CSR getting mainstreamed through the Companies Act: Meghwal

In a bid to formally involve the corporate sector in the country's social development agenda, corporate social responsibility (CSR) was finally getting mainstreamed through the Companies Act 2013, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said on Wednesday.

"CSR is getting mainstreamed through the Companies Act 2013. The provisions of this landmark legislation are most significant in the realm of business conduct, with CSR now being held as an integral measure of good and responsible corporate governance," Meghwal said at the valedictory ceremony of the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) here.

"It has also, for the first time, brought the issue of CSR from back rooms of corporates to their board rooms," he said.

Referring to the process of responsible corporate governance through CSR as enshrined in the Companies Act 2013, Meghwal underlined the government's desire to formally involve the corporate sector in the social development agenda of the country.

He said that with corruption-free governance, endorsement and overwhelming support of all the citizens and corporates, and the demographic dividend, India will be leading the comity of nations in the coming century.

The new CSR rules under Section 135 of the amended Companies Act, 2013, came into force from April 1, 2014. Companies falling under the ambit of the new rules were mandated to spend two per cent of their net profit (average of last three years) on CSR activities.

--IANS

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