Review of CSR—Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives of the Top Three CPSE’s—Central Public Sector Enterprises of India

Abstract

In India, CPSEs—Central Public Sector Enterprises—are the government-owned corporations in which, majority (51% or more) of the paid share capital is either held by central government or by any state government or partly by the central government and partly by one or more state governments. According to the Government of India, Public Enterprise Survey Report—2017–18, the top three CPSE’s are IOL—Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, ONGC—Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, and NTPC—National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd, contributing 13.37, 12.49, and 6.48%, respectively, to the total profit earned by the PSEs during 2017–18. CSR—Corporate Social Responsibility—in India is mandatory in nature. According to section 135 of Companies Act 2013, which came into effect from April 01, 2014, any company with a Net Worth of ₹500 crore or more, or a Turnover of ₹1,000 crore or more, or a Net Profit of ₹5 crore or more during the immediately three preceding financial year are required to spend 2% of their Net Profits on CSR programs as per Schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013. Such companies are required to form a CSR committee, formulate a CSR policy, and implement projects in accordance with Schedule VII of the Act and mandatorily report it in their annual reports in the prescribed format. The mandatory CSR reporting facilitates the company to demonstrate its commitment toward the society and also act as a communication tool to engage with different stakeholders, including shareholders, regulators, communities, customers, and society at large. Several Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) under the aegis of Government of India are regularly undertaking various social initiatives and fulfill their corporate social responsibility toward the society and the nation. This research paper reviews the corporate social initiatives undertaken by the top three CPSEs of India as per the Public Enterprise Survey report—2017–18. The duration of this research work is for the period of 04 years starting from 2014–15 to 2017–18.