Abstract
India became the first country in the world to have a mandatory CSR contribution legislation in 2014. This mandate every qualifying company must spend at least 2% of its average net profit on CSR activities. This chapter analyses these following aspects of CSR. First, it describes Sustainable Development, CSR, and its relevance across the world. Second, it explores the prevailing CSR models and models used in India. Third, it discusses the importance of CSR in India, mandatory CSR, and its provisions. Fourth, it analyses the response of Indian corporates on SDGs in terms of their contribution. Fifth, it analyses existing Socially Responsible Investing strategies in India and their scope. Finally, it analyses the current scenario after mandatory CSR, considering the CSR contributions from different corporates. Such discussion is essential for a country like India, an emerging economy with diverse groups with non-aligned social, cultural, economic, and environmental backgrounds.
TopSustainable Development And Its Relevance
The subject of sustainable development (SD) has become popular as a result of the impacts of industrial development in the world (Nixon, Burns & Jazayeri, 2011). Issues such as climate change, exhaustion of natural resources, and growth in inequality have become increasingly important with industrial development (Montiel, 2008). It has led people and institutions to be proactive in SD.
The first recorded discussion on Sustainable Development appears in the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), a body created by the UN General Assembly in 1983. Gro Brundtland was headed this Commission, then prime minister of Norway and later head of the World Health Organization. The Commission’s 1987 report, often referred to as the Brundtland Commission Report defined “sustainable development” as development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Key Terms in this Chapter
Companies Act, 2013: Companies Act 2013 is an Act of the Parliament of India which regulates incorporation of a company, responsibilities of a company, directors, dissolution of a company.
Sustainable Development Goals: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.
Corporate Social Responsibility: It is a business self-regulation that aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature or by engage in or support volunteering or ethically oriented practices.