Lok Sabha Question No. 3154 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-15
Subject: Use of CSR Fund
Ministry: CORPORATE AFFAIRS
Asked by: Ganesh Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3154 ANSWERED ON MONDAY THE 15 th  MARCH, 2021/ PHALGUNA 24, 1942 (SAKA)

## USE OF CSR FUND

## QUESTION

3154. SHRI GANESH SINGH:

Will the Minister of CORPORATE AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

कारपोरेट कार्य मंत्री

- (a) the sailent features of Apni Dharohar Apni Pehchaan scheme;
- (b) whether national heritage and sports infrastructure falls under Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013 and if so, the details of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds spent on national heritage development and sports infrastructure during the last five years;
- (c) the details of expenditure incurred and unspent fund under CSR by Public Sector Enterprises and private companies during the last five financial years;
- (d) the details of new jobs created under the CSR activity during the said period; and
- (e) whether the Government has formulated any monitoring mechanism on pre and post implementation of programmes under CSR so as to ensure full expenditure of funds by companies under CSR and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FINANCE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS                                         (SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR) वित्त एिं कारपोरेट कार्य  मंत्रालर् में राज्र् मंत्री ( श्री अनुराग स ंह ठाक ु र )

(a) :  As  per  inputs  provided  by  Ministry  of  Tourism,  Government  of  India  has launched the 'Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan' project which is a collaborative effort by the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture, Archaeological Survey of  India  and  State/  UTs  Government  for  developing  tourism  amenities  at heritage/ natural/ tourist sites spread across India for making them tourist friendly, in a planned and phased manner. The project aims to encourage companies from public sector, private sector, trusts, NGOs, individuals and other stakeholders to become  'Monument  Mitras'  and  take  up  the  responsibility  of  developing  and upgrading  the  basic  and  advanced  tourist  amenities  at  these  sites  as  per  their interest and viability in terms of a sustainable investment model under Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR). They would also look after the Operation & Maintenance of the same.

(b) to  (e)  The  broad  framework  for  CSR  is  provided  through  Section  135  of  the Companies Act, 2013 ('Act'), the Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, 2014 and Schedule VII of the Act.  The Schedule VII indicates the activities that can be undertaken by the  companies  as  eligible  CSR  activities.  Item  no.  (v)  of  Schedule  VII  covers 'Protection of national heritage, art and culture including restoration of building and sites of historical importance and works of art; setting up public libraries; promotion and development of traditional arts and handicrafts'. Similarly, item no. (vii) covers 'training to promote rural sports, nationally recognized sports, Paralympic sports and Olympic sports'. Ministry of Corporate Affairs vide General Circular no. 21/2014 dated 18th June, 2014 clarified that items mentioned in Schedule VII are broad based and can  be  interpreted  liberally.  The  CSR  architecture  is  disclosure  based  and  CSR mandated companies are required  to  file  details  of  its  CSR  activities  annually  in MCA21 registry. On the basis of filings made by the Companies in the MCA21 registry, the CSR spent by all the companies in the areas of Art and Culture and training to promote sports is at Annexure-I. Further, the CSR spent by various public and private sector companies for the last five financial years is at Annexure-II. Under  the  Act,  CSR  is  a  Board  driven  process  and  the  Board  of  the  company  is empowered  to  plan,  decide,  execute  and  monitor  CSR  activities  of  the  company based on the recommendation of its CSR Committee. The existing legal provisions such as mandatory disclosures, accountability of the CSR Committee and the Board, provisions  for  statutory  audit  of  accounts  of  the  company  etc.  provide  sufficient safeguards for implementation of CSR by the companies. Whenever any violation of CSR  provisions  is  reported,  action  against  such  non-compliant  Companies  are initiated as per provisions of the Act after due examination of records and following due process of law.

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## Annexure-I

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3154 FOR 15.03.2021

| Development Sector         |   FY 2015-16 Amount Spent (INR Cr.) |   FY 2016-17 Amount Spent (INR Cr.) |   FY 2017-18 Amount Spent (INR Cr.) |   FY 2018-19 Amount Spent (INR Cr.) |   FY 2019-20 Amount Sp.ent (INR Cr.) |   Grand Total (INR Cr.) |
|----------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|-------------------------|
| Art and Culture            |                              119.17 |                              305.57 |                              284.06 |                              189.89 |                                48.08 |                  946.77 |
| Training to Promote Sports |                              140.12 |                              180.33 |                              227.75 |                              295.1  |                                98.97 |                  942.27 |
| Grand Total (INR Cr.)      |                              259.29 |                              485.9  |                              511.81 |                              484.99 |                               147.05 |                 1889.04 |

(Data upto 30.09.2020) [Source: National CSR Data Portal]

Annexure-II

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3154 FOR 15.03.2021

|                                     | FY 2015-16             | FY 2015-16             | FY 2016-17             | FY 2016-17             | FY 2017-18             | FY 2017-18             | FY 2018-19             | FY 2018-19             | FY 2019-20             | FY 2019-20             |
|-------------------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
| Nature of Company                   | Num- ber of compa nies | Amount Spent (INR Cr.) | Num- ber of compa nies | Amount Spent (INR Cr.) | Num- ber of compa nies | Amount Spent (INR Cr.) | Num- ber of compa nies | Amount Spent (INR Cr.) | Num- ber of compa nies | Amount Spent (INR Cr.) |
| Public Sector Under- takings (PSUs) | 533                    | 4,214.69               | 550                    | 3,295.99               | 535                    | 2,704.32               | 609                    | 3,835.50               | 14                     | 438.29                 |
| Non- PSUs                           | 17,759                 | 10,302.52              | 18,999                 | 11,046.05              | 20,915                 | 11,185.53              | 24,323                 | 14,819.32              | 1061                   | 7,384.21               |
| Grand Total                         | 18292                  | 14,517.21              | 19,549                 | 14,342.04              | 21,450                 | 13,889.85              | 24,932                 | 18,654.82              | 1,075                  | 7,822.50               |

(Data upto 30.09.2020) [Source: National CSR Data Portal]

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