Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Haryana are the states that together took home 80 per cent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds in India in financial year 2020-21. Tripura, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu received either no or less than ₹1 crore of CSR funds. Some of the North-Eastern states such as Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland also received meagre funds, according to the data available from the ministry of corporate affairs.
The ten largest beneficiary states together received ₹4,135.5 crore of the ₹5,004 crore CSR spending by companies for which state-wise data is available. Companies spent a total of ₹8,828 crore in FY21 on CSR, roughly a third of what they had spent in the pre-pandemic year of FY20 at ₹24,689 crore due to shrunk net profits.
Education, differently abled, livelihood, and healthcare and sanitation were sectors that accounted for most CSR spending in FY21.
Among top spenders, Reliance Industries Ltd. spent ₹922 crores, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. spent Rs. 674 and Infosys Ltd. spent ₹361.82 crores.
Of the 1,619 companies that spent on over 8,000 welfare projects, 894 companies spent more than what they are mandated to spend in FY21, 353 companies spent less than the mandated amount while 178 companies did not spend anything at all despite a penalty provision in place from January 2021. Large CSR spenders must carry out an independent impact assessment of their activities too. In FY21, 194 companies spent exactly as prescribed.
Companies with a net worth of ₹500 crore or more, or a turnover of ₹1,000 crore or more, or net profit of ₹5 crore or more, are required to spend 2% of their average net profit of the preceding three years on CSR activities.