43% CSR Funds Allocated by PSUs Unspent in 2018
According to data furnished by the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, a total of 152 central public sector units (PSUs) spent only INR 3,442.38 crore out of the allocated funds of INR 6,024.81 for CSR in FY 2017-18, leaving rest of INR 2,582.43 crore untouched.
On a year-on-year basis, the CSR funding by CPSEs increased by a mere 3.17%, although the funds allocated increased by 18.17% In the financial year, 2016-17 PSUs spent INR 3,336.50 crore, against the allocated amount of INR 4,929.70 crore.
Biggest state-run defaulters
Some of the major state-run companies did not utilise around 50% of their funds, or even more, with one of the major names being Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC), which spent only around 25% of its allocated amount in 2017-18. The data showed that ONGC spent INR 503.44 crore on CSR during the year, out of the INR 2,017.71 crore allocated by the company for the fiscal. However, with an expenditure of INR 503.44 crore, the Maharatna company spent the most on CSR among the central PSUs.
Further, during the period under review, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) spent INR 118.18 crore on CSR, only 47.38% of the total allocation of INR 249.41 crore. Power Grid Corporation of India spent INR 157.99 crore, 56% of its allocated fund of INR 281.32 crore. Similarly, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), which is currently making headlines over the government’s disinvestment plans, left 46.54% of its CSR funds unutilised in FY18. It spent INR 166.02 crore, out of the total fund of INR 310.56 crore.
On the other hand, Bharat Electronics left a staggering 64% of its INR 68.20 crore fund unused. It spent INR 24.60 crore only, on social responsibility in FY18. Electricals major BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd), reported an actual expenditure of INR 33.16 crore, out of the allocated amount of INR 64.30 crore during the year.
“It’s not that PSUs are unwilling to make their CSR spending, but often they are left with limited avenues to spend or have to wait for CSR projects to shape up,” an executive of a Maharatna PSU told IANS.
Another PSU with a significant lagging in the CSR front was Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency. Although it had allocated INR 24.14 crore for FY18, it spent only 3.61 crore of the fund, leaving the rest 85% unutilised. In the same way, Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (HUDCO) spent just INR 12.29 crore out of its fund of INR 22.89 crore.
Hydel power major, NHPC and NHDC, a joint venture of NHPC and the Madhya Pradesh government, underspent their CSR fund for fiscal 2018-19 by 35.23% and 52.50% respectively, as per the data.
Full utilisation by some companies
Contrary to the larger trend, there were a few companies which exhausted their CSR fund in FY18 or even overshot the allocated fund. Among them, the major names are Coal India, NTPC, Oil India and Indian Oil Corp. Coal India and Indian Oil fully utilised their respective allocated fund of INR 24.31 crore and INR 331.05 crore.
