Top Indian companies are giving away a part of their profits for social causes, Rs 4000 cr spent on CSR in 2015

Apart from spending profits for brand building and expansion, India’s top 75 companies are also giving away a part of their profits for social causes.

As per the government estimates, over Rs 4,000 crore were spent towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) in 2015.

Reliance Industries emerged as the top spender in CSR with Rs 760 crore. Among others were ONGC with Rs 495 crore, Infosys with Rs 239 crore, NTPC with Rs 205 crore and TCS with Rs 220 crore.

However, the government expects CSR spending in the first year to be at Rs 9,000 crore and rise substantially in coming years. Reportedly, the government had initially pegged CSR spend at Rs 15,000 crore in a year.

"Out of the 75 top companies, the 2% of average net profits for past three years comes positive for 67 companies; 39 of them have not spent 2% but all of them have shown their commitment towards CSR," Santhosh Jayaram, said director at KPMG.

For companies, sectors like health and education are of main attraction under CSR.

Under Companies Act 2013, companies with a net worth of more than Rs 500 crore or revenue of over Rs 1,000 crore or a net profit of more than Rs 5 crore need to meet the CSR norms.

Meanwhile, the government has constituted a panel to suggest steps for improved monitoring of social welfare activities done by them under the Companies Act.

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