Covid fallout: Chandigarh sees 80% dip in CSR spending

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 1

Due to the spread of Covid-19, the city witnessed a decline of nearly 80 per cent in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure. The CSR spending dropped from Rs15.72 crore in 2019-20 to nearly Rs3.13 crore in 2020-21. A major part of the fund used to be spent on healthcare and education in the city.

In reply to a question raised in the Lok Sabha, Rao Inderjeet Singh, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs, stated that the government provided a broad framework for the CSR. “The CSR architecture is disclosure-based. All data related to CSR filed by companies is available in public domain,” he said.

According to information furnished in the Lok Sabha, just eight companies came forward to spend nearly Rs3.13 crore under various CSR projects and programmes in 2020-21 in the city. During the year, the major three spenders were Coforge Ltd (Rs1.07 crore), Nvidia Graphics Pvt Ltd (Rs94.20 lakh) and Swaraj Engines Ltd (Rs49.47 lakh). A major part of the fund (Rs1.38 crore) was spent on education, followed by Agro forestry (Rs94.20 lakh) and healthcare (Rs72.58 lakh).

In 2019-20, before the pandemic had struck, a total of 72 companies, including Future Retail Ltd (Rs7.29 crore), Centrient Pharmaceuticals India Pvt Ltd (Rs97.13 lakh) and Groz Beckert Asia Pvt Ltd (Rs84.79 lakh) spent Rs15.72 crore on various CSR programmes and a major part of the fund (Rs7.24 crore) was spent on gender equality, followed by education (Rs3.38 crore) and healthcare (Rs2.37 crore).

In 2018-19, a total of 70 companies spent Rs11.95 crore in the city. With an expenditure of Rs1.76 crore, the National Informatics Centre was the top spender, followed by Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd (Rs1.35 crore) and Scot Edil Pharmacia Ltd (Rs97.50 lakh) and a major part of the fund (Rs4.39 crore) was spent on healthcare whereas Rs2.69 crore was spent on education and Rs1.43 crore on rural development projects.

In 2017-18, a total of 51 companies, including Infosys Ltd (Rs1.4 crore), Kandhari Beverages Pvt Ltd (Rs1.12 crore) and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd (Rs91 lakh), used Rs20.54 crore on various programmes, including Rs1.4 crore on setting up orphanage, Rs2.5 crore on education and Rs1.55 crore on healthcare.

However, the highest amount ever (Rs21.98 crore) was spent by 54 companies, including Infosys Ltd (Rs10.02 crore), Infosys BPM Ltd (Rs3.5 crore) and DSM Sinochem Pharmaceuticals India Pvt Ltd (Rs1.54 crore), on various projects in 2016-17. A major chunk of the fund — Rs12.27 crore — was used on healthcare, Rs5 crore on armed forces, veterans, war widows and dependants and Rs3.33 crore on education.

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