An International Refereed Management Journal of FMS, Gurukul Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar
Ritu Mann, Neeraj
Purpose: This paper aims to examine the influence of the post-2013 Companies Act mandate regarding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on companies' spending patterns and to investigate whether this mandate has fostered companies' engagement in social well-being and environmentally responsible projects. Additionally, the paper explores whether the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 can be achieved through CSR expenditures by Indian companies.
Design/methodology/approach- This paper adopted a descriptive, quantitative,longitudinal research design and analysed CSR expenditure data from FY 2014-2015 to FY2022-2023 of 24392 Indian eligible companies and top information technology sector (IT) companies from the government database. The data is categorized according to the development areas specified in Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013, and aligned with SDGs to identify which areas are prioritized by the corporates using descriptive statistics and comparative analysis.
Findings- Cumulative CSR expenditure increased to INR 29986.92 crore in 2022-23 from INR 10,066 crore in 2014-2015. Corporate houses spent eight times more on social welfare projects than on environmental initiatives. The first preference in CSR expenditure of both types of companies was education, which contributed to interrelated targets of SDG 4 (educating qualitatively), SDG 2(eradicating hunger),SDGs 1(ending poverty), and SDG 8 (economic growth and creating a decent work atmosphere), while IT companies secondly prioritized environmental initiatives, whereas healthcare by all eligible companies.
Originality/value- Based on real CSR expenditure instead of voluntary CSR scores, this study confirmed the influence of CSR mandate on environmental and social well-being and SDGs