A total of 27188 companies have spent Rs 34908.75 crore on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives in India in the Financial Year 2023-24, 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 24 was Maharashtra, which received more than 17 per cent share of the total CSR funds spent in the entire country, which amounted to Rs 6065.95 crore Maharashtra was followed by Gujarat and Karnataka as the second and third largest recipients of CSR funds at Rs 2707.54 crore, and Rs 2254.88 crore respectively.

Top CSR spenders in FY 2023-24

According to National CSR Portal, in FY 2023-24, the top three CSR spenders were HDFC Bank Reliance Industries, and Tata Consultancy Services Limited, with a spending of Rs 921.96 crore, Rs 899.07 crore, and Rs 812.65 crore respectively. In addition to these there companies, two more companies have spent more than Rs 500 crore for CSR in the country, which include ONGC Limited and Tata Steel Limited with a spending of Rs 612.42 crore and Rs 572.74 crore each. The total share of CSR spending by PSUs stood at Rs 4773.17 crore, which is 14 per cent of the total spending by all the companies in the country.

Focus Areas

The top sector of focus for CSR initiatives in FY 2024 was Education, Differently Abled and Livelihood, which received Rs 16287.78 crore Education alone received Rs 12134.57 crore in CSR funds which is higher than the amount received by any other sectors. Health and sanitation received Rs 9087.41 crore in CSR funds, which included Rs 7150.81 crore for healthcare, Rs 327.45 crore for safe driving water, Rs 375.23 crore for sanitation, and Rs 1233.93 crore for poverty, eradication of hunger and malnutrition.

Development of sports received Rs 692.09 crore, which was higher as compared to the previous financial year when the sector had received Rs 542.53 crore.

CSR Compliance

According to National CSR Portal, about 15345 companies have spent more than prescribed amount for CSR initiatives in FY 2024. The number of companies that has spent the exact amount for CSR as prescribed by the law were 1902. This reflects the growing corporate consciousness among India Inc.

However, about 5721 companies have spent less amount than prescribed on CSR in FY 2024.

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.