How Socially Responsible Are Indian Companies?
Majority of firms on the NSE Nifty 50 Index failed to meet the minimum corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandate in the financial year 2016.
According to the Companies Act, 2013, any firm with a minimum networth of Rs 500 crore or turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or a net profit of Rs 5 crore has to spend at least 2 percent of its average net profit – clocked in the last three years – on CSR.
NTPC Ltd. was the most generous company in the financial year 2015-16, spending 3 percent of its average profit over the preceding three years. Tata Steel Ltd. came in second, spending 2.7 percent, while Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T) came in third.
On the other hand, HCL Technologies Ltd. contributed the least to CSR, spending just 0.17 percent. Bank of Baroda spent 0.47 percent, while Bharti Airtel Ltd. spent 0.57 percent.
In all, only 20 companies managed to spend more than the prescribed limit of 2 percent.
Three Nifty companies were excluded from this list. ACC Ltd. and Ambuja Ltd. have not yet come out with their annual reports, while Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has been suffering losses on a standalone basis.
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