Companies in India spent Rs. 7,536 crores on CSR in 2018

Companies in India spent INR 7536 crores on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in 2017-18, a 47% rise compared to 2014-15, says a survey. “This is a significant rise, clearly demonstrating higher expenditure towards CSR activities from the mandated year, 2014,” said the KPMG India CSR Reporting Survey 2018.

The cumulative expenditure by top 100 companies from 2014-15 to 2017-18 is about INR 26.385 crores, the survey said. The average amount spent per company has gone up to INR 76.1 crores as compared to INR 58.8 crores during 2014-15, up 29%, it said.

The survey further said that the total unspent amount has reduced by INR 749 crores to INR 989 crores during 2017-18 from INR 1738 crores in 2014-15. “This is the fourth year into the report and also government regulation to spend 2% on CSR. This year, the two outcomes which are showing progress due to the regulation are – governance around CSR and contribution of private sector in the development,” said Santhosh Jayaram, Partner and Head, Sustainability and CSR Advisory, KPMG in India.

“The governance around CSR has improved to a great extent. The functioning of the CSR committee has shown significant development as increasing number of top executives are involved and CSR is also a board room discussion. The CSR spend is increasing over years and more private companies are crossing the 2% threshold,” he added.

The number of companies that have spent less than 2% has also substantially come down by 37% to 33 companies in 2017-18 from 52 in 2014-15. State-wise, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are the top five states from an expenditure perspective, the survey added.

5 Statistics on CSR Spending

1) 84 companies implemented their CSR projects through a combination of direct implementation, own foundation or implementing partners against only 57 companies which preferred this implementation modality during 2016-17, indicating an upward trend of 47%

2) Expenditure towards education has increased by over 75% over the last 4 years i.e. from INR 1249 Cr. (2014-15) to INR 2202 Cr. (2017-18)

3) Energy & Power sector has spent the highest amount towards CSR (INR 2464.96 Cr.) followed by BFSI (INR 1352.67 Cr.), Customer Products (INR 635.41 Cr.), IT Consulting & Software (INR 1100 Cr.) and Mining & Metal (INR 647.12 Cr.). Chemicals (INR 22.03 Cr.), Media & Entertainment (INR 25.4 Cr.), Services (INR 152.5 Cr.)

4) 89% Indian origin companies have a stand-alone CSR committee during the current year compared to 79% during 2014-15. 100% non-Indian origin companies have a standalone CSR committee during the current year compared to 89% during 2014-15

5) 30% of N100 companies were required to provide reason for unspent CSR funds as compared to 60% in 2014-15. Out of these 90% have given reason for unspent CSR funds as compared to 98% in 2014-15.

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