As per segregated (provisional) data by the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA), spending on health stood at Rs 9,987 crore in FY22, against Rs 8,382 crore on education.
Long focused on health, sanitation and education, corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending is now taking a serious turn toward environment protection.
As per segregated (provisional) data by the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA), spending on health stood at Rs 9,987 crore in FY22, against Rs 8,382 crore on education. Environment was at Rs 2,837 crore in FY22, more than double from Rs 1,337 crore in FY21.
For instance, Schneider Electric India Foundation, a CSR initiative of Schneider Electric, focuses on education, employment, entrepreneurship, electrification, environment, and emergency—all aimed at addressing the imminent climate crisis. “We focus on skill development to enhance employment opportunities for the youth aligned with industry demands. We have established digital classrooms powered by renewable energy sources in schools across various states. In our ‘Clean Energy for Sustainable Livelihood’ project, we’ve helped 10,000 indigenous farming families secure reliable irrigation using solar-powered pumps. This enabled them to cultivate two to three crops annually, resulting in doubled incomes for female smallholder farmers and strengthening food security,” said Venkat Garimella, VP—Sustainability, Greater India Zone, Schneider Electric.
Bisleri International has increased its overall CSR funds by 20% from the previous year. “Under the Bisleri Greener Promise campaign that implements water conservation and plastic recycling programmes through Project Nayi Umeed and Bottles for Change, we have set an ambitious target for 2025, aiming to recycle 12,500 MT of plastic and construct check dams in western India to enhance water security through these programmes,” said Angelo George, CEO, Bisleri International.
Tejashree Joshi, head, environmental sustainability, Godrej & Boyce, said water scarcity in particular continues to be a major social and environmental issue for many regions. “We have worked with communities to initiate rejuvenation programmes for several water bodies in places with severely depleted groundwater levels and scarcity like Tamil Nadu and Punjab,” said Joshi, who has kept environment and community at the focus of everything. The company has been part of industry-led initiatives like EP 100, India Wetlands Coalition, India Plastic Pacts and more.
For Voltas, total CSR expenditure for FY 22-23 is Rs 14.60 crore as compared to Rs 12.60 crore in FY 21-22, across three verticals: sustainable livelihood, community development and issues of national importance. Polycab India has an annual CSR expenditure for FY23 at Rs 229 million as compared to Rs 192 million in FY 21-22 with major focus areas like healthcare (44%), environment (26%), education & skill development (12%), rural development (5%), etc.
McCain Foods India’s CSR initiatives have adapted to emerging global and local needs on education, skill development, entrepreneurship, and sustainability. “We prioritise impactful projects,” said Saranya Pradhan, head— sustainability & corporate communications— McCain Foods India.
“Many businesses have started giving more than the government-mandated 2%, which has helped fuel this surge further, with BSE 200 companies contributing an additional Rs 1,200 crore over the 2% mandate in FY 2022. While CSR grew at a slower pace in FY22, we expect it to sustain its historical growth and reach $6.4 billion (Rs 52,000 crore) by FY27,” said Neera Nundy, co-founder and partner, Dasra, a strategic philanthropy foundation.
While Nundy said there is a need for India to ramp up climate investment, she estimates that India needs over $1.5 trillion in climate investments between 2020 and 2030 across sectors like transport, energy, sustainable agriculture, waste management and city resilience to minimise the impacts of climate change.
Even World Bank president Ajay Banga had stressed recently during the G20 meet how private capital and CSR funds need to provide debt relief to low-income countries and to fight climate change.
The India Philanthropy Report 2022 in association with Bain & Company and Dasra reports CSR spending on the social sector has seen a robust annual growth rate of 13% over the past five years. Currently it stands at over Rs 27,000 crore in FY22. Fund allocation towards environment and sustainability witnessed a surge of 54% from FY21 to FY22, underscoring the growing importance of these critical causes in the CSR landscape.
However, while CSR in India has witnessed substantial growth in spending, critical funding gaps and disparities persist. The MCA has flagged the limited impact of CSR initiatives, highlighting the need to enhance their effectiveness and visibility.
“A prominent issue is the stark regional disparity in the allocation of CSR funds. During FY21, states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh secured a significant portion of CSR funds, while north-eastern states received only a fraction,” shared Shloka Nath, CEO, India Climate Collaborative (ICC), a collective dedicated to accelerating climate action.
ICC recently announced the launch of Earth Exponential, a platform aimed at addressing critical funding gaps for India’s home-grown climate solutions, supported by JSW Foundation.
Source:financialexpress.com