CSR for veterans, sports and government funds

Yes: CSR can fund measures for armed forces and police veterans and their families, training for sport, and contributions to a short list of central government funds, because items (vi), (vii) and (viii) of Schedule VII cover them. Each item is narrow, and each has a trap: sponsorship in sport, and funds that aren’t on the list.

This guide, for CSR teams, company secretaries and finance staff, covers three of the thirteen items in Schedule VII, the list in the Companies Act, 2013 of the activities CSR money can be spent on. Schedule VII at a glance has the full list.

Several questions here are settled by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ (MCA) frequently asked questions on CSR (General Circular 14/2021, 25 August 2021), cited as “FAQ” and a number. They are how the Ministry reads the law, not law itself, but companies and auditors rely on them.

How much CSR goes to these three items

Sports training more than doubled in two years, while contributions to the PM’s National Relief Fund more than halved after the COVID-19 years (PIB, 25 March 2026). Including the Swachh Bharat Kosh and the Clean Ganga Fund, companies paid about ₹1,000.83 crore into government funds in 2023-24, 2.9% of the ₹34,908.75 crore total.

Item (vi): veterans, war widows and their families

Projects that fit include skills training and job placement for veterans leaving service, health care and counselling for veterans and war widows, scholarships for dependants, mobility aids for disabled veterans, repairs to widows’ homes, and help claiming pensions and other entitlements.

Two points of interpretation help:

• Location matters less. Section 135(5) asks companies to prefer the areas where they operate, but FAQ 3.9 says some activities, “such as welfare activities for war widows”, “transcend geographical boundaries”.
• Veterans on the payroll are employees. Benefits for ex-servicemen the company employs, as security staff for example, are excluded by Rule 2(1)(d)(iv) of the CSR Rules, which rules out activities benefiting employees. Hiring veterans is good practice, but it is business, not CSR.

The Armed Forces Flag Day Fund, managed by a committee headed by the Raksha Mantri and operated by the Kendriya Sainik Board, says CSR projects with it fall within item (vi) and that it is registered on Form CSR-1 to undertake CSR activities. That fund isn’t named in Schedule VII, and FAQ 3.16 says contributions to funds not named there aren’t admissible. So treat work with it as an item (vi) project with an implementing agency, not as a fund contribution: agree what the money will do and for whom, keep its CSR registration number on file, get reports on use, and take advice before you commit.

Item (vii): training to promote sport

“Training” is the key word. Projects that fit include coaching camps and academies, scholarships that cover athletes’ training, diet and travel to competitions, coaches and sports science support, equipment used in training, support for para-athletes, and coaching in rural and traditional sports. Facilities can fit when they exist for training, such as an academy or a village ground with regular coaching. A stadium built mainly for spectators or events is much harder to justify as training.

The one activity allowed abroad

Rule 2(1)(d)(ii) excludes any activity outside India “except for training of Indian sports personnel representing any State or Union territory at national level or India at international level”. FAQ 4.4 calls this “the only exception”. So a training camp in another country for athletes selected to represent India counts, but a training programme abroad for anyone else doesn’t.

The sponsorship trap

Rule 2(1)(d)(v) excludes “activities supported by the companies on sponsorship basis for deriving marketing benefits for its products or services”. FAQ 4.3 adds that CSR is meant to work “in a project or programme mode rather than as a one-off event”, and that brand building “as a collateral benefit” is acceptable. So:

Government sports funds

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has encouraged companies to contribute CSR money to the National Sports Development Fund, which also runs the Target Olympic Podium Scheme for medal prospects (PIB, 16 March 2017). That statement came before the 2021 FAQs. Because the fund isn’t named in Schedule VII, and FAQ 3.16 says contributions to other funds aren’t admissible, structure any support as a training project under item (vii) that you can report on, record the board’s reasoning and take advice.

Item (viii): contributions to government funds

Which funds count

FAQ 3.15 lists every fund a contribution to which is admissible CSR spending:

1. the Swachh Bharat Kosh (named in item (i));
2. the Clean Ganga Fund (named in item (iv));
3. the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund;
4. the PM CARES Fund;
5. any other fund set up by the central government “and notified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs” for the socio-economic development, relief and welfare of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, other backward classes, minorities and women.

FAQ 3.16 is blunt: a contribution “to any other fund, which is not specifically mentioned in Schedule VII” isn’t admissible, even if the fund works in a Schedule VII area.

State relief funds

During COVID-19 many companies asked about chief ministers’ relief funds. General Circular 15/2020 (10 April 2020) answered that a chief minister’s relief fund or a state relief fund for COVID-19 “is not included in Schedule VII”, so contributions to such funds don’t count. The same circular said contributions to a State Disaster Management Authority to fight COVID-19 did count, under item (xii) on disaster management: see CSR for rural development, slums and disaster relief.

The funds route, and unspent money

FAQ 3.14 treats contributions to Schedule VII funds as one of three ways to spend CSR, alongside running projects and the research contributions in item (ix). Since 27 May 2026 there has been another: subscribing to zero coupon zero principal instruments on a Social Stock Exchange under item (xiii), up to 10% of the year’s CSR spending (Rule 4A; see the Social Stock Exchange). It is simple and compliant, but the company has no say in how the money is used and no project results to report. The same funds are also where unspent CSR money ends up: money not tied to an ongoing project must go to a Schedule VII fund within six months of the year’s end, and money left in the Unspent CSR Account after three years goes there too. See unspent CSR money.

What doesn’t count

Across these three items, the common mistakes are:

• Funds not named in Schedule VII: state and chief ministers’ relief funds, welfare funds of industry associations, and other trusts and funds (FAQ 3.16; General Circular 15/2020).
• Sports sponsorship for marketing: title sponsorships, naming rights, team kits for a league, hospitality at events.
• Benefits for the company’s own staff, including veterans it employs and its corporate sports teams.
• Training abroad for anyone other than Indian sports personnel representing a state, a union territory or India.
• Gifts in kind and employees’ time, neither of which can be given a value and counted (FAQ 3.12 and 3.18).

Each exclusion is covered in full in what doesn’t count as CSR.

Before you pay

• Is the fund in FAQ 3.15? If not, a contribution to it isn’t CSR. Work with the body as an implementing agency instead, if it is eligible and registered on Form CSR-1.
• Is the sports spending training? If the company gets marketing benefits beyond its name on a genuine programme, it is sponsorship.
• Are the beneficiaries the public? Not the company’s employees, and not its teams.
• Is it in India? Only training for Indian sports personnel representing a state, a union territory or India may take place abroad.
• Do you have a receipt and a record? Keep proof of every contribution and payment: the annual report on CSR in the board’s report, and Form CSR-2, report the year’s spending. See the annual report on CSR.

The Academy’s CSR Law in Depth course covers the exclusions and the funds route in detail.