How are various Companies spending CSR money? - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 2, 2016
Large Companies are spending their CSR money on a variety of activities. Most of them have their own foundations or trusts through which these programs are implemented. It is also observed that quite a few companies have contributed to premier educational institutions like the IITs, IIMs and even private educational institutions.
As Factly reported earlier, a total of 6338 crore rupees were spent on CSR activities by 460 different companies in 2014-15. This story looks at the activities of some of the top spenders in 2014-15.
Companies to report CSR activities in their Annual Report
The CSR rules mandate each qualifying company to constitute a CSR committee and formulate a CSR Policy. The rules prescribe the list of CSR activities that can be undertaken. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has also issued a circular in 2014 clarifying various issues about CSR activities. All the qualifying companies are required to report annual expenditure under CSR in a prescribed format in the Annual Board Report.
Reliance Industries Limited
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC)
Infosys
Wipro
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Mahindra & Mahindra
Hindustan Unilever
TATA Steel
General Observations
The following are some of the observations.
Though this is only the first year of mandatory CSR expenditure, the activities undertaken by various large companies does give a fair idea of which way this might go in the future. The government would do well to review these activities and issue further guidelines on what could be taken up and what cannot be.
(This is Part 2 of the series on CSR Expenditure by various Companies. In Part 1, we looked at the overall CSR expenditure of 460 companies in 2014-15)