A total of 24392 companies have spent Rs. 29986.92 on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives in India in the Financial Year 2022-23, according to the National CSR Portal.
National CSR Portal is an initiative by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, aimed at establishing a platform for disseminating CSR related data and information filed by the companies registered with it.
Top CSR Recipients
According to the portal, the largest recipient state of CSR funds in FY 23 was Maharashtra, which received more than 18 per cent share of the total CSR funds spent in the entire country, which amounted to Rs. 5497.3 Cr. Maharashtra was followed by Gujarat and Karnataka as the second and third largest recipients of CSR funds at Rs. 2008.41 Cr., and Rs. 1985.55 Cr. respectively.
Top CSR spenders in FY 2022-23
According to National CSR Portal, in FY 2022-23, the top three CSR spenders were HDFC Bank Limited, Tata Consultancy Services Limited and Reliance Industries Limited, with a spending of Rs. 803.15 Cr., Rs. 774.44 Cr., and Rs. Cr. 743.4 respectively. Notably, these are the only three companies that have spent more than Rs. 500 Cr. for CSR in the country. The total share of CSR spending by PSUs stood at Rs. 4095.78 Cr.
Focus Areas
The top sector of focus for CSR initiatives in FY 2023 was Education, Differently Abled and Livelihood, which received Rs. 13,209.53 Cr. Education alone received Rs. 10085.38 Cr. in CSR funds which is higher than the amount received by any other sectors. Health and sanitation received Rs. 8739.3 Cr. in CSR funds, which included Rs. 6830.41 Cr. for healthcare, Rs. 246.36 Cr. for safe driving water, Rs. 429.91 Cr. for sanitation, and Rs. 1232.62 Cr. for poverty, eradication of hunger and malnutrition.
Development of sports received Rs. 526.14 Cr., which was a significant increase in the amount of CSR funds as compared to the previous financial year when the sector had received Rs. 291.75 Cr.
CSR Compliance
According to National CSR Portal, about 13571 companies have spent more than prescribed amount for CSR initiatives in FY 2023. The number of companies that has spent the exact amount for CSR as prescribed by the law were 1622. This reflects the growing corporate consciousness among India Inc.
However, about 4855 companies have spent less amount than prescribed on CSR in FY 2023.
Conclusion
India is the first country in the one with a legislature for CSR. The systematic growth of CSR spending in the country year after year, and increasing involvement of the corporates in the national development agenda has proved the advantage of this statute.
