NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries has emerged as the top company in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR), having spent over Rs 760 crore, followed by the state-owned ONGC and IT giant Infosys, Parliament was informed on Friday.
In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley said a total of 460 listed firms has so far disclosed spending Rs 6,337.36 crore in 2014-15. This included 51 public sector units (PSUs) that spent Rs 2,386.60 crore.
Reliance Industries shelled out Rs 760.58 crore on CSR followed by ONGC (Rs 495.23 crore), Infosys (Rs 239.54 crore), TCS (Rs 219 crore) and ITC (Rs 214.06 crore).
The new Companies Act mandates every company with a net worth of Rs 100 crore to set aside minimum 2% of their three-year average annual net profit for CSR activities.
Most of the funds (Rs 1,462.6 crore) were spent on education or vocational skills while Rs 1,421.66 crore were spent on eradicating hunger, poverty and healthcare.
Companies have also allocated funds towards Clean Ganga Fund, Swachh Bharat Kosh, promotion of sports, art and culture.
State-wise, Maharashtra has topped the chart in terms of CSR spending. The state has 202 projects.
Other companies in the top 10 include NTPC (Rs 205.18 crore), NMDC (Rs 188.65 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 171.46 crore), Oil India (Rs 133.31 crore), Wipro (Rs 132.70 crore), Oil India (Rs 133.31 crore).
Other companies that managed in the top 20 includes Indian Oil, BHEL, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, GAIL and Hindustan Zinc.
On Friday, at 1548 hours, the shares of Reliance Industries were trading up 0.65% or Rs 6.10 at Rs 950. 50 per scrip on the BSE.
(PTI)
