In the financial year that went by, the largest Indian companies listed on the National Stock Exchange cumulatively contributed ₹7,795.98 crore towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, according to their annual reports.
In FY21, these companies together spent ₹7,518.23 crore on CSR. Under Section 135 of the Companies act, companies have to spend at least 2 per cent of their net profit over the preceding three years towards CSR.
The biggest spender
Among Nifty 50 companies, Reliance Industries Ltd spent the most — ₹813 crore — on CSR in FY22. Its annual report says it spent ₹76 crore above its obligated ₹737 crore. Of this, ₹475 crore went to healthcare, including Covid relief; ₹202 crore towards education; and ₹101 crore to rural transformation. In FY21, too, RIL was the top CSR spender among Nifty 50 companies, at a whopping ₹922 crore, with almost half (₹452 crore) going to education.
In FY22, RIL is followed by HDFC Bank Ltd with a CSR expenditure of ₹736.01 crore, which is ₹101.1 crore more than its spend in the previous financial year. HDFC Bank, too, allocated the most to education and health. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd is next, at ₹727 crore, followed by Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd at ₹472.29 crore, and Tata Steel Ltd at ₹405.97 crore.
All of them spent beyond the mandated amount. Tata Steel spent ₹139.4 crore more than its CSR obligation in FY22.
In FY21, the biggest spenders after RIL were Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, and ITC Ltd.
In FY22, the company that spent the least on CSR is Bajaj Finserv, at ₹0.45 crore. Bharti Airtel, which spent ₹1.6 crore, was exempted from CSR spending in the previous financial year. Coal India Ltd spent ₹6.81 crore, and Adani Enterprises Ltd and Tata Consumer Products Ltd spent ₹12.87 crore and ₹13.54 crore, respectively, on CSR.