Listed firms spent Rs.6,400 crore in 2014-15 on CSR: CII

Over 1,000 Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)-listed companies together spent Rs.6,400 crore towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities last fiscal, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said on Sunday.

Over 90 percent of 1,181 companies in a survey complied with the CSR norms and "around Rs.6,400 crore has been spent" in the last fiscal, according to a CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development report.

"Almost 55 percent of that has been channelled to education, skills, livelihoods, health and sanitation," it said.

"Only about two percent of the Rs.6,400 crore was spent towards Prime Minister's Relief Fund," it added.

According to the report, 87 percent of the eligible listed companies have actually spent on CSR but 52 percent shelled out less than two percent as required.

"In all, 83 percent of those 52 percent of the companies have given reasons for underspend," the report said.

The other reasons for spending less are projects being multi-year, or the inability to find the right projects or implementing agencies, it added.

Under norms that came into force last year, certain class of profitable entities are required to spend at least 2 percent of their three-year annual average net profit towards CSR activities.

Commenting on the survey CII director general Chandrajit Banerjee said "this comprehensive analysis corrects all distorted perceptions that compliance on Section 135 was abysmal."

"Corporate India has clearly attempted to contribute to nation building which was government's and Parliament's purpose of legislating CSR," said Mukund Rajan, co-chair CII National Committee on CSR and Tata group spokesperson.