CII has envisaged a national movement for mainstreaming Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for sustained inclusiveness as part of its social development agenda. The Indian Industry has been working towards social development by engaging with the government, community and civil society. As part of the advocacy agenda, CII has been working with the Government to draft and strengthen the CSR legislation and develop National Voluntary Guidelines. The CSR legislation has given a new impetus to CSR activities in India. The August issue of CII Policy Watch focuses on Corporate Social Responsibility.

1. 1policy watch
this IssueInside
Message From the
Director General............ 1
Chandrajit Banerjee,
Director General, CII
Policy Barometer.......... 4
Industry Voices............. 6
Fact File....................... 7
CEO Speak............................................................................................2
August 2017, Volume 6, Issue 2
Policy
T
he Indian Industry has had
a culture of giving back to
society and working towards the
social development of the country. Charity
or philanthropic activities have moved on
to a whole new dimension of Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR), which has
become an intrinsic part of sustainability
within a company.According to the CII CSR
Tracker 2016, 1270 BSE listed companies
spent around Rs 8,185 crore, which is 27%
more than that spent in 2014-15. What is
also interesting is the fact that 4.6% of
the 1014 companies that spent on CSR in
2016 were loss making firms.
Conscious of the importance of societal
engagement and its relevance to the
corporate community, social development
is one of the four pillars of CII’s work,
apart from Policy Advocacy, Nurturing
Competitiveness, and International and
Business Development Services. CII’s
developmental efforts extend across
domains including women empowerment,
rural development, special abilities, disaster
management, public health, education,
sanitation, art heritage and culture etc.
CII has been very active in catalyzing,
enabling and facilitating corporate sector
engagement in CSR through its various
Centres of Excellence. The CII-ITC Centre
of Excellence for Sustainable Development,
in particular, has been helping companies
develop CSR policies, build their capacities,
measure on-ground impact and the social
return on investment.
The passing of the Companies Act has
given a much needed fillip to CSR in
India. CII has played an instrumental role
in developing the CSR rules under the
Companies Act 2013 and subsequently
shared its recommendations with the High
Level Committee to improve monitoring of
implementation of CSR policies. CII has
also worked closely with the Government
in developing the National Voluntary
Guidelines. More recently, CII has shared
its views with the Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Corporate Governance,
including review of the CSR compliance.
While the CSR legislation has been a game
changer to garner industry engagement,
it is time to go beyond the tried and
tested approach in the development
space. Companies need to leverage CSR
to re-imagine interventions and explore
innovative CSR models, develop disruptive
approaches and build new modes of
engagement.
We are witnessing the Government
proactively inviting the Industry to partner
with them in their efforts for speedy
and effective action through CSR. The
Government has launched a host of
programmes, plans and schemes to
address social development challenges
like the Swachh Bharat Mission, Beti
Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme, Namami
Gange programme and many more. Many
such programmes have been added to
the Schedule VII of the CSR legislation.
This has opened a host of opportunities
for companies, not only to meet the CSR
mandate but also to partner with the
Government in nation building.
CII has been creating platforms like
its annual CSR Summit to promote
and strengthen the CSR movement by
engaging with stakeholders from Industry,
Government and Civil Society.The first of its
kind initiative, Sammaan, developed jointly
with the Bombay Stock Exchange and
the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs,
connects companies with authenticated
NGOs and hundreds of their on-ground
projects across the country. CII has also
developed an NGO Assessment Framework
to evaluate and assess NGOs in India
on their capabilities to undertake a CSR
project.
Along with the right connect on-ground,
it is imperative that innovative models
are scaled up for a larger impact. CII,
through the CII Foundation, a trust set
up in 2011, provides strategic guidance
on CSR and also develops and manages
high impact projects for the upliftment
of marginalized communities through
CSR funding. The Foundation has recently
developed a Disaster Response Portal to
map corporate sector resources in the form
of relief supplies and services.
As the Indian Industry moves forward in its
journey towards addressing our country’s
social challenges, CII will continue to play
the role of a facilitator in ensuring that
India is on a growth path to a sustainable
future. n
Chandrajit Banerjee
Director General
Confederation of Indian Industry
Rakesh Bharti Mittal, President Designate, CII and Vice Chairman,
Bharti Enterprises
Focus: Corporate Social Responsibility

2. 2 policy watch
CEOSpeak
Legislation Around CSR Leading to Greater
Efficiencies
Rakesh Bharti Mittal
President Designate CII and
Vice Chairman,
Bharti Enterprises
Source: mypokcikshutterstock.com
How has CSR legislation impacted
the approach of top management
to CSR?
‘Vasudev kutumbakam’ has been a virtue
for Indians. Indian businesses had grown
on pillars of good intentions and long-term
sustainability. Thus some of the rooted
corporate houses in India were already
undertaking substantial development
projects. These donors had spearheaded
philanthropy with focused programmes and
strategy. With the new CSR legislation in
place through the Companies Act 2013,
the involvement of top management in
CSR activities has become universal and
structured. Initially there was resistance
from some, but many corporates were
doing much more then what the Legislation
prescribes, although in an adhoc fashion.
The companies which were scaling up felt
the heat of compulsion. However, I feel that
organizations under the supervision of a
CSR Committee create specific processes
and policies to ensure structured work
around CSR leading to greater efficiencies.
The projects then get embedded in
the organizations’ culture faster and
result in employees’ participation and
volunteering including time, money and skill
contributions. The implementation of CSR
legislation has helped companies use their
resources beyond profit-linked activities
to integrate economic, environmental and
social objectives within the company’s
vision.
What do you think are the untapped
areas where CSR intervention can
play a critical role?
Building institutions and providing them
financial sustainability, especially in case of
small NGOs working in rural and difficult
areas will give a tremendous boost to CSR
project implementation. It is much needed
to build ‘institutions of change’ and CSR
can definitely play a role here.
Further, it is critically important for the NGOs
to be transparent in their approach and
have a structured process for monitoring the
utilization of funds and resources. The NGOs
must share with donors – in a transparent
manner – how every rupee was spent for
the purpose the funds were given.
What is your view on the
Government’s involvement in
influencing the Board’s decisions
on how and where CSR funds
should be deployed?
Our experience is that the Board has the
freedom to decide their agenda. We are
interacting with the CSR Committees of
various corporate donors and we found that
the Committees not only have the freedom
to decide but are also deeply engaged
with projects and NGO selection. The
Government, from time to time, promotes
a national agenda e.g. in 2014, the Prime
Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Many corporates
have come forward to join the national
movement, in addition to their regular CSR
programmes.
One needs to be cognizant of the fact that
every organization has its ethos. There are
chosen objectives and inclination towards
certain socio-economic issues. For instance,
at Bharti we have focused all our energies
on rural education, sanitation and legal
aid for the underprivileged undertrials and
convicts. Although the activities mentioned
in Schedule VII of the 2013 Act have been
prescribed for choosing ones’s spend, I feel
in a country of our size there is no dearth
of causes.
There is a view that Government
has the funds but not necessarily
the expertise to use them efficiently
and effectively. How can companies
offer to help Government deliver?
What mechanisms can the
Government develop to create
an enabling environment towards
this?
The new legislation on CSR is an initiative
by the Government to involve businesses
in the nation’s sustainable development
goals. In addition to funds, there are
multiple opportunities for utilizing the
expertise and infrastructure of private
sector. I would insist on building trust and
partnership with private sector which will
serve as encouragement in evolving the
larger ecosystem of collaboration. Allow me
to quote from our personal experience at
Airtel, where in times of natural calamity
we have provided free service to support
relief efforts, the case in point is the flash
floods in Chennai and tremors in the valley,
where we worked with active participation
and support from Government officials and
agencies.

3. 3policy watch
CEOSpeak
Source: By bleakstarshutterstock.com
How can companies build effective
partnerships with Implementing
Agencies (IA)? What can be
the enablers that can help
companies identify partners for
implementation? Do you think
accreditation of NGOs/IAs has
helped companies?
For companies to build effective partnerships
with NGOs as implementing agencies, they
must follow the basic principle of partnership
which are:
• Articulating their project objectives and
impact desired clearly
• Understanding their partner’s strength
while selecting them
• Investing in the partner’s capacity
building to implement projects
effectively.
Accreditation always helps in identifying
good implementing agencies and it
must be done on a pan India level on
regular basis to facilitate corporates
undertaking CSR projects. Selecting
efficient, transparent and credible NGO-
partners is key to successful project
implementation. More so, it helps
companies which can’t implement CSR
projects on their own.
What enablers, in terms of
policy direction or institutional
arrangements, can you suggest that
can offer a conducive environment
for companies to experiment and
innovate in CSR?
To address these social challenges, the
role of science and technology is critical
as it is taking a multidisciplinary approach
that is dynamic and involves multilateral
collaboration among different stakeholders.
The recent economic crisis has made the
need for innovation to address social
challenges even more apparent and acute. It
has raised debate and concern for a different
approach towards achieving wellbeing.
The traditional concepts and models of
innovation are not adequate.
I would insist that particularly in India in
terms of policy direction, Schedule VII of our
Companies Act should be enlarged specially
keeping innovation and research opportunities
in mind. Secondly, in the era of technological
development and dynamism innovative
applications in healthcare,sanitation,consumer
awareness,education and dispensation of public
benefit schemes should be encouraged.
Corporates could take up new ground-breaking
models.At Bharti,we have initiated a project at
the Agri Centre of Excellence (ACE), Punjab in
collaboration with the University of Cambridge
on crop science research which would result
in higher output, higher income and sustained
fertility per hectare.
You have laid strong emphasis on
partnerships with Government in
most of Bharti’s CSR programmes.
Was it easy to align your programme
with the national priorities? What
were the challenges and how did
you overcome those?
Bharti Foundation’s programmes have always
been aligned to the nation’s development
agenda, be it education, sanitation or
legal aid. We have, over the years now
established our credibility in the sector
by implementing large scale projects and
demonstrating impact.We have, for example
along with the State Government’s Education
departments, built strong partnerships
based on regular communication, mutual
respect and exchange of knowledge. We
have experienced that clarity and alignment
around objectives as well as roles at the start
of any project establishes a good partnership
foundation. In our engagements with the
Government, both at the Centre and at the
State levels, we have received tremendous
support and pro-active encouragement
in resolving issues around education and
sanitation. n

4. 4 policy watch
Policy Barometer
Key CII Recommendations for CSR
• CSR Should Not be Mandatory
Section 135 of the 2013 Act mandates
that the amounts are earmarked for
CSR activities.Accordingly, the provisions
suggest that spending requirement is
not mandatory so long as the reasons
for failure to do so are duly reported
by the company. However, several
companies have been approached by
the Registrar of Companies for failure to
spend the CSR amount. The regulatory
mechanism should acknowledge that
the requirement to spend the amount
allocated for CSR is not mandatory
provided reasons are recorded in the
Board report for not spending the
amount.
• Regulatory Restraint
Central and State Governments
and allied administrative and law
enforcement agencies should avoid
prescribing, auditing and influencing
business decisions on CSR activities
and spends. Companies Act 2013,
and specifically Section 135, have
entrusted the Boards of companies
to run businesses within a regulatory
framework. If the Boards can be
entrusted to make critical business
decisions that affect high value of
money and interests of material
stakeholders, then there is no reason
for Governments and their agencies to
over-regulate or interfere on CSR. Over-
regulation is harming the Government’s
intent for ‘ease of doing business’
and interference is fueling corruption
and exploitation of businesses by
Government agencies. Government
should stay true to its guiding principle
of ‘minimum government, maximum
governance’.
• Monitoring Compliance
Considering the huge diversity and
variations in projects, companies,
and spends, and the checks and
balances within the existing framework,
Government should refrain from further
prescribing additional monitoring
mechanism. Sufficient assurances and
controls, based on Board responsibility,
self-regulation, audit and disclosure have
been built in the reporting framework
under the 2013 Act and the Rules framed
thereunder to establish compliance not
only with the laid down regulations but
also the policies adopted by individual
companies, and thereby ensure that CSR
expenditure is incurred as desired and
is directed to the right areas. Further
regulatory stipulations for monitoring
compliance is unnecessary since it would
create a regulation overload.
• Capabilities of SMEs
Many small and medium enterprises have
the mandate to spend in accordance
with Section 135. However, their
absolute spends are very small amounts;
effectively their cost of compliance to
Section 135 is more than the actual
CSR spend. Such enterprises do not have
the capabilities to undertake activities of
identifying projects and implementing
agencies, conceive-implement-monitor
projects. They also tend to be on
the wrong side of the legislative
requirements, often by ignorance rather
than choice. Regulators should exercise
restraint and objectivity while imposing
action because of non-compliance.
Capabilities of SMEs will need to be
built on necessary requirements of the
legislation and on different ways of
meaningfully spending their CSR budgets
by collaborating in joint-projects of large
companies or not-for-profits.
• CSR Guidance Mechanism
Since the notification of the Companies
Act 2013 and CSR Rules, companies that
fall within the ambit of the 2% CSR
have been putting systems and processes
in place to meet the requirements as
legislated. During the course, companies
often seek clarifications and guidance on
the understanding of the CSR Legislation
and Rules. While the Government issues
clarifications from time to time, for a
continued and sustained engagement,
it would be helpful if the Ministry of
Corporate Affairs establishes an ongoing
process through which such clarifications
may be sought and resolved.This process
would facilitate clarity on CSR activity
from inception, resolve ambiguity if
any, and settle for all times the scope
of retrospective implications, if later at
any point of time, the ambit of CSR
coverage is challenged.
• Monetising In-kind Services: Pro
Bono Valuation
Over the last few years, especially
since the legislation of CSR, companies
have been approached to support
large programmes through funds
and also in-kind services in terms of
know-how, management expertise and
implementation.
India has an estimated Pro Bono
potential of about USD 10 billion
(about Rs 64,120 crore)[1]
; however, to
tap into this, the companies need to be
incentivized which can be by amortizing
a certain percentage of the monetized
value of Pro Bono contribution within
the 2% mandated CSR.
CII had earlier advocated these
recommendations to the MCA High
Level Committee towards valuation
of in-kind services by the Industry.
India@75 Foundation, an initiative
Government
[1]
Pro-Bono in India: India@75 Foundation & Taproot Foundation Publication

5. 5policy watch
Policy Barometer
of the CII, has developed a tool to
calculate the monetary value of Pro
Bono contribution, called Economic
Value Aggregator (EVA).This is based on
Industry wise compensation computed as
per experience levels of the professionals
engaged in volunteerism.This is actually
the cost the company has borne for
the services delivered by the employee
on company’s time. Monetising in-
kind services would be an added
encouragement to companies to allow
Pro Bono work by their employees, on
company’s time, thereby giving a formal
recognition to Pro Bono as well as added
encouragement.
• Aligning CSR with Large National
Programmes: Mechanisms to
Sustain and Maintain
Governments and public administration,
from time to time, ask industries to direct
/ align CSR programmes towards specific
National Missions and Programmes. For
seamless partnership with these National
Programmes, the Government needs
to be armed and prepared to extend
cooperation and support by simplifying
cohesion on Industry interventions with
existing setups. Frameworks can be
developed that facilitate public-private
partnerships for the implementation of
long-term and impactful programmes
through CSR. To promote co-funding,
flexibility of Capex and Opex has
to be offered. Government needs to
establish mechanisms to sustain and
maintain (in case of infrastructure) such
interventions.
• Exemption from Section 135 for
Section 8 Companies
Although registered u/s 8 as a non-
profit company, Section 8 companies
are established for ‘charitable purpose’
as can be ascertained from their tax-
exempt status u/s 12AA of Income Tax
Act and donations qualifying for 50%
tax deduction u/s 80G of Income Tax.
The income of many of these non-
profit companies is largely grants and
donations. Section 8 companies, as
per Accounting Standards, file Income
& Expenditure statements and not
Profit & Loss statements and they do
not have any business or commercial
income nor do they have a ‘turn over’
or ‘net profit’. In reality these Section
8 companies, as per the CSR Rules,
qualify as an ‘implementing agency’
for CSR and are eligible as per CSR
rules to receive grants from companies
to implement CSR related projects and
programmes. In fact, the very purpose
for which some of these organizations
registered u/s 8 of the Companies
Act are established and function,
are for activities which relate to
programmes and projects enumerated
under Schedule VII. In view of the
above, companies registered u/s 8
should be exempt from Section 135
of the Companies Act.
Companies
• Creativity and Innovation
Companies, especially large-scale, should
look at creative and innovative ways
at solving development challenges
that India faces, using the CSR funds.
Companies now know the projected CSR
budgets based on their 5-year plans.
They should be able to develop vision
for social change that they can achieve
using the CSR funds at their disposal in
the 3-5-year horizon.That will help them
develop a comprehensive CSR strategy,
with sustained efforts, rather than year-
on-year projects that do not always
achieve sustained social change. That
vision and strategic approach should
be supplemented with creative and
innovative ways of solving development
challenges. The challenges India faces
are of tremendous scale which cannot
always be met using traditional tried
and tested solutions.
• Collaborative Approach
To sustain a multi-intervention-oriented
and long-term CSR approach which is
scalable and impactful, collaboration
between companies works best.
The Companies Act 2013 allows
for collaboration between two or
more companies by using a separate
legal entity. Leveraging each other’s
competencies, pooling funds will lead to
achieving collective impact and scale.The
CII Foundation is one such vehicle that
has been driving such projects partnered
by multiple entities over a period of time.
The approach also helps in avoiding
duplication of interventions by multiple
entities in a specific geography.
• Identifying Effective Implementing
Partners
Various agencies are accrediting,
rating or conducting due-diligence of
implementing agencies. Since the CSR
legislation, more NGOs are getting
themselves accredited by some of
these organizations. This system helps
companies to work only with credible
and accredited organizations, and it
helps implementing agencies get access
to financial and non-financial support
from companies. n

6. 6 policy watch
Industry Voices
Social Responsibility is now a pre-requisite to operate in the society and for engagement with external
stakeholders, for investors as well as the customers. In today’s world, we need to ensure that what you are
doing, and how you are doing is sustainable. The triple bottom-line is becoming increasingly important. It is
not a choice - it is a pre-requisite that feeds into the business case. In this sense, the Companies Act 2013
has been visionary and the guidance from the Government is most welcome. However, interference is not.
Companies have operated in a free market and done exceedingly well. If social responsibility is given the
space, corporate India can do wonders as it benefits the society as well as the bottomline.
Vaishali Sinha
Director, ReNew Power
In a populous country like India, there is a need for large scale programmes to create high impact in the
country and to maximise the coverage of benefits. This cannot be achieved by individual companies through
CSR alone. There is a need for the Government to create a mechanism that will help identify issues, deploy
a functional model and execute it at scale. Therefore, platforms need to be developed focussing on common
problem statements to help source CSR funds and other corporate resources to drive high-impact programmes
that are completely owned and driven by the Industry.
Harish Krishnan
Executive Director, Public Affairs & Strategic Engagements, Cisco Systems, India & SAARC
Harish Krishnan
Executive Director
Public Affairs & Strategic Engagements,
Cisco Systems, India & SAARC
_____________________________________________________________
As the Executive Director, Public Affairs & Strategic Engagements, Harish leads Cisco’s
strategic engagement with National and State Governments of India on wide range of
policy issues that concerns Cisco in India - as an investor, globalization hub, and seller
and as a corporate citizen. Harish also serves on Cisco’s India 3.0 board which looks at
transformational project and strategic issues on a 3-5 year horizon. Harish is based in
New Delhi, India and is with Cisco since May 2007.
Harish actively participates in public policy forums in India and is a member of the
Confederation of Indian Industry’s National Committee on Telecom and Broadband, and
USIBC’s digital task force, Chairman of manufacturing focus group of Manufacturing
Association of Information Technology, Chairman of corporate social responsibility of
The gravity and scale of development challenges in India require concerted efforts by all concerned stakeholders,
including corporates. In this context, the Government of India’s move to mandate CSR spending by corporates
is a major step and is no doubt aimed at fostering large-scale, tangible, measurable and scalable impact on
the ground. However greater focus on outcomes will undoubtedly spur the innovative capacity of businesses
to deliver more meaningful and impactful outcomes on the ground. Incentivising outcomes, therefore, is the
key to drive business innovation to create larger societal value. In fact, global research has shown that societal
value creation delivered through a strategic business context is more meaningful and scalable. The need of
the hour is to also strengthen and expand public-private-people partnerships that can make a significant
contribution to transforming lives and landscapes.
Dr Ashesh Ambasta
Executive Vice President and Head of Social Investments, ITC Limited
CSR Funding should not be looked as a new tax on corporates. Instead the CSR legislation should be
acknowledged for being the harbinger of a new trend where increasing number of companies are evolving
structured CSR planning, deployment and reporting processes. Alongside the enhanced understanding of CSR,
we see a search for new ideas to address the complexities of India’s development challenges. The question
before us is how and when these trends in CSR understanding and innovation will meet to yield measurable
outcomes we can all be proud of. It will be critical for us to leverage CSR to re-imagine interventions and
transformative solutions to address the large development challenges in India.
Dr Mukund Rajan
Chairman, CII Council on India@75 & Steering Committee, CII Foundation Woman Exemplar Program and Chief Ethics Officer &
Chairman, Tata Global Sustainability Council, Tata Sons
The CSR legislation has acted as a catalyst to deepen the Industry’s social development engagement and to
a certain extent has been successful in making it a critical part of the agenda of a company. Currently, while
numerous CSR models are being tried and tested, the shared value approach creates a win-win situation
benefitting both the community and Industry and can be seen as being one of the most effective, impactful
and sustainable models. Also, it is being increasingly recognized that local solutions are the key to solving
global problems. Therefore, industries need to partner with each other and the Government to build a shared
vision on community sustainability and to optimally utilize the resources and avoid duplication of efforts.
Seema Tiwari
Head – CSR, Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd

7. 7policy watch
Factfile
The Annual CSR Tracker 2016 brought out by CII-CESD is a comprehensive analysis of CSR disclosures by companies obligated
to practice CSR as per Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013.
Section 135 suggests that companies with an annual turnover of Rs 1,000 crore and more, or net worth of Rs 500 crore and
more, or a net profit of Rs 5 crore or more to spend at least 2% of their average net profits of the previous three financial
years on CSR activities.
In 2015-16, a total of 1,270 companies (40 PSEs) and in 2014-15, a total of 1,181 (39 PSEs) companies were shortlisted
based on the criteria mentioned in Section 135. Disclosures are broken down into 41 indicators spread across six key aspects:
governance, policy, financials, spend as per Schedule VII, spend channels and spend locations.
Governance
98.66% (96.78% in 2014-15) of the companies have board-level CSR Committee. Of these, 98.40% (97.20% in 2014-•
15) have an Independent Director as a member of the CSR Committee
44% (46% in 2014-15) of the companies have an Independent Director as the Chair of the CSR Committee•
99% (99% in 2014-15) have at least three members, which is a mandatory requirement•
Policy
95.28% (94% in 2014-15) of the companies have CSR policy, of which 93.47%•
(91% in 2014-15) of the companies have disclosed the policy on their website
Financials
1014 companies spent on CSR•
In 2015-16, 92% of the CSR budget i.e. Rs 8,185 crore was spent, which is 27%•
more than spend of Rs 6,400 crore in 2014-15
47 loss-making companies spent on CSR in 2015 16•
Of the 1,014 companies that have spent in CSR, 35 are PSEs and their contribution amounts to 32.16% (Rs. 2,632.5 crore)•
of the total CSR spend (Rs 8,185 crore) in 2015-16. Of this, 70% is attributed to eight PSEs
In 2015-16, of the 68% (Rs 5,552.53 crore) spent by non-PSEs, 42% (Rs 2,315 crore) is attributed to ten companies•
Spend as per Schedule VII
Healthcare,EducationandRuralDevelopment•
are the top three development areas to
receive maximum CSR funds
Rs 2,777 crore was spent towards health•
and sanitation which is more than 59%
as compared to 2014-15
Rs 2,453 crore was spent in education and•
skill development
11.5% of CSR spends was spent towards•
development of rural areas
The absolute amount of money contributed•
to PM’s Relief Fund reduced by 25% to
Rs 80.55 crore
23 companies clearly mentioned spending•
Rs 139.29 crore on activities related to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and nine companies contributed Rs 8 crore to Swachh
Bharat Kosh
CSR spend towards sports development have increased to Rs 57 crore in 2015-16 as against Rs 47 crore in 2014-15•
Key Highlights of Annual CSR Tracker 2016
CSR Spending during FY’15 and FY’16
80% of CSR Budget Spent by Companies
92% of CSR Budget Spent by Companies
Thematic Areas of CSR Spends During FY’15 and FY’16

8. 8 policy watch
Factfile
Copyright © 2017 Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise), in part or full in any manner whatsoever, or translated into any language, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. CII has made every
effort to ensure the accuracy of the information and material presented in this document. Nonetheless, all information, estimates and opinions contained in this publication are
subject to change without notice, and do not constitute professional advice in any manner. Neither CII nor any of its office bearers or analysts or employees accept or assume any
responsibility or liability in respect of the information provided herein. However, any discrepancy, error, etc. found in this publication may please be brought to the notice of CII for
appropriate correction.
Published by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), The Mantosh Sondhi Centre; 23, Institutional Area, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110003, India
Tel: +91-11-24629994-7, Fax: +91-11-24626149; Email: info@cii.in; Web: www.cii.in
For suggestions please contact Priya Shirali, Corporate Communications at priya.shirali@cii.in
Spend Channels
Companies use three channels for CSR funds:•
directly by the company, through company
foundation and through implementing
agencies
Spend Locations
Maharashtra, Gujarat•
and Tamil Nadu received
maximum participation
from companies in both
2014-15 and 2015-16
Huge jump from 67 (in•
2014-15) to 111 (in 2015-
16) companies investing in
Northeastern states (seven
sisters and Sikkim). Assam
received maximum of CSR
spends and participation
from maximum number of
companies
100 companies reported•
to have spent pan-India
in 2015-16 as compared
to only 66 companies in
2014-15
45 companies, each•
invested in more than
10 States/UTs
Nine PSEs, each invested in•
more than 15 States/UTs
Nine PSEs, each invested in•
more than 15 States/UTs
Output Data
A notable feature of CSR disclosures in 2015-16 is that some companies have begun to disclose beneficiary related information
in the Director’s Report. About 13%, or 166 of 1,270 companies making such disclosures, reflects going beyond legislative
requirements and improving the quality of disclosures. Most of these 166 companies have labelled the data as that of impact
achieved because of their CSR activities. The analysis revealed that 1.5 crore people benefitted from Rs 3,747.97 crore spent
for which output data has been reported. This averages to Rs 2,498.65 spent per person. n
Spend channels No. of companies
in 2014-15
No. of companies
in 2015-16
Direct 227 233
Corporate foundation 60 72
Implementing agency 251 149
All three modes of CSR 42 56
Geographical distribution of CSR Spending for FY’15 and FY’16