Comments
In what could significantly boost the government’s social sector schemes, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said that spending by large companies on initiatives for corporate social responsibility (CSR) could increase to ₹14,000 crore.
“Over the last three to four years that we have seen it function...if you look at India’s large corporates with profitability of ₹500 crore and above, you have a potential of about ₹14,000 crore of CSR activities,” he said at an event of Axis Bank.
Expressing hope that this amount would increase further, the Minister said that it aids the government’s programmes in the social sector.
He also urged companies to take up CSR initiatives in challenging areas with difficult terrain.
“Education is one area you can see feedback coming in the medium term itself. You don’t have to wait for generations before the advantages come back,” he said.
He also complimented efforts by Axis Bank and said that its CSR initiative to upgrade of 100 schools in Leh will promote education in the area.
The Minister also noted that many companies had opposed the introduction of the clause for CSR in the Companies Bill. So some of the provisions were diluted and a few dispensations were given for special reasons.
Under the Act, companies with a profit of over ₹5 crore in the last three years have to mandatorily spend two per cent of it on CSR initiatives.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.