Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 2 (ANI): India's corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme has crossed Rs 40,000 crore in scale, with the focus now shifting towards faster project execution, effective impact assessment and wider distribution of funds across sectors and regions, according to B Thiagarajan, Chairman of the CII National CSR Committee and Managing Director of Blue Star Ltd.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Confederation of Indian Industry's National CSR Summit, Thiagarajan said the regulatory framework had matured and the bigger challenge for companies was now to deploy growing CSR funds effectively.
"India should be proud of the regulation that we have. I don't think anywhere in the world such a large program has been initiated by the government with such active participation by the private sector," he said, adding that the programme had "crossed rupees 40,000 crores."
He said the industry's focus now needs to move towards scaling up implementation.
"The industry now has to think about how to scale... in order to execute these programs with speed on such a large scale - that is what CII is focusing on: scaling and speed, and how it can be achieved," Thiagarajan said.
He identified the ability to execute projects consistently and assess their impact as an important challenge as CSR funds increase.
"The issue is, as the funds grow, how you will get it executed. Projects have to be executed, impact should be measured, impact should happen," he said.
Thiagarajan also pointed to the need for CSR funds to reach a wider range of sectors and geographies. He said areas such as healthcare and education tend to attract significant funding, while some other areas may receive relatively less attention.
"Therefore, it is in the hands of the stakeholders to step up and ensure balanced implementation," he said.
Education, skilling and employability are currently among the biggest recipients of CSR funding, with more than Rs 6,000 crore going into these areas, according to Thiagarajan.
"As far as CSR is concerned, it is about social development and whether you are creating productive individuals in society through education, skilling, and employability. Adequate work is currently happening in this space," he said.
He added that such spending could help people become employable or entrepreneurs, ultimately supporting wider economic activity.
On improving accountability, Thiagarajan said companies were already reporting their CSR and sustainability activities, while further work was required around capacity building of NGOs, accreditation and standardised impact assessment.
"Our commitment is transparency in whatever we do," he said, adding that the aim was to develop an impact assessment framework that could be used to rate and verify outcomes consistently. (ANI)
India's CSR programme crosses Rs 40,000 crore; execution at scale now key challenge: CII's Thiagarajan
