Clean India Mission: Three PSUs spend more than private sector on CSR

MCA data also shows 58% cent of companies didn't spend anything on any form of CSR in 2014-15

Data obtained by Business Standard through Right to Information (RTI) shows that just three Public Sector Units (PSUs) contributed almost 60 per cent the spending under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to the Swachh Bharat Kosh (Clean India Fund). The Swachh Bharat Mission (Clean India Mission) is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet scheme and one of the first to be announced after his government assumed power in 2014.

Data provided by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to an RTI request shows that a total of 91 companies, including private and public, contributed Rs 121 crore as part of CSR to the Clean India Fund in 2014-15.

Of these companies, three -– Oil India Limited, Eastern Coalfields Limited and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited -– contributed almost Rs 71 crore. Oil India Limited’s CSR spend of Rs 38.36 crore on the Clean India Mission was the highest among all three.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited contributed Rs 20 crore, while the Eastern Coalfields Limited spent Rs 12.15 crore as part of CSR on the mission. While Oil India Limited and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited are profitable public companies, Eastern Coalfields has been struggling to survive. The other notable public sector contributors were the government’s currency printing enterprise Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL), India Infrastructure Finance Company and Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited. (See Table)

CSR Spending on Clean India Mission
Public companies	Amount	Private companies	Amount
Oil India Ltd	38.36	Nestle India	5.00
Hindustan Aeronautics	20.02	Bajaj group	5.00
Eastern Coalfields	12.15	Mahindra & Mahindra	4.65
Amount in Rs cr; Source: Data obtained by Business Standard under RTI

Among the private companies only three corporates stand out although their CSR spend on the mission fades in comparison to their public sector counterparts. These include Nestle India Limited which spent Rs 5 crore on the mission. The Bajaj group through its companies – Bajaj Holdings & Investment Limited and Bajaj Finance Limited contributed as much as Nestle. Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited meanwhile spent Rs 4.65 crore out of its CSR funds on Modi’s pet mission.

Both Oil India Limited and Mahindra & Mahindra group were among the top 20 companies spending on CSR activities in 2014-15. Oil India Limited spent Rs 133 crore in the period. This means that the PSU spent almost a third of its total CSR spend on contributing to the Clean India Mission. The Mahindra & Mahindra group meanwhile had spent Rs 83 crore as part of its CSR in 2014-15. The CSR spend on the Clean India Mission by the group which has interests as varied as automobiles, financial services and defence represents 5 per cent of its total spend in the period.

Data provided by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs also shows that 58 per cent of the corporates in the private sector did not incur any CSR expenditure in 2014-15. (See Table) This includes overall CSR spend and not just spending on the Clean India Mission. Their public sector counterparts were much better with only 37 per cent of PSUs not spending anything on CSR activities.

CSR expenditure in India
Category	No of companies	No CSR spending	Total CSR spend (Rs cr)
PSUs	226	84	2,497
Private sector	7,108	4,111	6,306

Among private sector commpanies, which spent a total Rs 6,306 crore on CST, just four represented a quarter of the spending. The biggest of them was Reliance Industries Ltd, with a spend of Rs 760 crore. The Tata group came next with a contribution of almost Rs 390 crore. The others two in the quartet were ITC and Infosys.

The public sector meanwhile spent Rs 2,497 crore on CSR during the year. Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NPTC) and National Minerals Development Corporation Limited (NMDC) were the top three contributors.

Under Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013, all companies with a net profit of more than Rs 5 crore every year need to contribute to CSR. Companies are required to spend two per cent of their net profits on CSR activities preferably in the local area that they operate in.


Source: Data obtained by Business Standard under Right to Information