India Inc. has spent Rs 1.09 lakh crore towards various CSR activities in the last seven financial years, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has remarked. The spending is focused on issues including those related to health, education and poverty eradication, among others as observed by MCA.
Positive Response to the CSR Law
Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh has said that since the enactment of CSR provision from April 2014, companies are responding positively and have shown encouraging signs in adopting the culture of being responsible towards society. “This is manifested through the increase in CSR spending by the companies during the period 2014-15 to 2020-21. During this period, companies have spent around Rs 1.09 lakh crore in different activities,” he said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
The activities include those related to health, education, poverty eradication, hunger, women empowerment, welfare of armed forces veterans, environment, sports, rural development, slum development and welfare of weaker sections.
On the basis of filings made by the companies in the MCA21 registry till September 30, 2021, a cumulative amount of Rs 85,109.09 crore has been spent by companies under CSR during the financial years 2016-17 to 2020-21, Singh said. Out of the total amount, Rs 46,654.52 crore have been spent by the top 100 companies during the same period.
Noting that the CSR architecture is disclosure-based, Singh said the philosophy is to engage corporates as partners in the socio-economic development of the country by leveraging their managerial efficiency, best practices, technology and innovation in the delivery of public good and services.
Top two sectors for CSR in last 7 financial years
The top two sectors that have received CSR attention in the last seven financial years are education and healthcare. A total of about Rs. 32,337 crores was spent on education by the companies in last seven financial years. This amount is excluding the amount spent on livelihood enhancement projects, special education and vocational skills. This is the highest CSR spending any sector has received.
The second highest CSR spending in the last seven financial years was received by the healthcare sector. The amount of over Rs. 20,674 crores was spent on it. This is excluding the amount spent on poverty eradication, hunger, malnutrition, safe drinking water or sanitation.
