CSR spending tops Rs 50,000 crore in four years
28 Feb 2019
Improving quality and impact of spend crucial in the road ahead Cumulative spending on corporate social responsibility (CSR) has shot past Rs50,000 crore in just four years since the legislative mandate was implemented.
A Crisil estimate shows spending by listed companies rose 12 per cent on-year in fiscal 2018 to ~Rs 10,000 crore — the first time it has reached this mark. Assuming the same rate of growth, spending by unlisted companies is estimated to be ~Rs 5,100 crore for the year, taking the total for the year to ~Rs 15,100 crore.
With this, cumulative spending over the four years stands at ~Rs 34,100 crore for listed companies and ~Rs 18,900 crore for unlisted ones, totalling ~Rs 53,000 crore.
Says Maya Vengurlekar, chief operating officer, Crisil Foundation, “This vindicates our belief that CSR can be a potent weapon for welfare and development, in lockstep with the government’s welfare initiatives. To offer some perspective, the cumulative spend is more than the fiscal 2018 Union Budget allocation for health and family welfare and two-thirds of the allocation for education – the two key CSR spending heads. Overall, we also need to introduce better measurability of impact.”