Infosys Limited, an digital services and consulting conglomerate has spent Rs. 342 crore as against its prescribed CSR expenditure of Rs 340 crore (2% of the net profit of Rs. 17,018 Cr) towards various schemes of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as prescribed under Section 135 of the Act., its Annual Report for the Year 2018-19 revealed.
The CSR amount of Rs. 109 crore has been spent in Bengaluru particularly.
Infosys has been an early adopter of CSR initiatives. The company implements social development projects primarily through its CSR trust, the Infosys Foundation established in 1996. The CSR works are towards supporting projects in the area of education, eradication of hunger and malnutrition, art and culture, healthcare, destitute care and rehabilitation, environmental sustainability, disaster relief and rural development.
The Foundation primarily works with non-governmental organizations as the nodal agency for implementing projects.
This year, the foundation’s programmes extended to most of the states, with an emphasis on expanding reach to create deeper impact while ensuring focus on key area of development. The major works of the Foundation’s works included the introduction of Aarohan Social Innovation Awards, restoration of water bodies in Karnataka, supporting the construction of a metro station in partnership with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited, enabling the pursuit of access and excellence in sports through the GoSports Foundation, and relief efforts in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
“Over the years, we have been focusing on sustainable business practices encompassing economic, environmental and social imperatives that not only covers business, but also the community around us. Our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), thus, is not limited to philanthropy, but also includes a number of initiatives that lead to social development, conservation of natural resources using technology and other innovative means, and reduction of our carbon footprint.”, Annual Report revealed.
The CSR committee of the Board is responsible for overseeing the execution of the CSR policy. The committee comprises three independent directors and COO and Whole-time Director. The members of CSR committee include – Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw – Chairperson, U.B. Pravin Rao, Roopa Kudva and Dr. Punita Kumar Sinha.
The CSR committee adopted a policy that outline the organisation’s objective of catalysing economic development that positively improves the quality of life for the society, and aims to be a responsible corporate citizen and create through its activities a positive impact on the environment, communities and stakeholders.
