Over 1,900 companies spend Rs 8,029 crore towards CSR works in 2014-15

NEW DELHI: More than 1,900 companies shelled out a total of Rs 8,029 crore towards corporate social responsibility ( CSR) activities in 2014-15, the government said today.

Out of these companies, 116 were public sector undertakings while 1,790 were private sector entities, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal told Rajya Sabha.

Under the Companies Act, 2013, certain class of entities are required to spend at least two per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards CSR works.

The norm came into effect from April 1, 2014 as per the Act, which is implemented by the Corporate Affairs Ministry.

"An assessment of CSR expenditure of 4,257 companies for the year 2014-15 indicates that 116 public sector undertakings and 1,790 private sector companies together have spend Rs 8,029 crore during 2014-15," Meghwal said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

On whether the CSR guidelines are being followed by firms, the Minister said no violation has been noticed in case of 4,257 companies for which CSR data is available.

Emphasising that monitoring of CSR is the responsibility of the board of directors of companies concerned, Meghwal said the Ministry has no role to play in this regard.

Companies having a turnover of at least Rs 1,000 crore, minimum net worth of Rs 500 crore and those having net profit of Rs 5 crore or more in a financial year are required to comply with CSR norms.