- Central Database:
- Government maintains a central database of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditures filed by companies in the MCA 21 registry.
- All CSR data (state-wise, year-wise, company-wise, project-wise) is publicly available on http://www.csr.gov.in.
- CSR Governance Framework:
- CSR is a Board-driven process under the Companies Act, 2013.
- Boards are responsible for planning, executing, and monitoring CSR activities.
- Transparency & Accountability Provisions:
- Legal requirements include:
• formation of CSR Committee,
• CSR Policy,
• Annual Action Plan on CSR,
• CFO certification of CSR expenditure,
• statutory audit of CSR expenditure.
- Legal requirements include:
- Impact Assessment Rule:
- Under Rule 8 of Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, 2014:
• Companies with average CSR obligation ≥ ₹10 crore (last 3 FYs) must undertake impact assessment for CSR projects with outlays ≥ ₹1 crore, completed at least one year before assessment.
• Impact details must be included in the company’s Annual CSR Report (as part of Board’s report).
- Under Rule 8 of Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, 2014:
- CSR Spending Obligation:
- No fixed allocation of CSR funds in the law.
- Companies must spend at least 2% of average net profits (last 3 FYs) on CSR activities specified in Schedule VII of the Act.
- Development CSR Expenditure (Last 5 FYs):
- FY 2019-20: ₹24,965.82 Crore
- FY 2020-21: ₹26,210.95 Crore
- FY 2021-22: ₹27,141.45 Crore
- FY 2022-23: ₹30,932.08 Crore
- FY 2023-24: ₹34,908.75 Crore
- Total (2019-20 to 2023-24): Over ₹1,44,159 Crore.
- Source of Information:
- Provided by Shri Harsh Malhotra, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs and Road, Transport & Highways, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
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