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CSR Journey in India Key Milestones

csr

Though Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been a key area for various corporates in India, it formally became a part of Corporate Governance in 2013 via Companies Act, 2013.

The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become an integral part of business philosophy after its introduction as a statutory obligation under Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013.

The provisions in Section 135 of Companies Act, 2013, makes is mandatory for companies to spend part of their profit on national development priorities, including community development initiatives as part of their CSR activities.

The CSR evolution started in the year 2009 which led to enactment of the CSR law in 2013 and thus making formal reporting of CSR spent by the businesses a norm in India. You can find below key CSR over the years.

CSR Journey in India - Key Milestones (starting from 2009)

YearCSR Milestone
2009Corporate Voluntary Guidelines released to encourage corporates to voluntarily achieve high standards of Corporate Governance  
2011Endorsement of United Nations Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights by India  
2011National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic Responsibilities of Business (NVGs) released to mainstream the concept of business responsibility  
2012Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) mandates top 100 listed companies by market capitalization to file Business Responsibility Reports (BRR) based on NVGs.  
2013Enactment of Companies Act, 2013  
2014Section 135 of Companies Act, 2013 on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) comes in to force.  
2015High-Level Committee on CSR (HLC-2015) under the chairmanship of Shri. Anil Baijal makes recommendations on the CSR framework and stakeholder concerns.  
2015SEBI extends BRR reporting to top 500 companies by market capitalization  
2016Companies Law Committee reviews the recommendations of HLC-2015 for adoption.  
2018The 2nd High-Level Committee on CSR constituted under the Chairmanship of Shri. Injeti Srinivas, Secretary, Corporate Affairs to review the CSR framework  
2018Committee on Business Responsibility reporting constituted under the chairmanship of Shri. Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary, Corporate Affairs  
2018Zero Draft of National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights released by Ministry of Corporate Affairs  
2019National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct released.  
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