CSR and Social Audit

Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013, requires every company above the specified thresholds of turnover, or net worth, or net profit, to spend at least two per cent of the average net profits earned during three immediately preceding financial years, on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013, the Rules made thereunder, and Schedule VII of the Act read with General Circulars dated 18th June, 2014 and 12th January, 2016 issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, give the broad contour within which the Board of the eligible companies have been empowered to formulate their CSR policies and take decision with respect to allocation of CSR funds across various development sectors.   

An assessment of CSR expenditure of 7334 companies, for which information has been compiled for the year 2014-15, indicates that 142 Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and 2997 Private Sector companies together have spent ₹ 8803 crore during 2014-15 as summarised below:

CSR Expenditure during 2014-15

This was stated by Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.