case study on corporate social responsibility in india

• Classroom Programme
• Interview Guidance
• Online Programme
• Drishti Store
• My Bookmarks
• My Progress
• Change Password
• From The Editor's Desk
• How To Use The New Website
• Help Centre

Achievers Corner

• Topper's Interview
• About Civil Services
• UPSC Prelims Syllabus
• GS Prelims Strategy
• Prelims Analysis
• GS Paper-I (Year Wise)
• GS Paper-I (Subject Wise)
• CSAT Strategy
• Previous Years Papers
• Practice Quiz
• Weekly Revision MCQs
• 60 Steps To Prelims
• Prelims Refresher Programme 2020

Mains & Interview

• Mains GS Syllabus
• Mains GS Strategy
• Mains Answer Writing Practice
• Essay Strategy
• Fodder For Essay
• Model Essays
• Drishti Essay Competition
• Ethics Strategy
• Ethics Case Studies
• Ethics Discussion
• Ethics Previous Years Q&As
• Papers By Years
• Papers By Subject
• Be MAINS Ready
• Awake Mains Examination 2020
• Interview Strategy
• Interview Guidance Programme

Current Affairs

• Daily News & Editorial
• Daily CA MCQs
• Sansad TV Discussions
• Monthly CA Consolidation
• Monthly Editorial Consolidation
• Monthly MCQ Consolidation

Drishti Specials

• To The Point
• Important Institutions
• Learning Through Maps
• PRS Capsule
• Summary Of Reports
• Gist Of Economic Survey

Study Material

• NCERT Books
• NIOS Study Material
• IGNOU Study Material
• Yojana & Kurukshetra
• Chhatisgarh
• Uttar Pradesh
• Madhya Pradesh

Test Series

• UPSC Prelims Test Series
• UPSC Mains Test Series
• UPPCS Prelims Test Series
• UPPCS Mains Test Series
• BPSC Prelims Test Series
• RAS/RTS Prelims Test Series
• Daily Editorial Analysis
• YouTube PDF Downloads
• Strategy By Toppers
• Ethics - Definition & Concepts
• Mastering Mains Answer Writing
• Places in News
• UPSC Mock Interview
• PCS Mock Interview
• Interview Insights
• Prelims 2019
• Product Promos
• Daily Updates

Indian Economy

Make Your Note

Corporate Social Responsibility - A Strategic Endeavour

• 04 Jun 2022
• 11 min read
• GS Paper - 2
• Government Policies & Interventions
• GS Paper - 3
• Mobilization of Resources
• Management of Social Sector/Services

This editorial is based on “Corporate Social Responsibility Is A Strategic Endeavour” which was published in Indian Express on 02/06/2022. It talks about why compliance to Corporate Social Responsibility is significant for the companies and what can be the possible challenges in complying to CSR.

For Prelims: Corporate Social Responsibility, Companies Act 2013, ESG Compliance

For Mains: Corporate Social Responsibility - Significance, Challenges to Compliance

The term "Corporate Social Responsibility" in general can be referred to as a corporate initiative to assess and take responsibility for the company's effects on the environment and impact on social welfare.

With nearly two-thirds of India still living in poverty by today’s quality-of-life standards and the climate situation worsening day by day, the importance of CSR can’t be overestimated. Companies should take compliance to CSR more seriously and responsibly.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Does the csr have a legal-backing in india.

• India is the first country in the world to mandate CSR spending along with a framework to identify potential CSR activities.
• The Act requires companies to set up a CSR committee which shall recommend a Corporate Social Responsibility Policy to the Board of Directors and also monitor the same from time to time.
• The Act encourages companies to spend 2% of their average net profit in the previous three years on CSR activities.

What Activities can be Undertaken by A Company under the CSR?

• Eradicating extreme hunger and poverty
• Promotion of education, gender equality and empowering women
• Combating HIV-AIDS and other diseases
• Ensuring environmental sustainability
• Contribution to the PM's National Relief Fund or any other fund set up by the Central Government for socio-economic development and relief.

What is the Significance of CSR Compliance?

• Brand image has gained importance as stakeholders have become more aware and involved in social issues.
• Through these varied streams, the amount of collaborative funding for improving people’s lives has increased significantly.
• As funding levels have risen, so too have innovative financing approaches to drive social impact, including pay-for-outcomes models such as development impact bonds in education and health, and other blended financing mechanisms.

What are the Issues Pertaining to CSR Compliance?

• Finding Right Partners : Despite growing awareness about the significance of CSR compliance, the challenges remain in identifying the right partners and projects , as well as in selecting projects that are long-term impactful, scalable , and are self-sustaining.
• This is largely attributable to the fact that there exists little or no knowledge about CSR within the local communities as no serious efforts have been made to spread awareness about CSR.
• The situation is further aggravated by a lack of communication between the company and the community at the grassroots.
• This reported lack of transparency negatively impacts the process of trust building between companies and local communities, which is a key to the success of any CSR initiative at the local level.
• Non-availability of Well Organised NGOs: There is non-availability of well organised NGOs in remote and rural areas that can assess and identify real needs of the community and work along with companies to ensure successful implementation of CSR activities.

How can the CSR be made more Effective?

• The latter should know that companies which award money from their CSR budgets are sincere about the causes they pick.
• The Companies must also refresh the roles of Board, CSR Committee , CFO and set-up new SOPs including a defined process for fund utilisation , determine applicability of impact assessment , prepare a detailed checklist of processes with the owners and timelines and formulate an annual action plan.
• It is also the responsibility of the government to address the issues of non availability of the NGOs and create awareness in the society about the significance of the CSR and its activities.
• Leveraging technology to improve the oversight of India Inc is welcome, but this should be applied to the financial and governance aspects of companies before moving on to their social obligations.

What are the Suitable Areas where CSR Investments can be Diverted to?

• A policy environment that encourages CSR investments in technology-led solutions has made sustainable and scalable solutions a reality.
• Additionally, collaborations with local bodies and the establishment of governance and community engagement structures can ensure these projects become self-sustainable in the long run.
• Funds can be channelled into the implementation of socially relevant projects conceptualised by faculty members, or for supporting scientific research that will unravel the answers to key scientific questions underlying social problems.
• The fact that the government’s CSR policy allows a company to choose to intervene at any point in the end-to-end tech value creation process is a great enabler.
• Projects such as these enabled through CSR funding and led by higher education institutions would accelerate the transition from laboratory to actualisation and serve communities in innovative ways.

• Search Menu

Sign in through your institution

• Author Guidelines
• Submission Site
• Open Access
• Reviewer FAQ
• Why Submit?
• About Statute Law Review
• Editorial Board
• Advertising and Corporate Services
• Journals Career Network
• Self-Archiving Policy
• Dispatch Dates
• Journals on Oxford Academic
• Books on Oxford Academic

• < Previous

Legislated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in India: The Law and Practicalities of its Compliance

• Article contents
• Figures & tables
• Supplementary Data

Akanksha Jumde, Jean du Plessis, Legislated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in India: The Law and Practicalities of its Compliance, Statute Law Review , Volume 43, Issue 2, June 2022, Pages 170–197, https://doi.org/10.1093/slr/hmaa004

• Permissions Icon Permissions

When India enacted the Companies Act, 2013, it became one of the few countries of the world to make Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a legal obligation for a large number of Indian companies. Using a comprehensive analysis of companies’ CSR disclosures and the interviews of relevant stakeholders, this article provides a bird’s-eye view on the major issues plaguing the current regulatory framework on CSR in India. In addition, this article highlights the major differences between privately owned and government companies on their motivations, approaches and challenges to the implementation and enforcement of CSR law of India. This article finds that the Indian CSR regulations are excessively broad and provide wide flexibilities that are possibly being misused, and hence, need legislative amendments to make them more concise, and improve accountability and transparency. From a broader corporate law perspective, this article finds that while the current company law in India may have adopted a more stakeholder-centric approach by its construction, the approach of many companies towards the enforcement and implementation of CSR and the law remains essentially shareholder centric. In light of the above observations, the article suggests that the existing regulatory framework needs to be strengthened with several legislative measures such as stricter auditing and monitoring measures for third-party implementing agencies and pre-and post-project impact assessment mechanisms.

Personal account

• Sign in with email/username & password
• Get email alerts
• Save searches
• Purchase content
• Activate your purchase/trial code
• Add your ORCID iD

Institutional access

Sign in with a library card.

• Sign in with username/password
• Recommend to your librarian
• Institutional account management
• Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

• Click Sign in through your institution.
• Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
• When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
• Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

• Click Sign in through society site.
• When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

• View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
• View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Short-term Access

To purchase short-term access, please sign in to your personal account above.

Don't already have a personal account? Register

Email alerts

Citing articles via.

• Recommend to Your Library

Affiliations

• Online ISSN 1464-3863
• Print ISSN 0144-3593
• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Rights and permissions
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Tata Steel: A Century of Corporate Social Responsibility

For a century, Tata Steel has provided a level of “compassion” that is unmatched in its sector or its country. But the onslaught of global competition and, crucially, global capital markets have sparked serious debate on the role, level and the sustainability of social spending at Tata Steel. In particular, a new emphasis on EVA risks upsetting the century-old commitment to CSR.

The aim of this case study is to help provide a framework that supports an intelligent discussion of the benefits versus the costs of compassion ? and to facilitate articulation of the components of CSR. How can the company maintain its reputation for caring and, at the same time, remain a leading player in an increasingly competitive industry?

• Corporate social responsibility
• Developing economy
• Employee and industrial relations
• Corporate marketing
• Steel. RD1104

Jean-François Manzoni

Vikas Tibrewala

Jean-louis barsoux, kathryn  hughes, recommended cases.

Procter & Gamble and Population Services International (PSI): Social Marketing for Safe Water

Reference 5394

Published 01 Oct 2006

Length 29 page(s)

Topic Responsibility

Region Global

Blue Ocean Finance: The Evolution of Corporate Treasury Operations in the 21st Century

Reference 5868

Published 29 Sep 2014

Length 10 page(s)

Topic Economics & Finance

Tata Swach: Making Clean Water Affordable in India

Reference 6154

Published 27 Jul 2015

Length 40 page(s)

Region Asia

Industry Public Safety

Recently Viewed

Board Process Simulation (A)

By   Stanislav Shekshnia

Birkenstock: Exit the Family. Enter a Professional CEO

By   Morten Bennedsen ,  Mark Stabile ,  Brian Henry

Rasurel: Reviving an Ageing Brand

By   Amitava Chattopadhyay ,  Séverine de Wulf

Login | Register

• Current Issues
• Previous Issues
• Editorial Team
• Managerial Board
• Become a Reviewer
• Submission Guidelines
• Harvard Citation Style
• Vancouver Citation Style
• APA Citation Style
• Download RIS
• Download BibTeX

Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Development in India: An Interface

• Sanjai Bhatt (University of Delhi)
• Lakshya Kadiyan (University of Delhi)

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a much-discussed subject understood contextually and largely debated between dichotomies of profitability and morality. India makes a case for amalgamation of both these dichotomies through compulsory CSR mandate. The cultural diversity of India offers a multitude of challenges in social development and has been approached through localization of both CSR and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The objectives of Indian CSR programme are further mapped to Agenda 2030 for achieving sustainable development goals. The influence of this approach is visible in shifting quantum of money, corporate initiatives as well as government schemes toward various development programmes. This paper studies the interface between CSR and social development, which makes a compact case for a public–private partnership to achieve Agenda 2030.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility (CSR), Social development, Companies’ Act, Sustainable Development goals (SDG)

Bhatt, S. & Kadiyan, L., (2023) “Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Development in India: An Interface”, Social Development Issues 44(3): 3. doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/sdi.3709

Downloads: Download XML Download PDF

395 Downloads

Published on 20 jan 2023, peer reviewed, creative commons attribution 4.0, introduction.

The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has a long history. It was first coined and discussed by Howard Bowen, an American economist and Grinnell College president, often cited as the father of CSR, in his book Social Responsibilities of the Businessman published in 1953. After almost seven decades of the evolution, the term has been both understood and used differently by various institutions across countries. In India, the term CSR is widely being used even though related concepts and terms, such as business responsibility, sustainable development, philanthropy, sustainability, corporate citizenship, responsible business, triple bottom line, shared value, value creation, business ethics, socioeconomic responsibility, bottom of pyramid, stakeholder management, corporate responsibility, and corporate social performance, are in vogue ( Kumar, 2021 ). There have been attempts to root the genesis of the concept in philanthropy ( Mohan, 2001 ; Sundar, 2000 ), as well as to describe it as “antithetical to sound business practice serving to dilute its focus on wealth creation” (Clement-Jones, 2005; Murray, 2005 as cited in Jamali & Mirshak, 2007 , p. 244). There are others who “characterize CSR as essential for successful business operations” while focusing on looming social concerns at the same time ( Jackson & Nelson, 2004 ; Rudolph, 2005 ). Nevertheless, today businesses along with the governments consider CSR as a necessary tool to thrive in the competitive global market. Countries like Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark and France were among the first of many countries to make CSR reporting mandatory; however it was India which went a step further and made CSR “activities” mandatory for a specific set of companies in the year 2013 ( Karnani, 2013 ). Subsequently, Indian companies under the purview of this mandate, since 2016, have spent a cumulative of INR 1,013,719 million on various activities cited in the schedule VII of the Companies’ Act ( Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, 2022 ).

Interestingly, India has mapped its CSR activities to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda 2030, and ranks 121 on the SDG index out of 163 participating countries in the year 2022. It is in this context that this paper studies the Indian CSR vis a vis its significance regarding SDGs agenda 2030 and the impact it has thus created since its inception as a mandate in the year 2013.

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Present Context

CSR is a much-discussed subject in contemporary society. Different stakeholders understand it differently. While some business persons look at CSR as a new restrictive and compulsive act, others treat it as their responsibility in the real sense. Many nonprofit organizations look at CSR as a new source of funding; a few others find a new opportunity to consider a new way to realize their organizational vision and mission. It is argued that CSR is required because businesses are thriving to mark their branding for social acceptance against their hazardous, unethical practices, and/or it could be used as a good marketing strategy. It is also advocated that companies should be held accountable for their consumption of resources. The dominant section of stakeholders considers that CSR is needed because society could use that extra pillar for socioeconomic development.

The emergence of globalization and international trade, which has been reflected in greater company complexity and new demands for better transparency and corporate citizenship, has led to an increase in interest in CSR in recent years ( Jamali & Mirshak, 2007 ). It is frequently at the forefront on agendas of governments, public sector organizations, private businesses, nongovernment institutions, and even global institutions such as the United Nations (UN), the World Bank, the International Labor Organization (ILO), and many more. A lot of academic work has been carried out over the decades. There have been countless interdisciplinary studies which have tried to situate CSR as a much-needed collaboration between business and nonprofit through development of further frameworks to accommodate this view ( Austin, 2000 ; Porter & Kramer, 2002 ; Seitanidi & Ryan, 2007 ). On the other hand, there are critiques of these claims who claim that “businesses are driven by their self-interests and pursuit of profits” ( Banerjee, 2008 ; Blowfield, 2005 ; Jamali & Keshishian, 2009 ; Jenkins, 2005 ; Newell, 2005 ).

‘a way in which enterprises give consideration to the impact of their operations on society and affirm their principles and values both in their own internal methods and processes and in their interaction with other actors. CSR is a voluntary, enterprise-driven initiative and refers to activities that are considered to exceed compliance with the law. ( International Labor Organization, 2009 )’

The fundamental idea of CSR is that business corporations have an obligation to work around the impact of their operations. The corporations thus “try to integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders” ( United Nations Industrial Development Organization, n.d. ). Based on the commonalities in all the arguments in favor and against it can be contended that “CSR, at its simplest, is treating its stakeholders in a socially responsible way,” and since shareholders and environment along with other actors of the society are also stakeholders, “then CSR must address economic and environmental concerns as well as the social ones” ( Hopkins, 2012 ).

“In present time, the concept of corporate social responsibility embraces multiple stakeholders or partners (employees, customers, suppliers, the environment, local authorities, governments and others) in addition to shareholders and other investors. Corporates can no longer be isolated economic actors operating in detachment from society and working solely for shareholder. Rather, they are inextricably linked to the social, ecological, and human fabric and they are therefore responsible in the social, ecological and human fabric and they are therefore responsible in varying degrees to all stakeholder.”

Keeping this changing paradigm in consideration, CSR also needs better planning and newer strategies to respond to the changing development needs. CSR organizations have already been transformed into a glocal enterprise; and development needs and priorities are also the concern of everyone. Kumar (2021) has charted seven pillars of CSR Businesses in India that have been sensitive toward the concerns of society and is committed to operating its core business in a socially responsible way by taking into consideration the wider interests of the community and the environment. The seven pillars of CSR strategy are: (1) Need of partnership in CSR, (2) Cross learning, (3) Supplementing and nurturing CSR, (4) Per beneficiary cost reduction and maximizing the impact while reaching more people, (5) Knowledge management and documentation, (6) Use and reuse of resources for better CSR, and (7) Capacity-building of the CSR workforce and re-skilling (2021).

Corporate Social Responsibility- Mandatory Provisions in the Companies’ Act

In 2009, the National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental, and Economic Responsibilities of Business were introduced by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India, “in order to boost CSR activities in India” ( Mitra & Schmidpeter, 2017 ). The voluntary guidelines evolved into an amendment to the Companies Bill, 2011, approved by the Lok Sabha in December 2012. This amendment was later approved by the Indian Parliament as Section 135, CSR Rules, and Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013, and it was published in the Gazette on August 30, 2013, in India. It mandated certain companies to make efforts to drive a positive change and contribute to national development at the same time, thus marking the beginning of a new phase. The rationale behind this move was to hold companies responsible toward the society and work around the impact of their business operations at the same time ( Mitra & Schmidpeter, 2017 ). In the process, India became the first ever country in the world to introduce mandatory CSR laws. The rules in the act are equally applicable to the foreign companies that have operations in India. It was, at the time, seen as a game changer both in terms of its potential in India and the impact it may have on CSR outlook globally. Furthermore, it imposed significant challenges on the voluntary nature of the concept and further fueled the discourse in the global arena ( Zile, 2011 ).

Eligible companies to have a board (CSR Committee) to approve CSR policy for the company

Rules are spelt out for transfer and use of the unspent amount

Annual reports of such companies to add a comprehensive CSR report

An elaborate CSR policy to be published on the company website

Fine and punishment for noncompliance

Social Development and Sustainable Development Goals—India’s Commitment

For most people, it connotes a process of economic change brought about by industrialization. The term also implies a process of social change resulting in urbanization, the adoption of a modern lifestyle, and new attitudes. Further, it has a welfare connotation which suggests that development enhances people’s incomes and improves their educational levels, housing conditions and health status.

The concept of development is widely associated with economic progress. Interestingly, the term social development has also been somewhat understood by attaching economic development with human welfare to it. Social development can be understood in terms of the overall well-being of a society in which every individual is able to achieve their full potential and are able to live an economically as well as socially stable life. This can be achieved through adopting policies that focus on planned intervention and a more inclusive development.

In light of the above argument, the United Nations General Assembly, in 2015, adopted the SDGs as part of the sustained development Agenda 2030. These goals have been dubbed as refined versions of their precursor Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and essentially characterized as set goals that “aim to develop a global vision for sustainable development by focussing on both socio-economic as well as environmental development” ( United Nations, 2015 ). The SDGs contain a total of 17 goals and 169 targets further divided into 248 indicators. Furthermore, the SDGs “fully acknowledge the complexity, trade-offs, and systemic nature of sustainable development issues” ( ElAlfy, Palaschuk, El-Bassiouny, Wilson, & Weber, 2020 ). Therefore, by aligning national policies with SDGs, governments across the world can redirect their resources to achieving social development in a more measurable and efficient manner.

For India to achieve inclusive economic growth, it is imperative to have a concrete development framework in place. The diversity of this country creates unique challenges with reference to implementing social development projects. One of the major challenges is that of localization of SDGs to achieve the 2030 agenda ( NITI Aayog, 2021 ). Attempts have been made to optimally link SDGs with CSR programmes along with state sponsored schemes.

In a strategic vision document presented in 2018, the Government of India articulated its development agenda. The agenda reflects India’s own development goals built on the UN SDG Framework, aiming to achieve the UN SDGs by 2030, as well as ensure that India becomes a 4 trillion-dollar economy by 2022. ( Seamless Team, 2020 )

The task of regulating SDGs by developing a framework to enable implementation rests on NITI Aayog. NITI Aayog has created a robust framework (see Table 1 ) which focuses on adoption, implementation, and monitoring of the efforts at subnational levels. NITI Aayog framework is in tandem with the framework proposed by the 2019 publication by The Partnering Initiative and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “Maximizing the impact of partnerships for the SDGs: A practical guide to partnership value creation.” According to Stibbe, Reid, and Gilbert (2019) , this report presents a framework to understand, analyze, and improve partnerships for the SDGs.

NITI Aayog SDG agenda

Source: SDG India Index & Dashboard 2020–21, NITI Aayog.

Note: SDG: Sustainable Development Goals

Despite all the efforts, India ranks 121 out of 163 countries on the SDGs index in 2022. SDG index ranks countries by their overall score. “The overall score measures the total progress towards achieving all 17 SDGs. The score can be interpreted as a percentage of SDG achievement. A score of 100 indicates that all SDGs have been achieved” ( Sachs, Kroll, Lafortune, Fuller, & Woelm, 2022 ). While Finland has scored 86.51 (on top), South Sudan has received lowest score (39.05). India is continuously losing its place in ranking every year, from 114 in 2018 to 121 in 2022. There can be many reasons to explain this slight fall in rank. While many reasons may be held accountable for the downfall in the ranking, the convoluted nature of the problem of rising population, changing demography, environmental conditions, and natural disasters, including pandemics, are the main reasons. There are some unique and some overlapping reasons in three E’s – education, economy, and environment needs attention and correction; good governance and domestic political stability are also protuberant. However, the agenda of the SDGs requires favorable policy support and cooperation from the developed countries in the form of global tax structures, direct foreign investment, technology transfer and sharing, climate change action, capacity development, and more official development assistance (ODA).

SDG index ranking

Source: https://www.sdgindex.org/reports .

Last 2 years’ progress has been nullified to a great extent by the COVID pandemic. At the same time, India has progressed on many indicators. The percentage of people earning below $1.90 per day has dropped down from 14.53% in 2015 to 11.93% in 2021 and is further estimated to go down to 10.41% by the end of 2022 in the “SDG push scenario. Similarly, primary education’s gross completion rate has improved from 87.67% in 2015 to 92.06% in 2022.” 2

Strategic Engagement of Corporate Social Responsibility Provisions for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

The Indian CSR legislation and the SDGs were formulated in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Both have enormous potential to create a cohesive sustainable growth model. Kumar (2021) emphasized that “CSR has become an effective tool to work in the line of SDGs with a strong focus on social performance indicated in the CSR projects of the organizations. The SDGs, otherwise known as the Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.” The activities required to fulfill the SDGs and CSR thematic development areas overlap significantly, as seen in Table 3 . The SDGs establish specific, measurable goals with regard to the success of initiatives, while the CSR rules establish an extensive framework that provides guidance for sustained social development.

CSR activities in schedule VII of the company’s act mapped with SDGs 2030

Source: KPMG (2017) .

Note: CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility; SDG: Sustainable Development Goals

The SDGs are an evolution of the MDGs and specifically encourage business to use innovation and creativity to address development concerns. The commercial sector has once in a lifetime opportunity to participate in the SDGs and prove its mettle. In order to pursue a shared vision of sustainable development and confront the socioeconomic and environmental issues, both CSR and SDGs are fundamentally motivated to bring together participants from all sectors.

It can be asserted that the CSR rules provide guidelines in the form of a partnership opportunity similar to the SDGs. The SDGs lay out a more detailed strategy and a broader range of objectives that must be met and have a wider spectrum of indicators to measure the impact on eradicating poverty, lowering inequality, and implementation/investigation agency partnership for overall growth. For instance, depending on the type of intervention, a company that chooses gender as a focus area (as listed in Schedule VII) may be able to connect it to several SDGs, as there are a total of 58 unique indicators of gender equality in the global indicator framework of SDGs which span across activities such as empowering women, eradicating poverty, promoting education, awareness on hygiene and sanitation, training to promote sports activities, etc.

Funding in the Last Five Years

In the last 5 years, at least 17,000 companies each year have had their dedicated CSR programmes. A cumulative of INR 1,013,719 million were spent by these companies in a dedicated way (see Table 4 ). As per data available on the national CSR portal of India, more than 36,000 CSR programmes were active in the year 2021 alone. During this year a total of INR 248,654 million were spent on these projects. A dissection of data on the nature of these companies in 2021 show that an overwhelming majority (80%) of this spending comes from non-PSU companies.

Overall spending on CSR projects in the last 5 years

Source: csr.gov.in.

Further dissection shows that most companies have focused their attention on rural development programmes (7% spending), followed by contribution to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) (6.6% spending). While important issues like health care and education have attracted significant spending, other important issues like gender equality and women empowerment (0.89% spending), environment sustainability (3.94% spending), vocational skills (2.5% spending), and livelihood enhancement projects (3.20% spending) have been left out as focused areas (see Table 5 ). Least attention has been given to issues like slum development (0.29% spending), poverty alleviation, etc. Most companies (55%) have spent more than the originally prescribed budget for their respective projects, while a big-minority (17%) of companies have failed to spend their prescribed budgets at all.

Spending under five main issues of social development

Source: csr.gov.in/ .

Figures originally in crores are converted into millions and round off.

Note: FY: Financial Year

Corporate Social Responsibility Impacting Social Development Policies and Programmes?

Over the years, since the inception of CSR rules, a lot of companies have concretized their CSR programmes. The CSR Activities have been modified, removed, or amended 12 times 3 since the insertion of the original list of activities in schedule VII of section 135. Efforts have been made to make robust frameworks for implementation, monitoring, and reporting of the projects. It is visible from reports published by various reporting agencies (such as the MCA, KPMG, Goldman Sachs, etc.) that CSR is slowly accelerating and making a firm place in business policies of Indian corporations.

However, the progress of India on various development indexes has been stagnant throughout these years. In the year 2016, India ranked 108 out of 144 companies on the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) ( World Economic Forum, 2016 ). In 2021, it had further worsened to 140 out of 156 countries ( World Economic Forum, 2021 ). Similarly, India ranked 131 out of 191 countries on United Nation’s Human Development Index (HDI) (United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 2017 ) and stayed stagnant at 132nd rank in the year 2021 ( UNDP, 2022 ). Other indexes have not fared better either. According to Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (GMPI) 2021, India ranks 66 out of 109 countries. It has stayed stagnant since India ranked 67 of the 107 countries on the list in 2016.

A close analysis of CSR activities in schedule VII reveals that standalone SDG 4 pertaining to education can be mapped to five activities, namely, promoting education, measures for benefits of armed forces veterans, contribution to Prime Minister National Relief Fund (PMNRF), and rural and slum development projects. In 2013, India spent 14.05% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on education which has increased to 16.54% in 2020. 4 Furthermore, standalone SDG 1 pertaining to poverty alleviation is mapped to six CSR activities, namely, Activities I, II, III, VIII, X, and XI (see Table 3 ). As per data available on the UNDP website, percentage of people earning below $1.90 stood at 14.54 in 2015, at 13.31 in the “SDG push” scenario in the year 2020. This is estimated to come down to 10.41% by the end of year 2022. 5 There are many flagship programmes of the Government of India in the field of education, health, vocational skills, livelihood and employment, and sanitation that are being hugely supported by CSR funds. Dasa (2018) reported that:

One such scheme which directly impacts the goal of Zero Hunger is Mid-Day Meal Scheme. The Mid day Meal (MDM) scheme started by the Government of India under the umbrella of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has been developed to tackle classroom hunger, one of the major concerns plaguing our society; while providing and facilitating quality education, another global SDG.

According to a report on top 20 CSR fund companies, most of them are contributing on flagship schemes of the Government of India. Their major CSR focus areas were health, education, women and children care, rural transformation, sports for development, sanitation, environment, disaster response, etc. ( i2U Social Foundation, 2021 ). The Prime minister’s two mega development projects – Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Namami Gange – run through Swachh Bharat Kosh and Clean Ganga fund are included in schedule VII as CSR activities for contribution. This shows that more and more mega social development projects will seek collaboration with CSR in the near future. Although the changes on various development indicators are improving only gradually, it can be asserted that the quantum of money which has significantly increased, due to CSR programmes, in the development sector is bound to influence social policies and social development.

CSR is a much debated and contested concept and is rather peculiar because of the complex relations that have been imbibed in various components of its application. There are arguments both in favor and against the business and moral cases. However, the companies must understand the scale of impact around their operations. While the corporate’s reason behind profit orientation is understandable, the moral case for CSR needs to be studied more closely. There is a significant gap in literature when it comes to the critique of current frameworks implemented, as most of these frameworks are profit oriented. A closer look at the mandatory nature of CSR can also be an area of further studies. Regarding the mandatory nature of CSR and its impact on overall social development, the requisite data collection mechanism has to be strengthened as there is no denial that Schedule VII provisions have definitely given a push to SDGs in India. Although the change in various development sectors is not a yet s desired, even India makes a solid case for the importance of mapping SDGs with local CSR efforts to attain the Agenda 2030 and its targets

• https://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/CompaniesAct2013.pdf ⮭
• https://data.undp.org/content/assessing-covid-impacts-on-the-sdgs/ ⮭
• https://www.mca.gov.in/content/mca/global/en/acts-rules/ebooks/acts.html?act=NTk2MQ==#Schedule_VII_Activities_Which_May_be_Included_by_Companies_in_their_Corporate_Social_Responsibility_Policies ⮭
• India Education Spending 1997–2022 . (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2022, from https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/IND/india/education-spending ⮭

Austin, J. E. (2000). Strategic collaboration between nonprofits and businesses. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly , 29(Suppl. 1), 69–97. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764000291S004 https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764000291S004

Banerjee, S. B. (2008). Corporate social responsibility: The good, the bad and the ugly. Critical Sociology , 34(1), 51–79. https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920507084623 https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920507084623

Bhatt, S., & Francis, A. P. (2012). Corporate social responsibility: An area of occupational social work practice. In P. Illango & A. P. Francis (Eds.), Professional social work: Research perspectives . New Delhi: Authors Press, pp. 1–18.

Blowfield, M. (2005). Corporate social responsibility: Reinventing the meaning of development? International Affairs , 81(3), 515–524. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2005.00466.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2005.00466.x

Bowen, H. R. (2013). Social responsibilities of the businessman . University of Iowa Press, Iowa city. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt20q1w8f https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt20q1w8f

Carroll, A. B. (1999). Corporate social responsibility: Evolution of a definitional construct. Business & Society , 38(3), 268–295. https://doi.org/10.1177/000765039903800303 https://doi.org/10.1177/000765039903800303

Chahoud, T., Emmerling, J., Kolb, D., Kubina, I., Repinski, G., & Schläger, C. (2007). Corporate social and environmental responsibility in India-assessing the UN global compact’s role (Vol. 26). DEU. ISBN 978-3-88985-336-3, Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Bonn.

Dasa, S. M. P. (2018). Mid-day meal scheme . Retrieved from https://www.csrmandate.org/mid-day-meal-scheme/ https://www.csrmandate.org/mid-day-meal-scheme/

Davis, K. (1960). Can business afford to ignore social responsibilities? California Management Review , 2(3), 70–76. https://doi.org/10.2307/41166246 https://doi.org/10.2307/41166246

ElAlfy, A., Palaschuk, N., El-Bassiouny, D., Wilson, J., & Weber, O. (2020). Scoping the evolution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) research in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) era. Sustainability , 12(14), 5544. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145544 https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145544

Hadfield-Hill, S. (2014). CSR in India: Reflections from the banking sector. Social Responsibility Journal , Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 10(1), 21–37. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-11-2012-0145 , https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-11-2012-0145

Hopkins, M. (2012). Corporate social responsibility and international development: Is business the solution? Routledge. London: Earthscan.

i2U Social Foundation. (2021). Top 20 CSR fund providing companies . Retrieved from https://www.indiaisus.com/blog/top-20-csr-fund-providing-companies.html https://www.indiaisus.com/blog/top-20-csr-fund-providing-companies.html

International Labour Organization. (2009, January 1). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) [Document]. Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/empent/Informationresources/WCMS_101253/lang-en/index.htm http://www.ilo.org/empent/Informationresources/WCMS_101253/lang-en/index.htm

Jackson, I., & Nelson, J. (2004). Values-driven performance: Seven strategies for delivering profits with principles. Ivey Business Journal , 69(2), 1–8.

Jamali, D., & Keshishian, T. (2009). Uneasy alliances: Lessons learned from partnerships between businesses and NGOs in the context of CSR. Journal of Business Ethics , 84(2), 277–295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9708-1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9708-1

Jamali, D., & Mirshak, R. (2007). Corporate social responsibility (CSR): Theory and practice in a developing country context. Journal of Business Ethics , 72(3), 243–262. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9168-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9168-4

Jammulamadaka, N. (2015). Responsibility for the third world factory: Limits of eurocentric CSR and making room for the state. DECISION , 42(1), 71–82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40622-015-0079-z https://doi.org/10.1007/s40622-015-0079-z

Jenkins, R. (2005). Globalization, corporate social responsibility and poverty. International Affairs , 81(3), 525–540. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2005.00467.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2005.00467.x

Karnani, A. (2013). Mandatory CSR in India: A bad proposal . Stanford Social Innovation Review, USA, https://doi.org/10.48558/8S2W-M041 https://doi.org/10.48558/8S2W-M041

KPMG. (2017, December). Sustainable development goals (SDGs): Leveraging CSR to achieve SDGs . Retrieved from https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/in/pdf/2017/12/SDG_New_Final_Web.pdf https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/in/pdf/2017/12/SDG_New_Final_Web.pdf

Kumar, R. (2021). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in India . India CSR Portal. Retrieved from https://indiacsr.in/corporate-social-responsibility-csr-in-india/ https://indiacsr.in/corporate-social-responsibility-csr-in-india/

Midgley, J. (1995). Social development: The developmental perspective in social welfare . London: Sage Publications.

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. (2022, January 21). Open government data (OGD) platform India [Text]. Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India. Retrieved from https://data.gov.in https://data.gov.in

Mitra, N., & Schmidpeter, R. (2017). The why, what and how of the CSR mandate: The India story. In N. Mitra & R. Schmidpeter (Eds.), Corporate social responsibility in India (pp. 1–8). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41781-3_1 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41781-3_1

Mohan, A. (2001). Corporate citizenship: Perspectives from India. Journal of Corporate Citizenship , 2, 107–117. https://doi.org/10.9774/GLEAF.4700.2001.su.00012 https://doi.org/10.9774/GLEAF.4700.2001.su.00012

Moon, J. (2005). An explicit model of business-society relations. In Corporate social responsibility across Europe (eds) André Habisch, Martina Wegner , René Schmidpeter,& Jan Jonker, Springer Berlin, Heidelberg (pp. 51–66).

Newell, P. (2005). Citizenship, accountability, and community: The limits of the CSR agenda. International Affairs , 81(3), 541–557. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2005.00468.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2005.00468.x

NITI Ayog. (2021). SDG India index & dashboard 2020–21 . Retrieved from https://sdgindiaindex.niti.gov.in/assets/Files/SDG3.0_Final_04.03.2021_Web_Spreads.pdf https://sdgindiaindex.niti.gov.in/assets/Files/SDG3.0_Final_04.03.2021_Web_Spreads.pdf

Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2002). The competitive advantage of corporate philanthropy. Harvard Business Review , 80(12), 56–68.

Rudolph, P. (2005, June). Letters to the editor: An Adam Smith look at green regulations. The Wall Street Journal , p. 6.

Sachs, J., Kroll, C., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G., & Woelm, F. (2022). Sustainable development report 2022 (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009210058 https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009210058

Seamless Team. (2020, January 31). Can CSR help India achieve its development goals? Seamless. Retrieved from https://seamlessglobal.co/can-csr-help-india-achieve-its-development-goals/ https://seamlessglobal.co/can-csr-help-india-achieve-its-development-goals/

Seitanidi, M. M., & Ryan, A. (2007). A critical review of forms of corporate community involvement: From philanthropy to partnerships. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing , 12(3), 247–266. https://doi.org/10.1002/nvsm.306 https://doi.org/10.1002/nvsm.306

Sethi, S. P. (1975). Dimensions of corporate social responsibility. California Management Review , 17(3), 58–64. https://doi.org/10.2307/41162149 https://doi.org/10.2307/41162149

Stibbe, D., Reid, S., & Gilbert, J. (2019). Maximising the impact of partnerships for the SDGs: A practical guide to partnership value creation First edition , The Partnering Initiative and UN DESA, The Old Music Hall, 106-108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE, UK.

Sundar, P. (2000). Beyond business: From merchant charity to corporate citizenship: Indian business philanthropy through the ages . New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company.

United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development . Retrieved from https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N15/291/89/PDF/N1529189.pdf?OpenElement https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N15/291/89/PDF/N1529189.pdf?OpenElement

United Nations Development Programme. (2017). Human development report 2016: Human development for everyone . UN. https://doi.org/10.18356/b6186701-en https://doi.org/10.18356/b6186701-en

United Nations Development Programme. (2022). Human development report 2021/22 . Retrieved from https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2021-22pdf_1.pdf https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2021-22pdf_1.pdf

United Nations Industrial Development Organization. (n.d.). What is CSR? Author. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.unido.org/our-focus/advancing-economic-competitiveness/competitive-trade-capacities-and-corporate-responsibility/corporate-social-responsibility-market-integration/what-csr https://www.unido.org/our-focus/advancing-economic-competitiveness/competitive-trade-capacities-and-corporate-responsibility/corporate-social-responsibility-market-integration/what-csr

Wartick, S. L., & Cochran, P. L. (1985). The evolution of the corporate social performance model. Academy of Management Review , 10(4), 758–769. https://doi.org/10.2307/258044 https://doi.org/10.2307/258044

World Economic Forum. (2016). The global gender gap report 2016 . Retrieved from https://www3.weforum.org/docs/GGGR16/WEF_Global_Gender_Gap_Report_2016.pdf https://www3.weforum.org/docs/GGGR16/WEF_Global_Gender_Gap_Report_2016.pdf

World Economic Forum. (2021). Global gender gap report 2021 [Insight Report]. Retrieved from https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2021.pdf https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2021.pdf

Zile, C. V. (2011). India’s mandatory corporate social responsibility proposal: Creative capitalism meets creative regulation in the global market. APLPJ , 13, 269.

Sanjai Bhatt, is a Professor, Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Lakshya Kadiyan, M.Phil, Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Harvard-Style Citation

Bhatt, S & Kadiyan, L. (2023) 'Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Development in India: An Interface', Social Development Issues . 44(3) doi: 10.3998/sdi.3709

Show: Vancouver Citation Style | APA Citation Style

Vancouver-Style Citation

Bhatt, S & Kadiyan, L. Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Development in India: An Interface. Social Development Issues. 2023 1; 44(3) doi: 10.3998/sdi.3709

Show: Harvard Citation Style | APA Citation Style

APA-Style Citation

Bhatt, S & Kadiyan, L. (2023, 1 19). Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Development in India: An Interface. Social Development Issues 44(3) doi: 10.3998/sdi.3709

Show: Harvard Citation Style | {% trans 'Vancouver Citation Style' %}

Non Specialist Summary

This article has no summary

Does Corporate Social Responsibility Increase Firm Performance? The Case of Korea

22 Pages Posted: 25 Jun 2024

Jens Müller-Merbach

Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences

Sungkyunkwan University

Date Written: June 18, 2024

This study examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance (CFP) among 734 listed Korean companies over ten years. The research findings confirm a strong positive impact of CSR on CFP in the manufacturing sector, but no such impact in the non-manufacturing sector (excluding the financial sector). A more detailed analysis reveals that the social contribution of a company is the major driver for a positive CSR impact, with five other sub-categories of CSR having only a minor influence. In terms of ownership structure, we find that the existence of majority shareholders as well as treasury stocks negatively impact CSR. This study contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between CSR and CFP in the Korean market, offering insights that could aid stakeholders such as insiders and investors in making rational decisions.

Keywords: KEJI, Corporate financial performance, Corporate social responsibility, Korean market, Manufacturing firms, Panel data analysis

JEL Classification: G14, G32, M14, Q56

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Jens Müller-Merbach (Contact Author)

Frankfurt university of applied sciences ( email ).

Nibelungenplatz 1 Frankfurt / Main, 60318 Germany +49-69-1533-3838 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.frankfurt-university.de/index.php?id=8165

Sungkyunkwan University ( email )

25-2, Sungkyunkwan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03063 Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics, related ejournals, corporate finance: governance, corporate control & organization ejournal.

Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic

Corporate Finance: Valuation, Capital Budgeting & Investment Policy eJournal

Sustainable investments ejournal.

Subscribe to this free journal for more curated articles on this topic

Corporate social responsibility in India: rethinking Gandhi’s doctrine of trusteeship in the twenty-first century

• Published: 10 April 2021
• Volume 10 , pages 61–84, ( 2021 )

Cite this article

• Bishnuprasad Mohapatra   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7453-8490 1  

717 Accesses

4 Citations

1 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

In the twenty-first century, corporate social responsibility is not a new phenomenon to India’s capitalist development model. Instead, the concept itself is implicitly rooted in traditional values, customs, and ideal systems of charismatic leaders. Trusteeship is one such ideal notion of Gandhi’s work on economic justice and equality, which influence business communities for voluntary activities. However, with exposure to globalization, the adaptation of new economic policy and its adverse impacts changed business communities’ role towards voluntary activities and forced the state for the enactment of statutory provisions through the Companies Act 2013. In this context, the present paper employed the content and content configuration analysis method to analyze the relevance of these two ideas—trusteeship and statutory provision of CSR, in the current state of development. For that, the paper makes a comparative analysis between these two ideas with their eight inherent similar segments. After comparing and interrogating what present CSR deficient, the paper concludes that the alternative and future of Indian CSR practice and sustainability lie within the practice of trusteeship. Corporate and state need to incorporate the Gandhian idea of “trusteeship” within the present CSR framework to achieve a long-term sustainable society.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Implementation: A Review and a Research Agenda Towards an Integrative Framework

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): The Role of Government in promoting CSR

Environmental-, social-, and governance-related factors for business investment and sustainability: a scientometric review of global trends

Arevalo, J. A., & Aravind, D. (2011). Corporate social responsibility practices in India: Approach, drivers, and barriers. Corporate Governance. The international journal of business in society, 11 (4), 399–414.

Google Scholar  

Arora, B., & Puranik, R. (2004). A review of corporate social responsibility in India. Development, 47 (3), 93–100.

Article   Google Scholar  

Ashwin, A. S., Krishnan, R. T., & George, R. (2015). Family firms in India: Family involvement, innovation and agency and stewardship behaviors. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 32 (4), 869–900.

Azheri, B. (2016). Corporate social responsibility in the rule of law and welfare state concept. Hasanuddin Law Review, 1 (2), 277–288.

Bakshi, R. (2016). Trusteeship: business and the economics of well-being . Gate Way House.

Bandyopadhyaya, J. (1969). Social and Political Thought of Gandhi. Bombay . Allied Publishers.

Berger, L., Bergman, M. M., Bergman, Z., Leisinger, K., & Ojo, E. (2014). The influence of context and culture on corporate responsibility expectations in South Africa. Journal of International Business Ethics, 7 (2), 3.

Bergman, M. M., Leisinger, K. M., Bergman, Z., & Berger, L. (2015). An analysis of the conceptual landscape of Corporate Responsibility in academia. Business and Professional Ethics Journal, 34 (2), 165–193.

Bergman, M. M., Bergman, Z., Teschemacher, Y., Arora, B., Jyoti, D., & Sengupta, R. (2019). Corporate responsibility in India: Academic perspectives on the Companies Act 2013. Sustainability, 11 (21), 5939.

Bhattacharyya, A., & Rahman, M. L. (2019). Mandatory CSR expenditure and firm performance. Journal of Contemporary Accounting & Economics, 15 (3), 100163.

Bhave, V. (1971). Introduction in K. G. Mashruwala, Gandhi and Marx . Ahmedabad: Navajivan Trust.

Blowfield, M., & Murray, A. (2008). Corporate responsibility: a critical introduction . Oxford.

Campbell, J. L. (2007). Why would corporations behave in socially responsible ways? An institutional theory of corporate social responsibility. The Academy of Management Review, 32 (3), 946–967.

Carroll, A. B. (1979). A Three-Dimensional Conceptual Model of Corporate Performance. Academy of Management Review, 4, 497–505.

Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons, 34, 39–48.

Carroll, A. B. (2016). Carroll’s pyramid of CSR: Taking another look. International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 1 (1), 1–8.

Carroll, A. B., & Brown, J. A. (2018). Corporate social responsibility: A review of current concepts, research, and issues. In Corporate Social Responsibility (pp. 39–69). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Chakrabarty, B. (2017). Gandhi’s doctrine of trusteeship: Spiritualizing inter-personal relation. In Working Paper 67 . NCDS, Bhubaneswar.

Chambers, E., Chapple, W., Moon, J., & Sullivan, M. (2003). CSR in Asia: A seven country study of CSR website reporting . International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility.

Chatterjee, S., & Debnath, K. (2019). Why state intervention is required for corporate social responsibility? An Indian experience. Amity Journal of Corporate Governance, 4 (1), 28–42.

Chhabra, R. (2019). Jail term for Violation of CSR norms . India CSR Network. Retrieved from URL https://indiacsr.in/jail-term-for-violatation-of-csr-norms/

Das, V. (2001). Mining bauxite, mining people. Economic & Political Weekly, XXXVI (28), 2612–2614.

Das, S. K. (2015). Corporate social responsibility initiatives taken for rural development in India. Sumedha Journal of Management, 4 (3), 4–17.

Das, L., & Bhunia, A. (2016). The impact of CSR on firms’ financial performance – a literature review. American Journal of Business, Economics and Management, 4 (4), 66–74.

Feng, Y., et al. (2016). The impact of corporate Social responsibility on brand value: An empirical study of TOP 100 global brands. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 7 (10), 61–71.

Françoise, Quairel‐Lanoizelée. (2011). Are competition and corporate social responsibility compatible?. Society and Business Review 6 (1):77–98

Frynas, J. G. (2005). The false development promise of corporate Social responsibility; evidence from multinational oil companies. International Affairs, 81 (3), 581–598.

Gandhi, M. (2008). India of my dreams . Rajpal & Sons.

Garg, P. (2016). CSR and corporate performance: Evidence from India. Decision, 43 (4), 333–349.

Garg, A., & Gupta, P. K. (2020). Mandatory CSR expenditure and firm performance. South Asian Journal of Business Studies, 9 (2), 235–249.

GoI. (2010). Guidelines on Corporate Social Responsibility for CPSES . Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises.

GoI. (2013). The Companies Act, 2013 . Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

GoI. (2019). The Companies (Amendment) Act 2019 . Ministry of Law and Justice.

GoI. (2020). The Companies (Amendment) Act 2020 . Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Guha, P. (2020). Why comply with an unenforced policy? The case of mandated corporate social responsibility in India. Policy Design and Practice, 3 (1), 58–72.

Gupta, A. (2014). Hill of death. Down to Earth, March, 16-31 , 14–16.

Jain, A. (2014). The mandatory CSR in India: A boon or bane. Indian Journal Of applied Research, 4 (1), 301–304.

Kelkar, R. (1960). MK Gandhi on Trusteeship . Jitendra T. Desai Navajivan Mudranalaya, Ahemadabad, India.

Khanna, T., & Rivkin, J. W. (2001). Estimating the performance effects of business groups in emerging markets. Strategic Management Journal, 22 (1), 45–74.

Kim, W. S., & Oh, S. (2019). Corporate social responsibility, business groups and financial performance: A study of listed Indian firms. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 32 (1), 1777–1793.

Kumar, P. (2011). Development induced displacement: A case Study of Jadugura mine in Jharkhand . West Bengal: Thesis submitted to The University of Burdwan.

Kumar, B. (2017a). Corporate social responsibility–issues and challenges in India. Journal of MACHE, 4 (1), 1–17.

Kumar, S. V. (2017b). Corporate social responsibility in India: An over view. Journal of Asian Business Management, 9 , 53–67.

Kumar, N. (2019a). Corporate social responsibility: An analysis of impact and challenges in India. International Journal of Social Sciences Management and Entrepreneurship, 3 (2).

Kumar, S. (2019b). Govt gives cos rime till 2024 to spend CSR funds: Clarifies amended CSR rules prospective . Indiacsr Network. Retrieved from URL: https://indiacsr.in/govt-gives-cos-time-till-2024-to-spend-csr-funds/

Kundu, C., & Dawar N. (2019). Fact Check: Who funded the tallest statue of the world ?. India Today, Published on 9th November 2019, accessed date 18th April 2020. https://www.indiatoday.in/fact-check/story/fact-check-statue-of-unity-funding-1384904-2018-11-09

Maan, P. (2014). CSR-key issues and challenges in India. International Journal of Science, Environment and Technology, 3 (6), 2038–2045.

Malik, M. (2015). Value-enhancing capabilities of CSR: A brief review of contemporary literature. Journal of Business Ethics, 127 (2), 419–438.

Maqbool, S., & Zameer, M. N. (2017). Corporate social responsibility and financial performance: An empirical analysis of Indian Banks. Future Business Journal, 4 , 84–93.

Mathew, J (2018). Oil PSUs ONGC, IOC and others made to pay for Rs 3000 crore Sardar Patel statue . Business Today. Published on 14th September, 2018. Accessed date 18th April 2020. https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/sardar-patel-statue-oil-psus-ongc-ioc-cag-3000-crore-csr/story/281162.html

MCA. (2019). Report of the High Level Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility 2018 . Government of India, New Delhi: Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Mishra A. (2019). Finance minister promises to review the new csr rules. Indiacsr Network, Retrieved from: https://indiacsr.in/finance-minister-promises-to-review-the-new-csr-rules/

Mitra, M. (2011). ‘It’s Only Business! India’s Corporate social Responsiveness in a Globalized World . Oxford University Press.

Mohanty, R. (2011). Impact of development project on the displaced tribals: A case study of a development project in Eastern India. Orissa Review , Sep-Oct: 67-73

Mohapatra, B. (2018). Tribal livelihood and its sustainability. In the context of present development paradigm. Man and Development, 40 .

Mohapatra, B. And Soren, S. (2019) Agencies of Gender And Development: New Emerging Structures And Roles, In A K Mishra And S. Mishra (Eds.) Contemporary gender discourse: Issues and contestation, 2019, SSDN Publication

Moon, J. (2014). Corporate social responsibility: A very short introduction . OUP Oxford.

Mukherjee, A., & Mukherjee, M. (1988). Imperialism and growth of Indian capitalism in twentieth century. Economic and Political Weekly , 531–546.

Oxfam. (2020). Times to Care . Oxfam India.

Pashupatimath, A., & Shivashankar, K. (2020). Corporate social responsibility initiatives: Issus and challenges in Indian context. Mukt Shabd Journal, IX (V).

Rajput, N., Batra, G., and Pathak, R. (2012). Linking CSR and financial performance: an empirical validation. Problems and Perspectives in Management , (10, Iss. 2), 42-49.

Ramakrishnan, D. (2016). Indian CSR-is it different from Western? Available at SSRN, 2902580 .

Sagar, P., & Singla, A. (2004). Trust and corporate social responsibility: Lessons from India. Journal of Communication Management, 8 (3), 282–290.

Sahasranamam, S., Arya, B., & Sud, M. (2019). Ownership structure and corporate social responsibility in an emerging market. Asia Pacific Journal of Management , 1–28.

Satapathy, J., & Paltasingh, T. (2019). CSR in India: A journey from compassion to commitment. Asian Journal of Business Ethics, 8 (2), 225–240.

Saxena, N. (2016). Corporate social responsibility: Issues & challenges. International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, 3 , 41–46.

Schwartz, M. S., & Carroll, A. B. (2003). Corporate social responsibility: A three-domain approach. Business Ethics Quarterly, 13 , 503–530.

Senapati, M. R. (2015). Fly ash from thermal power plants- disposal and management. Odisha Review, LXXII (5), 60–63.

Shamir, R. (2011). Socially responsible private regulation: World culture or world capitalism ? Law and Society Review, 45 (2), 313–336.

Sharma, S. G. (2009). Corporate social responsibility in India: An overview. The International Lawyer , 1515–1533.

Sharma, S. (2013). Corporate social responsibility in India- the emerging discourse and concerns. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 48 (4), 582–596.

Sharma, S. (2018). Gandhian Trusteeship & CSR: Interrogating the relationship. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 54 (2).

Siltaoja, M. E. (2006). Value priorities as combining core factors between CSR and reputation–a qualitative study. Journal of Business Ethics, 68 (1), 91–111.

Singh, H. (2018a). An analytical study of challenges of corporate social responsibility in India. IJRAR, 5 (3), 215–218.

Singh, N. (2018b). Corporate social responsibility-a boon or bane for corporate in Indian Scenario. The Catalyst- Journal of Management, 3 (II), 75–80.

Sood, A., & Arora, B. (2006). The political economy of corporate responsibility in India . UNRISD.

Subramaniam, N., Kansal, M., & Babu, S. (2017). Governance of mandated corporate social responsibility: Evidence from Indian government-owned firms. Journal of Business Ethics, 143 (3), 543–563.

Sundar, P. (2013). Business and community: The story of corporate social responsibility in India . SAGE Publications India.

Tamvada, M. (2019). The dynamics of CSR, mandatory CSR laws, and corporate social performance in India. In Corporate social responsibility in developing and emerging markets: Institutions, actors and sustainable development (pp. 168–190).

Tamvada, M. (2020). Corporate social responsibility and accountability: A new theoretical foundation for regulating CSR. International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 5 , 1–14.

Tharoor, S. (2003). Nehru: the invention of India . Arcade publishing.

Times of India. (2015). Leaking J’khand mine poses radioactive risk: US report . Wednesday, Dec-16, Raipur Edition, pp-3

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author is thankful to the AJBE Editorial Team for extending their continuous support in the publication process. The author is grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions in the original draft that helps in the quality improvement of the manuscript. The author is also thankful to Dr. Tanaya Mohanty, Prof. Navaneeta Rath, Chinmayee Mishra, Archita Bala Patra of Department of Sociology, Utkal University, and Bamadev Mahapatra of IIT-ISM Dhanbad for their constructive insights to improve the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Sociology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, 751004, India

Bishnuprasad Mohapatra

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bishnuprasad Mohapatra .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Mohapatra, B. Corporate social responsibility in India: rethinking Gandhi’s doctrine of trusteeship in the twenty-first century. Asian J Bus Ethics 10 , 61–84 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13520-021-00121-2

Download citation

Received : 28 April 2020

Accepted : 23 March 2021

Published : 10 April 2021

Issue Date : June 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s13520-021-00121-2

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Trusteeship
• Corporate social responsibility
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research