By Rusen Kumar / India CSR News Network
MUMBAI: The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandate in Companies Act of India, 2013 has ushered in a new age of accountability and responsibility among business houses towards socio-economic development of the country. Indian CSR Law (Section 135 of the Companies Act) is first of its kind across the countries, has brought in many positive change.
In a recent development, Six leading corporate – Accenture, Bharti Foundation, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, L& T and TVS have spent collectively Rs. 280.35 Crore under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) after April 1, 2014 (or re-adapted significantly after the passing of the CSR Law) during the financial year 2015, a report said.
Synopsis of a Casebook has featured perspectives and CSR projects from leading Indian Companies that align with Section 135, Companies Act 2013.
Report ‘Good Corporate Social Responsibility Practices in India’, released in Mumbai on June 22, 2016 at CSR Conclave 2016 held at BSE auditorium, has covered 6 larger corporate – Accenture, Bharti Foundation, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, L& T and TVS.
Key highlights of the report are:
- Accenture spent Rs 39 Crores in skill development in 7 states
- Bharti Foundation spent Rs 41.1 Crores in education particularly in Punjab (Ludhiana district) and Haryana
- Mahindra & Mahindra group spent Rs 83.24 Crores in girl child education in 10 states
- Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, a PSU in oil and Power sector, has spent 34.07 Crores focusing on healthcare in 21 states majorly covering eastern part of the country
- Construction major L&T has spent Rs. 76.54 Crores in the area of environment and water in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra
- TVS, a leading automobile firm has spent Rs 6.4 Crores in integrated rural development in Tamil Nadu.
The CSR projects featured in the report are commenced after April 1, 2014 (or re-adapted significantly after the passing of the CSR Law). A budget of at least Rs. 50 Lack for the project was the key parameter for the selection of the CSR project covering across the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western regions of the country.
The report is jointly prepared by India Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) and IL&FS Academy of Applied Development (AAD) with the support of Hindustan Petroleum.
In Foreword message Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, DG & CEO, IICA said, “…And ongoing by the data and feedback that we have gathered so far, I can say that corporates are increasingly invested in CSR and in ways that go beyond compliance-companies across geographies, sectors and sizes are establishing rigorous programs and partnering in innovative ways with civil society and the Government in tackling some of the most challenging social issues we are facing in India today.”
He said, “The Law lays down a simple guiding framework within which companies can carry out CSR activities – ‘projectvised’ and planned CSR, setup competent team and partners to carry out implementation, follow robust methods to measure outcomes using standard parameters and report the progress – in its very basic form.”
Co-author of the report Nikil Pant, Chief Programme Executive, National Foundation for CSR (L&D), IICA, said, “The CSR spending and budget utilization of the top 1000 companies in India as per the CSR reporting for the FY 2014-15 by December 2015 was examined. Those companies that presented a utilization of at least 90% of their CSR budget were considered. The companies were then categorised by industry or sector and CSR budget and compliance to the Section 135 norms was examined.”
Myuri Mishra, Assistant Director, NFCSR (L&D), IICA is also co-author of the report.
(Rusen Kumar can be reached at editor@indiacsrnetwork.com)
