Disability, elderly care likely to qualify for CSR spending

New Delhi: The government is considering including disability-related programmes, elderly care, climate resilience and sports in the list of activities that qualify for corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending, officials said.

Additional incentives are also being considered to encourage companies to channel CSR funds for developmental activities at the district and block levels, and in the Northeast, they said. High-level deliberations are ongoing within the government and with stakeholders, with the Niti Aayog tasked to draw up a blueprint to channel corporate CSR funds to underserved social sectors and regions.

The move is aimed at addressing geographic and sectoral disparities under CSR funding, a senior government official told ET. "Measures are being examined to channel funding to these sectors," the official added. Some of the measures being considered include targeted fiscal relief and flexibility in compliance. A final call on the new blueprint would be taken by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs after discussions with the Niti Aayog, another official said.


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Companies need to comply with CSR obligations if they have a net worth of ₹500 crore or more, turnover of ₹1,000 crore or more, or a net profit of ₹5 crore or more in the immediately preceding financial year. Under this, they must spend at least 2% of the average net profit made during the previous three financial years in areas or subjects specified by the corporate affairs ministry.

India Inc collectively spent more than ₹1.85 lakh crore on social and environmental initiatives under CSR programmes. A large portion of this was spent in the last five years. The government is of the view that CSR funding has remained skewed toward industrialised states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Delhi, leaving aspirational districts, aspirational blocks and the Northeast drawing minuscule funds. The government will use its centralised database to map exact district-level needs and to avoid duplication.

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Besides, it plans to focus on strengthening local coordination, enhancing impact assessment, building the institutional capacity of grassroots organisations, and simplifying the due diligence processes to facilitate effective implementation. The official said the idea is to move beyond fragmented, short-term and output-focused interventions towards coordinated, evidence-based and outcome-oriented CSR initiatives, in line with the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.