Orissa to enact law forcing industries to invest on CSR

The Orissa government will enact a law, making it mandatory for the corporate houses, operating in the state, to invest a certain percentage of their profit on peripheral development.

The quantum of investment to be made by the industrial houses under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) will, however, be decided while formulating the law.

The enactment of a law, making it mandatory for the industrial houses to invest on CSR was recently decided at a meeting presided over by the state chief minister Naveen Patnaik. The state revenue department will formulate the law.

The law will be formulated very soon after considering all aspects as well as the different judgments of the Supreme Court, the state revenue minister, S N Patra told Business Standard here.

In a judgment earlier, the Supreme Court had asked an industrial house to invest at least five per cent of its profit on CSR activities, he said.

Some corporate houses have welcomed the state government's move to enact a law on CSR.

“We are taking up CSR activities as per the decision of the Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC), said the general manager (human resources) of a public sector company.

Several elected representatives have urged the corporate houses to set up hospitals in their areas.

It may be recalled, the state government had earlier suggested that the corporate houses should invest at least 10 per cent of their profit on CSR activities.

Even though several industrial houses, both in public and private sectors, voluntarily invest a sizeable portion of their profit on infrastructure development in the peripheral areas of their plants, the people of the area, mainly the displaced persons feel that the investment was not enough.

Keeping in view the sentiments of these displaced people, the state government has decided to make it mandatory for the investors to invest on peripheral development of the project areas.

Besides infrastructure development, the corporate houses will also have to invest in education, health and other sectors, the minister said.