NEW DELHI: Maharatna company Coal India (CIL) has drawn flak from accounting watchdog CAG for inadequate fund allotment towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) – less than 1 per cent of Rs 31,062 crore net profit earned during 2004-10.
Moreover, the state-run giant which is among the world’s top coal producers failed to utilise fully even the allocated Rs 211.80 amount on CSR.
“…the budget allocation of Rs 211.80 crore for community and peripheral development during the period 2004-10 was only 0.7 per cent of the aggregate net profit of Rs 31,062.36 crore of CIL over the same period,” the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India said in its report.
It pointed out that allocation of funds for community and peripheral development was below the norms of Re 1 per tonne of coal produced in five out of seven coal producing subsidiaries.
“Even the allocated amount was not fully utilised as the utilisation of funds (Rs 152.96 crore) during the period 2004-10 fell short of budgeted allocation (Rs 211.80 crore) in all the subsidiaries and was least in MCL (46 per cent) followed by NCL (53 per cent) and CCL (65 per cent) thus, allowing their CSR activities to remain unfulfilled,” it said.
The coal producing subsidiaries are — Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), West Bengal, Bharat Coking Coal (BCCL), Jharkhand, Central Coalfields (CCL), Jharkhand, South Eastern Coalfields (SECL), Chhattisgarh, Western Coalfields (WCL), Maharashtra, Northern Coalfields (NCL), Madhya Pradesh and Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL), Orissa.
Besides, it has one more wholly-owned subsidiary – Coal Mines Planning and Design Institute (CMPDIL), Jharkhand.
The company which accounts for over 85 per cent of domestic production and recorded an output of 431 million tonnes (MT) last fiscal.
CAG said though the company has adopted a comprehensive CSR policy with effect from December 2009 “to reap the benefits of the policy, the company needs to implement it effectively by ensuring adequate allocation of funds and setting up measurable targets”.
The performance audit of the CIL and its subsidiaries was conducted by CAG with a view to assess whether the companies were able to fulfil their CSR activities in an efficient manner towards environmental protection, safety requirement, occupational health of workers.
CIL is one of the largest coal producing companies in the world, with a total production of 431.32 million tonnes in 2010-11.
It operates 470 mines in 21 major coalfields across eight states in India, including 164 open cast mines, 275 underground mines and 31 mixed mines.
(PTI)
