Corporate social responsibility in India over the years

Abstract

In today’s world the concept of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) has become common parlance in the business world and even outside it. In today’s era of globalisation and information technology, companies need to go beyond the line of duty and implement socially acceptable business practices aimed at sustainable development. So they have to implement CSR. Governments around the world have taken cognizance of this and countries like India have even mandated CSR spending and disclosures. The same CSR activity will not work in every country. The same activity may not even work for two businesses in the same location. Therefore it is necessary that the CSR Policies must be tailored to each company and its specific requirements. In this report we have analysed the top 30 BSE companies and their CSR spending in the wake of the new Companies Act 2013 and have recommended steps for the MNCs and SMEs in India to implement the CSR under the new regime. Based on our analysis we have found that the CSR spending trend in Indian companies is inclined towards the health, education and environmental safeguards. There is distinct lack of innovation and imagination and most of the companies follow the herd mentality. There is a distinct need for innovation and newer avenues of CSR need to be looked at. Also there needs to be greater innovation among the companies for the CSR activities to reach scale on a particular activity and really help the stakeholder