CSR: Companies Spent 60% Money For Education, Healthcare, Rural Development Works In 2014-15 To 2020-21 Period

Companies spent around 60 per cent of their CSR funds in the areas of education, healthcare and rural development-related activities during the period from 2014-15 to 2020-21, according to the government.
     
Under the Companies Act, 2013, certain class of profitable companies are required to shell out at least 2 per cent of their three-year average annual net profit towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in a financial year.
     
"All data related to CSR filed by companies in MCA21 registry is available in public domain... however, the present CSR filing does not capture the beneficiary-wise details of the CSR projects of the companies.
     
"Further, completion status of CSR projects or activities are not maintained separately by the government," Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh told the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Monday.
     
Corporates made CSR spending worth Rs 25,714.65 crore in 2020-21, with maximum amount spent on healthcare.
     
"An analysis of CSR data (as on 30.09.2022) during the period 2014-15 to 2020-21, reveals that around 35 per cent of the total CSR spent by the companies is in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
     
"Similarly, around 60 per cent of the total CSR spent by the companies is in the areas of education, healthcare and rural development related activities," the minister said in another written reply.
     
Under the Act, a company shall give preference to the local area and areas around it where it operates.
     
In 2021, the ministry clarified that the emphasis on local area is only directory and not mandatory in nature and companies need to balance local area preference with national priorities.
     
The government does not issue any specific direction to the companies to spend in any particular geographical area or activity, Singh said.
     
"Whenever any violation of CSR provisions is reported, action against such non-compliant companies is initiated as per provisions of the Act after due examination of records and following due process of law. Earlier, CSR related defaults were compoundable offences.
     
"So far, sanction for prosecution has been accorded in 366 cases. Of these, 174 applications for compounding have been made and 121 cases have been compounded," the minister said.