A decade since government regulations mandated spending and reporting on corporate social responsibility (CSR), there is a need for deeper and more inclusive action, an analysis of 1,871 eligible listed companies that spent Rs 14,714 crore on over 3,200 unique projects in fiscal 2023 indicates.
The analysis categorised these companies based on their headquarter locations, CSR spend and the states where their CSR projects were implemented. Separately,it examined the top 100 companies by CSR spend in aspirational districts, as identified by Niti Aayog.
The results of the analysis, captured in our CSR Yearbook 2023, show significant concentration of CSR spend, companies and projects in a few clusters of states, while others — some more in need of intervention — get little. The Crisil CSR Yearbook covers yearly trends on how India Inc is driving the CSR mandate, based ondisclosures by listed companies in their annual reports.
Companies headquartered in Maharashtra and New Delhi dominated the CSR landscape, together accounting for 61% of the CSR spend and nearly half of the company headquarters but just short of a third of the projects implemented. A second cluster had five states, accounting for over a quarter of the spend and a third ofthe company headquarters and projects implemented.
The high concentration of corporate headquarters in the seven states/ union territories perhaps best explains the skew in spending as the remaining states accounted for barely a tenth of the spend, a fifth of the company headquarters, and just over a third of the projects implemented.
Meanwhile, of the top 100 companies by CSR spend, only 47 implemented projects in aspirational districts. These 47 companies accounted for a cumulative CSRspending of Rs 3,970 crore, or almost 27% of the total CSR spend during the fiscal, but spent only Rs 473 crore on aspirational districts, which was barely 3% of the total.
Further, the National CSR Portal indicates 24,392 listed and unlisted companies cumulatively spent Rs 29,987 crore on CSR projects in fiscal 2023. Factoring out the 1,871 listed companies that spent Rs 14,714 crore as per CSR Yearbook 2024, the portal data suggests as many as 22,500 unlisted companies collectively spent~Rs 15,000 crore. This indicates fragmented CSR spending, with a large number of entities making small, less impactful contributions.
Thus, a more equitable resource allocation is imperative for sustainable socio-economic growth across India.
A pivotal development to this end in recent years is the introduction of the Social Stock Exchange (SSE), designed to connect corporates, social enterprises and non-profits, foster transparency and ensure impactful deployment of CSR funds. Importantly, SSE offers unlisted companies and smaller organisations a unique opportunity to channel their contributions effectively and reach underfunded areas.
Says Maya Vengurlekar, Chief Operating Officer, Crisil Foundation, “The future of CSR in India lies in democratising impact. By focusing on aspirational districts and leveraging platforms such as SSE, corporates can address critical developmental gaps and create measurable, lasting change. This is a callto action for all stakeholders to reimagine the role of CSR in shaping a more equitable and inclusive India.”
The path ahead requires fostering collaboration, balancing rural and urban investments and aligning corporate efforts with national priorities. As India’s CSRframework evolves, the role of concentrated efforts in bridging socio-economic divides becomes paramount.
Among other findings, fiscal 2023 saw the number of companies and their cumulative spending print higher yet again, with over 60% of the eligible listed ones spending 2% or more of their net profit on CSR initiatives, and ~14% spending 3% or more. Besides, despite the buzz around climate change, environment got barely 3% of the spend.
Also, the number of companies preferring to implement their CSR mandate through non-government organisations or trusts plunged to 37% in 2023, compared with 66% the previous fiscal. This could be because companies are increasingly implementing projects with their own teams.
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