Knowledge guide · CSR basics
Which companies must spend on CSR?
A company must spend on CSR if, in the previous financial year, its net worth was ₹500 crore or more, its turnover ₹1,000 crore or more or its …
11 min read
Search SocioStory
Results for “CSR law”
Guides
90 guides
Knowledge guide · CSR basics
How much must a company spend on CSR? The 2% rule, worked through
… is the 2% figure, plus surplus from earlier CSR projects, minus any excess spending the board has resolved to set off.
10 min read
Knowledge guide · CSR basics
Schedule VII at a glance: what CSR money can be spent on
Schedule VII lists the thirteen areas CSR money can go to, from health and education to disaster relief and, since May 2026, the Social Stock Exchange. Here is …
11 min read
Knowledge guide · CSR basics
India’s CSR in numbers: where the money goes
Companies spent ₹34,908.75 crore on CSR in 2023-24, the latest official figure. Here is the money by year, sector and state, each figure with its source and date, …
9 min read
Knowledge guide · What CSR can fund
CSR for health, hunger, sanitation and drinking water
… drinking water, and after education it gets more CSR money than any other area. Here is what qualifies, where the grey areas are and how to fund projects …
12 min read
Knowledge guide · What CSR can fund
CSR for education, skills and livelihoods
Education is where most Indian CSR money goes. Item (ii) of Schedule VII covers schooling, special education, vocational skills and livelihood projects. Here is what qualifies, where companies …
11 min read
Knowledge guide · What CSR can fund
CSR for heritage, art, culture and libraries
… and traditional crafts. Here is what qualifies, how CSR works at protected monuments, and what doesn’t count.
11 min read
Knowledge guide · What CSR can fund
CSR for veterans, sports and government funds
… and training Indian sports personnel is the only CSR allowed abroad.
11 min read
Knowledge guide · What CSR can fund
CSR for research, innovation and incubators
… item (ix) contributions as a separate mode of CSR spending, alongside projects and fund contributions (FAQ 3.14).
10 min read
Knowledge guide · What CSR can fund
What doesn’t count as CSR
Some spending never counts towards a company’s CSR obligation, however worthy it looks. Here are the six exclusions in the CSR Rules, the other limits the MCA’s FAQs …
11 min read
Knowledge guide · What CSR can fund
Capital assets in CSR: who can own them
CSR money can build schools, buy ambulances and install water plants, but since January 2021 the company that pays can’t own what it builds. Here is who can, …
11 min read
Knowledge guide · Running CSR
Ways to implement CSR: directly, through an agency or together
Rule 4 of the CSR Rules lets a company run projects itself, fund an eligible implementing agency or join other companies, and since May 2026 it can use …
11 min read
Knowledge guide · Running CSR
Choosing an NGO partner: due diligence for CSR teams
… checks that the organisation is eligible under the CSR Rules, able to do the work and right for the project. Here is what to check, how deeply, where …
11 min read
Knowledge guide · Running CSR
Form CSR-1: the registration implementing agencies need
Since 1 April 2021, every organisation that implements CSR projects for companies must register with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on Form CSR-1. Here is who needs it, …
10 min read
Knowledge guide · Running CSR
CSR budgets, tranches and the 5% overhead cap
… company’s administrative overheads at 5% of its total CSR expenditure. Here is what the cap covers, how implementing agencies’ costs are treated, and how to build a budget …
10 min read
Knowledge guide · Running CSR
Setting up a company CSR foundation
A company’s own foundation can implement its CSR without a three-year track record, once it has its registrations. Here is when one makes sense, which legal form to …
11 min read
Knowledge guide · Running CSR
Collaborating on CSR: co-funding, pooled funds and partnerships
Rule 4(4) lets companies work together on CSR projects, as long as each company can report its own share. Here is how co-funding, pooled funds and partnerships with …
9 min read
Knowledge guide · Impact and reporting
Impact assessment under the CSR rules
… independent agency assess the impact of their bigger CSR projects. Here is exactly who is covered, the cost limit, the Social Stock Exchange exemption, and how to write …
10 min read
Knowledge guide · Impact and reporting
The annual report on CSR in the board’s report
… Section 135 must include an annual report on CSR in its board’s report, in a set format. Here is each item in plain words, how the numbers fit …
10 min read
Knowledge guide · Impact and reporting
Form CSR-2: the annual CSR filing
Form CSR-2 is how the Ministry of Corporate Affairs sees, project by project, what each company did with its CSR money. Here is who files it, when, what …
10 min read