MUMBAI: The financial year 2016-17 has been the best ever year for the Union Government in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility funding support for sports.
The Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has informed the Parliament that the Government has received a total Rs42 crore in corporate funding for under CSR during the financial year 2016-17.
This is the best ever value in terms of government’s direct CSR receipts for sports.
The next best year happens to be 2008-09. However, then the Board of Control for Cricket in India had contributed Rs 35 crore to the government funds for promotion of other sports.
The Government in the past 10 years has received a total ₹119 crore in corporate support towards sports.
Promotion of sports in the country is recognized as a CSR activity. Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013, indicates a list of CSR activities, which include ‘training to promote rural sports, nationally recognised sports, Paralympic sports and Olympic sports.
However, promotion of sports has not been a priority area for the corporate for their CSR spendings. A CII report indicates the sports has been on the lowest pedestal in the top eight sectors for corporate India’s CSR spend in 2015-16.
The Companies Act makes it mandatory for a certain class profitable corporates to spend at least two per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards CSR activities. The companies with a net worth of Rs 500 crore, or revenue of Rs 1,000 crore, or net profit of Rs5 crore are statutorily required to spend 2% of their average profit in the last three years on social development-related activities.
