However, in comparison to previous year, spends on armed force veterans increased the most (84%) – from ₹52.84 crore by 84 companies in FY18 to ₹96.97 crore spent by 126 companies in FY19. Spends on reducing inequalities and healthcare spends followed armed force veterans’ category with 41% and 25% annual growth each. Spends on national heritage, on the other hand, fell the most (55.5%) at ₹174.71 crore by 219 companies in FY19 compared to ₹392.64 crore spent by 208 companies in FY18.

In terms of company-wise CSR spends, the number of companies which spent on CSR went up to 1,055 (93% of the 1,132 companies) in FY19 compared to 1,024 (94%) in FY18. The balance 77 companies, despite being mandated, did not spend anything, according to nseinfobase.com.

Reliance Industries, with CSR spend of ₹849.32 crore emerged as the largest spender in the top 10 list of FY19, which included four public sector undertakings (PSUs) – ONGC (₹614.64 crore), Indian Oil (₹490.6 crore), NTPC (₹285.46 crore) and Power Grid Corporation (₹195.73 crore). The top 10, which included companies like HDFC Bank, TCS, Infosys, Tata Steel, and ITC, together accounted for over ₹4,277 crore – 35.8% of the total CSR spends. The CSR spends from PSUs touched ₹3,198 crore from 57 PSUs in FY19, as compared to ₹2,710 crore spent by 54 PSUs in FY18.

Overall, 653 companies, or 64%, increased their spending as compared to FY18, while there were 488 companies (43%) which exceeded their prescribed spending in FY19. There were also 37 companies, which despite reporting a loss, spent on CSR. On the other hand, there were 332 companies which missed the mandatory spending of 2% of net profit in FY19, compared to 353 in FY18.

On the other hand, there were 332 companies which missed the mandatory spending of 2% of net profit in FY19, compared to 353 in FY18. The CSR spends from PSUs touched ₹3,198 crore from 57 PSUs in FY19, as compared to ₹2,710 crore spent by 54 PSUs in FY18.

In terms of mode of spends on CSR activities, 286 companies (25.3%) spent directly to the tune of ₹5,206.27 crore (43.53% of the total CSR spend), while 283 companies (25.02%) used implementing agencies to deploy ₹4,185.29 crore (34.99%). While 111 companies (9.81%) which deployed ₹222.8 crore (1.86%) did not specify the mode of CSR spends, 451 companies (39.88%) used direct as well as implementing agency route to spend ₹2,346.02 crore (19.61%) on CSR.

The CSR Act also mandates companies to appoint a CSR committee comprising at least three members of the board, of which at least one should be independent. In FY19, out of the total 1,786 companies listed on the NSE, 885 had such CSR committees in place. Several companies went beyond the requirement, since 413 companies had appointed more than 3 members in their CSR committees.

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India Inc’s CSR spending grew 17.5% in FY19