CSR spending: Firms fail to meet govt mandate, despite improved compliance

Companies that have a net worth of at least Rs 5 billion, a turnover of Rs 10 billion or a net profit of Rs 50 million are required to spend 2 per cent of their net profits on such programmes.

Many companies are not spending as much on philanthropy as the government has mandated.

The median company has unspent amounts equal to a third of the prescribed corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending, show disclosures from 77 companies for FY18. The median company represents the middle value of the sample, and is broadly representative of what one can expect from the average corporate entity. The data is based on numbers from nseinfobase.com, part of corporate tracker PRIME Database group. 

There has been some improvement over the years. The majority of funds (57.66 per cent) were unspent for the median company in