New CSR Report 2016 indicates substantial increase in CSR spending

India CSR News Network

MUMBAI: A new CSR report, which highlights the various curves and developments in the CSR spending by big 250 companies listed on BSE or NSE.

The first publication (published in 2015) was hugely appreciated by the various stakeholders and provided rich insights about the initiatives adopted and the course of direction taken by the companies.

It was significant from the point that the Companies Act 2013 mandated certain companies to include CSR reporting as part of the annual report. The report of 2015-16 CSR also helps in understanding how companies have moved further to meet the compliances in CSR.

The report provides interesting insights not only about the spending pattern but also tabulates it across industry segments (banking, IT, oil & Gas etc.) thematic sectors (education, healthcare, women empowerment etc.) and geographies (states where CSR spending happened). The CSR Outlook Report is an analysis of CSR spending of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) listed 250 companies.

As per the report, the thematic areas of Education and skill development and Healthcare and Sanitation received the highest CSR funds. There are 10 companies that spent more than Rs 50 Cr each on healthcare and WASH projects while 9 companies spent more than Rs 50 Cr each on education and skills development projects.

The data from 2015-16 suggests an increase in adherence to the documentation guidelines and a substantial increase from 79% in 2014-15 to 92% of actual CSR spend to the prescribed CSR. About one-third of the companies have spent more than the mandated CSR fund suggesting that the companies who were doing social good  and spending substantial fund on CSR before the mandatory CSR regime still continues the doing same with pushing the boundaries further for the good of communities.

Bhomik Shah, CEO and Founder of NGOBOX said ‘‘We see a lot of improvement both at quantitative and qualitative fronts in CSR spend. Last year we have seen a trend of companies shifting from traditional CSR projects to developing rural sports. Companies have started partnering with several NGO’s to promote sports to the rural population.”

The India CSR Outlook report was launched in the inaugural session of India CSR Summit and CSR partnerships Exhibition 2016, an annual CSR event hosted by NGOBOX and co-hosted by National Green Highway Mission, NHAI.

The event is attended by CSR heads and nonprofits and social enterprise. The inaugural session’s Guest of Honour is Samir Somaiya, MD & Chairman of Godavari Biofertilizers and Somaiya Group. Also, Tata Housing’s MD & CEO Brotin Banerjee, Piramal Foundations’ Head, Paresh Parasnis and Reliance Foundation’s COO Jitendra Kalra launched the India CSR Outlook Report 2016. Furthermore, National Skill Development Corporation is the associate partner of the event and Google for Nonprofits is Digital India partner.