Business Ethics & Philanthropy

Nearly 400 companies together shelled out about Rs 5,857 crore towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in two years, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. Under the Companies Act, 2013, a certain class of profitable companies is required to spend at least two per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards CSR works in a financial year. The norm came into effect on April 1, 2014. An...

The first bilateral forum to address sustainability issues at the trade and investment between India and Netherlands was launched in New Delhi on Wednesday. It aimed to help Indian businesses in a big way as growing demands and regulations of sustainable practices in international trade aligned with SDGs, are affecting many Indian businesses having...

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley has called for strict discipline and an arm's-length between corporate proposals and spending on corporate social responsibility (CSR) to ensure that companies are not supporting "their own proposals" from this sphere. Delivering the keynote address at an award function at the HCL office in Noida's Sector 126 on Tuesday, Jaitley said the idea of CSR...

Nanma Maram is an initiative based in Cochin to feed the hungry homeless. The Street Store is a global pop-up store for the poor homeless people to fetch some clothes and footwear for free. Another initiative called Roti Bank provides food to elderly and homeless after collecting them from different sources. The thought behind...

Three years since the Companies Act, which enabled essential reforms in governance, transparency and accountability – the landscape of Indian development sector is changing. Many corporate organisations falling under the ambit of the CSR law have taken the necessary steps to adhere to the guidelines. The potential investment in CSR from Indian Inc annually...

More companies are now spending more in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and top 100 listed companies have seen a jump of about 25% in their spending in last year, according to a research by IiAS. Overall spends of S&P BSE 100 companies increased 25% to Rs.65.5bn, or 1.7% of their three-year average profits. The largest...

The National CSR conclave was recently inaugurated in Ahmedabad. During the function experts called for companies to focus on the social outcomes of their respective CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives. Expert stakeholders were of the opinion that most companies still consider the mandatory 2% CSR spending to be a burden and therefore, their focus...

The government today said show- cause notices have been issued to 1,018 firms for violating CSR norms under the companies law. A Certain class of profitable companies have to shell out at least 2 per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities under the Companies Act, 2013. In case...

The need and importance of mainstreaming gender across sectors cannot be emphasised enough. Somewhere between modernisation in India and United Nation’s goal of having 50% women in the changing world of work, figures of Indian female labour force participation (FLFP) is set in a miserable picture. According to a report, compiled jointly by Assocham and...

The good news is - most companies are fulfilling their social responsibility. The question remains – is that really what communities need? According to research, people feel that corporate social responsibility is not effective and failing in some cases. For instance, only 13% people trust what they read in a corporate firm’s CSR or sustainability...

The Odisha government has proposed to set up a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Council to bridge the gaps in allocation of CSR funds to priority sectors, an official said. The government proposed to set up the council after it found disparity in fund allocation to districts. The formation of a CSR council would help in effective planning and implementation of CSR...

Top 100 listed Indian companies have managed to improve their corporate social responsibility (CSR) compliance, according to a KPMG survey. As per the Companies Act, every company with a net worth of Rs 500 crore or a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or a net profit of Rs 5 crore is required to spend about...