Corporate and Development Leaders Unite to Strengthen CSR, ESG and Sustainability Evaluation Capabilities
NEW DELHI (India CSR): India’s social investment landscape is undergoing a fundamental shift. With companies now spending more than Rs. 30,000 crore annually on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) under the Companies Act, the conversation is moving beyond compliance and expenditure towards a more demanding question: Can social impact be measured with the same rigour as financial performance?
Against this backdrop, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham concluded its Executive Education Certificate Programme on Social Impact Measurement and Management (SIMM), positioning itself as a knowledge partner for organisations seeking to build robust capabilities in measuring, evaluating and communicating development outcomes.
Organised by the Amrita School for Sustainable Futures in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on Experiential Learning for Sustainable Innovation and Development, the programme brought together senior professionals from Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), KPMG India, BDO India, Aspire Impact Assurance Pvt. Ltd., Prime Education Health Learning (PEHL) and organisations working across CSR, ESG, philanthropy, healthcare and sustainable development.
According to the National CSR Portal, Indian companies have spent over Rs. 2 lakh crore on CSR projects since the law came into effect in 2014. At the same time, global ESG reporting standards, impact investing and outcome-based financing are driving organisations to demonstrate not only where money is spent, but what measurable change it creates.
The two-day executive programme addressed this emerging need through intensive sessions on Theory of Change, Logic Models, quantitative and qualitative impact assessment, OECD-DAC Evaluation Criteria, Impact Management Project (IMP), Social Return on Investment (SROI), ethical evaluation and impact reporting. Participants also engaged in a leadership conversation with Mr. Bibhuti Ranjan Pradhan, Executive Director (CD&CSR), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., on embedding impact measurement into corporate CSR strategy.
“India has successfully institutionalised CSR. The next challenge is institutionalising evidence. Boards, investors, governments and communities increasingly expect organisations to demonstrate outcomes, not just activities. Building that capability requires common frameworks, technical expertise and interdisciplinary leadership. Through programmes like SIMM, Amrita is helping create that ecosystem by translating global impact measurement standards into practical tools for India’s development sector.”— Prof. Santhosh Jayaram, Adjunct Professor of Practice, Amrita School for Sustainable Futures & Former Partner, KPMG India
Led by Prof. Santhosh Jayaram, along with Dr. Karthik Sankaranarayanan and Dr. Krishna Nandanan, the programme combined international frameworks with real-world case studies, reinforcing Amrita’s growing role as a knowledge partner for organisations seeking to make social investments more transparent, measurable and outcome-driven.
