of up to three years or fine
between Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,00,000, or both.

By keeping the implementation of Section 21 (amendments to the CSR provisions in Companies Act
2013) in abeyance, the government has restored status quo ante as regards CSR provisions, say company
law experts.

This would mean that CSR, for now, would only be voluntary for corporate India and not spending the
2 percent on CSR would not be treated as a criminal offense, attracting jail term for company officials.

However, this position will only hold true till the time the government takes a call on the
recommendations of the high-level panel on CSR headed by MCA Secretary Injeti Srinivas, it is learned.
It may be recalled that the Panel report was submitted to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after
Parliament had passed the Companies (Amendment) Bill 2019.

Benefits of CSR In India

1 Improved Employee Satisfaction:

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Benefits of CSR To Organization
Remember that the way a company serves its community tells how it is going to treat its
employees. People who feel that they are respected and supported in their jobs are likely to
more productive as well as satisfied at work.

2 Ability to Have a Positive Impact in The Community

When the social responsibility is kept in front of mind then it helps to encourage businesses
to act ethically as well as consider the social and environmental impacts of the business.
When this is done, an organization often starts to avoid the inimical impacts of its business on
the community

3 Enhanced Public Image: Benefits Of CSR To Business

In this digital era, companies that are demonstrating corporate social responsibility are
obtaining exposure as well as praise for their involvement.

Remember that your brand’s name will only benefit when you do good actions in your
Community.
4.Attracts The New Investors
Remember that the reputation of your organization in the market is going to decide whether
you will receive new investments or not. The image of a company can be boosted, with CSR
programs.
5.A Great Way To Advertise Your Brand
It is believed that any publicity is good publicity. When your organization starts a CSR
program, it will automatically give your organization a particular level of publicity.
6. CSR improves bottom-line financials
When you’re trying to win buy-in from leadership for your CSR program, it often falls to
financials. Stakeholders want to know if this project will see a positive ROI.

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WHAT IS CSR LONG TERM BENEFITS?
The concept of corporate social responsibility has become so prevalent that it has received its
own acronym in business circles.

CSR mainly means that a corporation needs to be accountable to a community as well as to

shareholders for its actions and functioning.

As per the report, it was stated that there was a clear financial benefit to investing along with
CSR principles.

With the help of CSR, companies can increase their accountability as well as their transparency
with investment analysts, shareholders and local communities.

As a result, it helps in improving the image of the company among investors, giving long term
benefits.

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Challenges in CSR Implementation in India
Challenges for CSR Spending

One of the challenges faced by both Corporates who want to spend their CSR funds is the
inability to find suitable NGOs for implementation and implementing NGOs who cannot find
the right type of funder for their projects. More often than not, Corporates continue with the
same NGO to be on the safer side.

Review of CSR Spending by Corporate

Based on an analysis of the CSR spending by Corporates during the last few years, the top three
domains receiving maximum funding are education, health and rural development. Another
area receiving significant funding is environmental sustainability. A significant amount of
funding goes to higher industrialised States like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil
Nadu, who have received more than 30 per cent of the total CSR spend during 2015. This could
be for multiple reasons, for example, the company is looking to have a positive social impact
in their areas of operation, as well as deeper connects with social impact organisations operating
in the same area. Further, CSR expenditure modes where almost 44 per cent of all spending is
done by the companies themselves or via trusts/societies/Section 8 companies set up by them.
Another 43 per cent is done through various implementation partners. However, the
concentration

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of spending in these States mean that States such as Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya
Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, which account for more than 55 per cent of the aspirational districts
(States with poor socio-economic indicators), receive only 9 per cent of the total expenditure
towards CSR. Apart from Uttar Pradesh no State from the ones listed above features in the top
10 State beneficiaries. For CSR to be truly effective, this imbalance would have to be corrected.

Invest India’s ‘Corporate Social Responsibility Projects Repository’ on the India Investment
Grid (IIG) is an effort in this direction. It is hoped that by giving a platform to all States to list
potential CSR projects at the central level, companies and their implementation partners would
be able to assess where their CSR funds would be most impactful across India. Currently, the
portal has over 650+ projects across eight diverse domains.

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Regional Distribution of Expenditure under CSR Funds

In 2018, as per the Ministry of Rural Development, India has 718 districts, of which,
approximately 16 per cent (115 districts) were aspirational districts as per NITI Aayog.
Jharkhand, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh account for more than 55
per cent of the aspirational districts’ concentration across India, yet received only 9 per cent of
the total expenditure towards CSR. States with a relatively higher level of development have
the highest concentration of CSR-led activities and, they are increasing over the years.
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Delhi received 40 per cent
of the total CSR expenditure from 2014-15 to 2017-18, even though they account for only 11
per cent of the total number of aspirational districts.

This bias exists not only towards relatively well-developed States but also within a State itself.
An analysis of data for FY 2016-17 shows that even in Maharashtra, which received the largest

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volume of funding, certain districts such as Pune and Mumbai (suburban) received the highest
amount in CSR funding (more than INR 200 Crore each), while those which were farther away
from industrialised areas, such as Hingoli, Buldhana and Parbhani received less than INR 1
Crore of funding.

Activities Funded under CSR Activity

Activities that are specified in Schedule VII as the activities are the activities taken up by
companies in their CSR policies are as indicated below:

• Promotion of Education Environmental Stability

• Social Business Projects
• Eradication of Hunger and Poverty
• Employment Enhancing Vocational Skills
• Gender Equality and Women Empowerment
• Combating HIV/AIDS and other diseases
• Reducing Child Mortality and Improving Maternal Health
• Contribution to Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and other funds

Based on data from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, it is observed that
out of the total expenditure incurred on Schedule VII areas, projects related to education and
health have received the maximum CSR funds as indicated in the table below. The cumulative
figure from 2014-15 to 2017-18 for total expenditure incurred on projects related to education
is INR 15,612.20 Crore, followed by INR 9,020.47 Crore spent on projects related to
healthcare.
l. Sector Proportion of
N Expenditure (%)
o.
1 Education, Differently Abled & Livelihood 37

2 Health, Eradicating Hunger, Poverty and Malnutrition, Safe 29

Drinking Water & Sanitation

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 3 Rural Development 10

4 Environment, Animal Welfare, Conservation of Resources 9

5 Gender Equality, Women Empowerment, Old Age Homes, 3

Reducing Inequalities

6 Heritage, Art and Culture 2

7 Encouraging Sports 1

8 Prime Ministers National Relief Funds 4

9 Slum Area Development 0

1 Technology Incubators & Benefits to Armed Forces 0

0
It may be seen from the above table that CSR funds can be also contributed to the PM National
Relief Fund, Swachh Bharat Kosh, Clean Ganga Fund and any other funds set up by the
Government of India for socio-economic development. Contributions to these funds have been
in a small proportion (approx. 5.6 per cent) of the total CSR expenditures for the years 201415
to 2017-18. However, Slum Area Development, Technology Incubator, and Benefits to
Armed Forces did not receive any funds.

CSR and Sustainable Development Goals

SDGs are a collection of 17 global goals designed to be a blueprint to achieve a better and more
sustainable future for all. These 17 goals consist of 169 targets which must be achieved by
2030. India played a prominent role in the formulation of the United Nations Sustainable

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Development Agenda 2030, and much of the country’s National Development Agenda is linked
to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). India ranks 115 out of 162 on the SDG
Index. This slow progress calls for immediate action through collaboration between the
corporate sector, civil society organisations and the Government. Corporates are seen as the
key drivers of SDGs as they can apply their creativity and innovation to achieve sustainable
development and facilitate the implementation of these goals. CSR and SDGs together have
tremendous potential to develop an interconnected model for sustainable growth. Many
companies are aligning their CSR focus areas according to SDGs to meet their CSR mandate.

Contribution by the Corporate Sector

While a substantial proportion of companies spend their CSR funds directly, NGOs are
becoming the most popular channel for others. This upward trend can be attributed to
implementing agencies being a more suitable model for the companies to execute CSR projects
due to their presence in the target areas, local connections and knowledge-based experience in
executing social projects which a company may typically lack in.

CSR for Technology Incubators

In September 2019, the Government expanded the scope of CSR to spur the Research &
Development (R&D) and innovation ecosystem in the country. Schedule VII of the Companies
Act now recognises any contribution to incubators funded by the Central or State Government
or any agency or Public Sector Undertaking of Central or State Government, and, making
contributions to public-funded Universities, IITs, national laboratories, and autonomous bodies
(established under the auspices of ICAR, ICMR, CSIR, DAE, DRDO, DST) engaged in
conducting research in science, technology, engineering and medicine aimed at promoting
SDGs) as falling within the ambit of CSR. It is important to appreciate that the amendment
focuses on both the pillars of the innovation ecosystem – startups, by funding support to
incubators and research across science, technology, engineering and medicine.

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Suggestions for accelerating CSR initiatives

The Way Forward

The need now is to address the challenges identified in CSR spending faced by Corporates who
want to spend their CSR funds but are unable to find suitable NGOs for implementation and
for implementing NGOs who are unable to find the right type of funder for their projects.

The closest solution that addresses this challenge is The BSE Sammaan, an initiative of BSE,
CII and IICA under the MCA, GOI, founded in 2015. The BSE Sammaan CSR platform helps
Corporates find validated programmes/projects through a database of over 900+ projects across
India under the ambit of Schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013. It also helps them find
NGOs that are credible and accountable. I understand that BSE Sammaan was handed over to
MCA in 2021. However, this platform lacks certain facilities like geographical location,
projects, etc. It is, therefore, envisioned that a CSR exchange is designed, which is app-based,
where both Corporates/CSR Foundations, as well as NGOs/social enterprises (both for-profit
and not-for-profit entities), can register, provide information about themselves, their strengths,
past projects implemented with names of funders and the operational area to enable Corporates
to find the right NGO/implementing agency for funding under CSR projects, and for
NGOs/implementing agency to find funding for any development project they plan to
implement.

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Building High-Impact CSR Programs in India
1. Focus on fewer impact priorities and align them with corporate strengths
Spreading CSR resources across many small programs can dilute meaningful impact, much as
spreading corporate resources across multiple business lines often constrains business success.
High-impact CSR programs identify a small number of impact priorities, and map them to long-
term flagship programs or grant partnerships, enabling them to channel more substantial
commitments toward more meaningful and sustainable impacts.

2. Prioritize marginalized populations with existing programs

High-impact CSR programs effectively prioritize marginalized communities within their
existing programs by explicitly articulating their areas of focus—such as scheduled
castes/scheduled tribes, women, or people with disabilities. In addition, they either directly
build trust with these communities or build partnerships with NGOs that have developed the
social capital with the marginalized populations.

3. Embrace a participatory approach with communities and NGOS

Much as successful businesses listen to the voice of their customers, high-impact CSR
programs place their constituents at the center of their work. They engage with NGOs and
communities as partners across program design and implementation.

4. Partner with other corporate and private philanthropies

CSR programs can strengthen their work and multiply their impact by partnering with other
CSR programs and philanthropies. Collaboration allocates more capital to programs, and
spreads both costs and risks.

5. Harness corporate assets, competencies, and connections

Their corporate assets, competencies, and connections in non-commercial yet strategic ways to
strengthen the impact of their giving. Beyond writing a check, corporates can offer their CSR
programs valuable competencies, such as project management, technological skills, and other
specialist capabilities.

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6. Hire a professional CSR team, champion CSR from the C-suite, and give CSR strong
board governance
High-impact CSR programs hire professional CSR teams that bridge corporate and social
sectors, and create advisory boards with expertise that complements their corporate boards.
Also, a successful CSR program, like a good business, is incumbent on strong leadership. It
helps when the CEO is passionate about achieving social goals through CSR programs.

7. Institute measurement, learning, and communication strategies tailored for different

stakeholders
High-impact CSR programs apply the same reporting discipline to their CSR initiatives as they
do to their core businesses. By measuring the right things, learning from the results, and
communicating with stakeholders, they shape future activities and investments for the better

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Top 10 companies in India for CSR
1.Infosys Limited
Infosys Limited is an early adopter of CSR in India. It has been undertaking most of its CSR
initiatives through Infosys Foundation, which was established in 1996, way before CSR was
mandated in the country. In FY 2020-21, the company spent Rs. 325.32 crores on its CSR
initiatives.
Over the years, the company has been focusing on sustainable business practices
encompassing economic, environmental and social imperatives that not only covers its
business but also the communities around it. The company’s CSR is not limited to
philanthropy, but it includes holistic community development, institution-building and
sustainability-related initiatives.
In the last financial year, the company launched Infosys Headstart with an aim to enabling
digital skills at scale, in alignment with its ESG Vision 2030. Infosys Headstart is a platform
that includes learning content developed by Infosys and leading content providers. It has been
identified as a flagship intervention to empower people, communities, and society. Through
this initiative, Infosys plans to empower over 10 million people with digital and life skills by
2025.

2.Wipro limited
Wipro implements its CSR programs happens through multiple channels, majority of them
being through Wipro Foundation. The company spent Rs. 251 crores for CSR in the last
financial year.
During the last 12 months, Wipro has supported more than 1,561 projects covering
humanitarian aid, integrated healthcare support, and livelihoods regeneration, cumulatively
reaching over 10 million by its COVID-19 response. Under this, it has reached food, dry
rations, and personal hygiene kits to over 10.2 million people, distributed 330 million meals,
helped over 8.2 million people in livelihood regeneration and supported more than 500
nonprofits involving in delivering humanitarian and healthcare aid.

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The company’s education programs were instrumental in reaching over 1.1 lakh students across
14 states through means like mohalla classes, distribution of worksheets, books and other
supplies.
3.ITC Limited
ITC’s sustainability initiatives are driven by the belief that an organisation needs to serve a
larger societal purpose keeping national priorities in focus. The Triple Bottom Line
commitment of the Company to simultaneously build economic, social and environmental
capital has orchestrated a symphony of efforts that address some of the most challenging
societal issues including widespread poverty and environmental degradation.
In the last financial year, the company’s Social Forestry program greened 30,439 acres of land.
The company was instrumental in reaching 0.33 lakh children through its education program.
It provided skills to 12,470 youth during the year under vocational training programs. It
supported construction of 640 individual household toilets in 28 districts.
ITC’s waste recycling programme, ‘Well Being Out of Waste (WOW)’, was responsible for
collection of the quantum of dry waste collected during the year was about 70,900 MT from
1,067 wards.

In total, the company spent Rs. 353.46 crores on its CSR initiaitves in FY 2020-21.

4.Hindustan Unilever (HUL)

Hindustan Unilever was one of the first corporates to commit Rs. 100 crores towards societal work to
complement the Government’s work on dealing with Covid-19. The company spent a total of Rs. 165.08
crores on corporate social responsibility in FY2021. In the midst of the pandemic, HUL donated over 2
crores soaps and sanitisers, bottles of toilet and surface cleaners, packs of Horlicks and other products
to the frontline medical professionals, police officials, sanitation workers and vulnerable citizens of the
country in partnership with the government and various NGOs.
The company supported healthcare infrastructure in India through various interventions. They partnered
with medical institutions to provide almost 75,000 test kits to help ramp up testing. This was done in
collaboration with public health authorities near our factories and offices in several states including UP,
MP, West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Dadra & Nagar Haveli. In Maharashtra last year,
the company supported with medical equipment and personal protection equipment (PPE) for hospitals
in consultation with public health officials which included 29 ventilators and 28 oxygen concentrators.

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HUL partnered with Apollo Hospitals, State Bank of India, OYO, Lemon Tree and others to create
isolation facilities in metros, equipped with medical supervision, to reduce the burden on hospitals. In
addition, together with the local administration the company helped setup 30-bed isolation facility in
Haridwar and Nasik last year.

5.Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL)

Pursuing its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Vision – ‘Be a Model Corporate Entity
with Social Responsibility committed to Energizing Lives through Sustainable Development’,
BPCL is committed to the communities around its business and beyond, through its CSR
initiatives. The Company relies on the strong partnerships it has built with the Government,
credible not-for-profit organisations and other implementing agencies who are an integral part
of BPCL’s CSR activities.
The disruption in activities caused due to COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a shift of focus
towards addressing the hardships faced by the people due to the pandemic. Many interventions
towards providing immediate relief to the affected communities were undertaken. Extending
financial assistance for relief measures, BPCL further contributed Rs. 25 crore to the PM
CARES Fund in the year 2020-21 over and above the Rs. 100 crore contribution done during
the year 2019-20. Out of the CSR budget of Rs. 161.91 crore for the year 2020-21, Rs. 144.90
crore were spent during the year. The shortfall of Rs. 17.01 crore from the stipulated prescribed
spend is mainly on account of delay in completing the projects as per timelines, due to
restrictions imposed on account COVID-19 pandemic. The unspent amount of Rs. 17.01 crore
has been mapped against such projects where expenditure could not be incurred and have been
transferred to the UCSRA (Unspent CSR Account) and would consequently be spent in
accordance with the applicable CSR Rules.
6. Tata Consultancy Services
Part of the Tata Group, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is an IT services, consulting and
business solutions organization that has been partnering with many of the world’s largest
businesses in their transformation journeys for over 50 years. The company spent a total of Rs.
674 crores on CSR in FY2021, higher than the prescribed spend of Rs. 663 crores.
As the unprecedented impact of the pandemic hit communities across the globe, TCS focused
on building resilience. While the safety and wellbeing of its employees and ensuring support

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to its customers were key, it was equally important to continue the mission critical services that
the company was performing around the world to help people transition into this new
beginning. TCS contributed a whopping Rs. 250 crore to the PM Cares Fund to support
vulnerable and marginalized populations in India.
TCS provided more than 100,000 PPE to police and front-line workers and supported the
building of isolation centers in Noida. The company also built capacity for 200 doctors across
22 hospitals, in collaboration with Tata Trusts and CMC Vellore Hospital and Care Institute of
Health Sciences, supporting these essential workers at a time when the pandemic.

7.HDFC Bank
HDFC Bank spent Rs 634.91 crore in FY 2020-21 towards #Parivartan, the umbrella
programme for all its CSR initiatives. Out of Rs. 634.9 crore, over Rs. 110 crore was allocated
and utilised towards initiatives focused on Covid-19 relief.
Under ‘Teaching the Teachers (3T) initiative, in association with NGO partners, the bank has
trained over 19.67 lakh teachers benefitting over 2.07 crore students. Parivartan has touched
lives of 1.29 crore households in 28 states across 544 districts under Sustainable Livelihood
Initiative (SLI).
During the financial year 2021, HDFC Bank’s CSR activities focused primarily on COVID-19
relief, education, healthcare, livelihoods and supporting persons with disabilities. Other
interventions taken up during the year included support for senior citizen homes, support for
Olympic athletes including para-athletes and environmental programmes supporting solid
waste management, green energy and ecological restoration for urban and rural communities.
The bank’s flagship programme – the Holistic Rural Development Programme (HRDP) –
endeavours to provide tools and means to the rural population to grow and prosper. Firstly, the
critical needs of the chosen villages are identified and addressed in consultation with the village
community and other stakeholders. This is followed by implementation of a bouquet of
initiatives basis the need and acceptance levels of uptake by the community. All programmes
are continuously monitored and assessed for performance and inconsistencies if any, in terms
of funds or execution is flagged off.

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8.Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IndianOil) is the country’s largest integrated and diversified
energy company. IndianOil’s presence across the entire hydrocarbon value chain allows it to
create sustainable business outcomes. As a ‘Maharatna’ company, it addresses the multiple
energy needs of the nation.
Being a responsible corporate, IndianOil not only ensured continuous supply of essential
petroleum products and services during COVID-19, but also enhanced the CSR allocation
beyond the prescribed CSR budget. Moreover, this PSU has exemplified its CSR commitment
by utilising 100% CSR budget allocation of Rs. 460.37 crores for the fourth year in a row. In
compliance with the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) guidelines for CSR Expenditure
by Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE), IndianOil spent Rs. 307.17 crores (which is 67%
of total CSR expenditure ) on thematic area i.e. Health and Nutrition during 2020-21; and as
against the 18 Aspirational Districts allotted by DPE, the Company spent Rs. 13.76 crore on
32 Aspirational Districts in 2020-21.
To fight the pandemic, the company donated a whopping Rs. 225 Crore to the PM CARES
fund. In addition, it extended support to set up Covid CARE Centres, quarantine centres etc.
and provided or distributed 16 Ambulances, 30 ventilators, 37 ICU cots, 460 IR temperature
guns, more than 1,900 testing kits, more than 29 Lakhs masks; more than 33 kl of sanitisers;
more than 17.5 Lakhs food packets; more than 40,000 grocery packets; more than 2 Lakh
gloves; more than 10,000 PPE kits, more than 65,000 soaps or liquid hand wash, mosquito nets,
gum boots, etc., across the country.

9. GAIL (India)
GAIL (India) Limited is a natural gas company with diversified interests across the natural gas
value chain of trading, transmission, LPG production & transmission, LNG re-gasification,
petrochemicals, city gas, etc. In the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) market, GAIL has a
significantly large portfolio. It is also expanding its presence in renewable energy like Solar,
Wind and Biofuel. GAIL spent Rs. 147.67 crores on CSR in FY 2021.
GAIL has implemented CSR programmes primarily in the rural areas which are in close
proximity to its major work centres or installations. It has identified seven broad areas of CSR
intervention, each of which is titled by the objective they seek to achieve viz. Arogya –

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Nutrition, Health and Sanitation and Drinking Water projects, Ujjwal – Education initiatives,
Kaushal – Livelihood Generation and Skill development initiatives, Unnati – Rural
Development, Sashakt – Women Empowerment initiatives, Saksham – Care of the elderly and
differently abled, and Harit – Environment centric initiatives.
GAIL’s Utkarsh programme provides free residential coaching, including boarding and lodging
expenses for 11 months at Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Dwarahat (Uttarakhand) and Srinagar
(Uttarakhand) to 160 students from underprivileged segments of society. During these
11 months, students are trained and nurtured to make it to IIT, NIT and other premier
Engineering Colleges of the country. Since the inception of this project in 2009-10, 1139
students have been trained, of which 797 students have been selected – 223 in IITs and 574 in
NITs and other engineering colleges. GAIL has taken up project Bhavishya in 15 Govt. schools
in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand. Smart class solutions have been provided in these
schools as a part of the project. Further, 10 schools have been provided with sanitary napkin
vending machines and incinerators. 155 Smart classes have been set up in Dharwad
(Karnataka), Khunti and Giridih (Jharkhand), Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand) and various districts
of Assam.

10.Axis Bank
Axis Bank’s primary business comprises commercial banking operations for retail and
corporate customers. It provides a range of products and services, including loan products, fee
and commission-based products and services, deposit products and foreign exchange and
derivative products to India’s leading corporations, middle market companies and small and
medium enterprises. Axis Bank spent Rs. 91 crore on CSR activities in FY 2021.
Axis Bank Foundation (ABF) is the CSR arm of this financial institution. It has been working
in partnership with NGOs to create long-term positive impact for rural communities. Launched
in 2018, Mission2Million is the bank’s commitment to help 2 million households improve their
lives and livelihoods. To achieve this, ABF engages with communities by introducing them to
a ‘basket of livelihoods’ and developing skills to improve decision-making, fostering
leadership qualities and leading them to financial independence.

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OBSERVATIONS

Under the Companies Act, 2013, firms earning profits are required to contribute at least
two per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards corporate social
responsibility (CSR) activities. The CSR provisions came into effect from April 1, 2014.

Every company with a net worth of at least Rs 500 crore or a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or
more, or a minimum net profit of Rs 5 crore during the immediately preceding financial
year has to spend at least 2% of the average net profits, made during the three immediately
preceding financial years, on CSR activities.

But before we evaluate the CII’s recent recommendation, let us delve into how corporations
have fared so far when it comes to CSR spending.

Contributions towards CSR plunged sharply by 64% to Rs 8,828 crore in 2020-21 from Rs
24,689 crore the year before, making it the lowest in seven years.

80% of this went to the top 10 beneficiary states. In FY21, as many as 1,619 companies
spent on 8,000 CSR projects. In the previous year however, 22,531 companies showed CSR
spends.

94% of the total expenditure during the year was done by 1,599 non-Public Sector
companies.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries spent Rs 922 crore, topping the charts.

Tata Group’s flagship company Tata Consultancy Services was the second highest spender
at Rs 674 crore while Wipro was third, with Rs 246 crore. Overall, Tata Group companies
collectively spent nearly 1,000 crore on CSR in the year.

However, 353 of the 1,619 companies in FY21 spent less than the mandated amount while
178 companies showed zero spends.

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Listed companies typically account for 60-70 of the total CSR spending. However, the
government doesn’t disclose the collective amount that eligible companies are prescribed
to spend each year.

Last August, CRISIL Foundation estimated that India Inc’s CSR expenditure in FY21
would come in at around Rs 22,000 crore. But the actual spending was less than half of this.

Bhaskar Chatterjee, widely acclaimed as the father of Corporate Social Responsibility

(CSR) in India, tells us why CSR spending plunged in FY21 and what he expects going
forward.

Since the CSR spending was mandated in 2014 for certain companies, the cumulative
spending has crossed Rs 1.09 trillion.

There has been a secular trend in how CSR expenditure has grown since 2014, from just
over Rs 10,000 crore in 2014-15 to a high of almost Rs 24,700 crore in 2019-20.

Given the trend, pandemic years can be seen as an aberration. Dominated by listed
companies, the expenditure will certainly see a growth after normalising, although
inefficiencies may persist.

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CONCLUSION

It’s incredibly important that your company operates in a way that demonstrates social
responsibility. Although it’s not a legal requirement, it’s seen as good practice for you to
take into account social and environmental issues.

Social responsibility and ethical practices are vital to your success. The 2015 Cone
Communications/Ebiquity Global CSR study found that a staggering 91% of global

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consumers expect businesses to operate responsibly to address social and environmental
issues. Furthermore, 84% say they seek out responsible products wherever possible.

As the above statistics show, consumers are increasingly aware of the importance of social
responsibility, and actively seek products from businesses that operate ethically. CSR
demonstrates that you’re a business that takes an interest in wider social issues, rather than
just those that impact your profit margins, which will attract customers who share the same
values. Therefore, it makes good business sense to operate sustainably.

Modern theoretical and empirical analyses indicate that firms can strategically engage in
socially responsible activities to increase private profits. Given that the firm’s stakeholders may
value the firm’s social efforts, the firm can obtain additional benefits from these activities,
including: enhancing the firm’s reputation and the ability to generate profits by differentiating
its product, the ability to attract more highly qualified personnel or the ability to extract a
premium for its products.

Corporate social responsibility is more than just a business trend or fad. Businesses that want
to stay relevant to new generations and who want to help people in need around the world while
increasing their own revenue and efficiency will benefit from embracing CSR.

LEARNINGS

CSR is the way to show the human face of your business. Businesses deal with humans so you
can only connect with them through human language by showing some humanity. For most

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businesses, it makes sense to get involved in the progression of the community solely,
depending on CSR initiatives related to your product or service.

CSR initiatives can be the best way to contribute to society and its people. Through local or
national charitable contributions businesses can help society. Businesses can get involved in
society and help it to progress by taking social initiatives on behalf of the company such as
investing in education programs for the poor and street children and homeless care activities
for homeless people or refugees. They can support a local charity by making financial
contributions to ineffective charitable projects. If you are a restaurant owner you may provide
food to local homeless groups or to orphanages free of cost.

When businesses decide to make positive contributions to society they are actually benefitting
the company in the process. The companies benefit through lower operating costs, increased
sales and customer loyalty, greater productivity, gaining the ability to attract and keep skilled
employees, getting access to more capital through more willing investors, etc.

CSR is a thoughtful and practical way to give back to society. When businesses are walking
extra miles to do good to the people, do good to the environment and society.

Bibliography
Following are the sources from where I get the valuable information.

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https://legumvox.in/evolution-of-corporate-social-responsibility-in-india/ https://thecsrjournal.in/top-100-

companies-india-csr-sustainability-2021/ https://www.csrmandate.org/challenges-in-csr-implementation-

in-india/

https://www.bridgespan.org/insights/library/india/building-high-impact-csrprograms-
in-india
Benefits of CSR to Society | Corporate Social Responsibility (transparenthands.org)

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