Cos spent Rs 42 cr under Swachh Bharat Kosh as CSR initiative

Companies spent over Rs 42 crore towards 'Swachh Bharat Kosh' as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in 2014-15, Parliament was informed today.

The funds were used for achieving the objective of improving cleanliness levels in rural and urban areas including schools.

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As many as 460 companies spent a little over Rs 6,337 crore for CSR activities last fiscal. This included 51 PSUs which spent Rs 2,386.60 crore.

In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley said companies spent a total of Rs 42.64 crore in 'Swachh Bharat Kosh'.

Besides, firms spent Rs 15.49 crore towards 'Clean Ganga Fund' during the period under review.

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.

In a separate reply, Jaitley said a high-level committee has recommended for conducting a review of the CSR provision of the Act after three years.

The committee, which was set up by Corporate Affairs Ministry to suggest measures for monitoring the progress of implementation of CSR policies by companies, had submitted its report in September.