Global recognition race drives CSR spend on sports, art

New Delhi: India Inc is raising spending under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) obligations on non-traditional segments, such as sports, art and culture, women empowerment, animal welfare and gender equality, showed the latest segregated data compiled by the corporate affairs ministry.

The CSR spending on these five segments, led by sports, spiked 68% from a year earlier to ₹1,800 crore in 2022-23, far outpacing a 13% increase in overall expenditure to ₹29,987 crore, showed an ET analysis of the data that typically come with a lag.

Moreover, the CSR expenditure on these five segments nearly doubled over five years through 2022-23, way above the 48% rise in overall CSR expenditure.

The spending on the ‘training to promote sports’ segment jumped to ₹526 crore in 2022-23, up 80% from a year before, with experts attributing the spike to training in the build-up to the 2024 Olympics. The expenditure on art and culture climbed 78%, on women empowerment 53%, animal welfare 87% and gender equality 15%. Over the five years through 2022-23, such spending on sports jumped 70%, on art and culture 95%, women empowerment 68%, animal welfare 221% and gender equality 131%.

Increasing CSR spending on sports, art and culture, women empowerment and gender equality marks a “progressive shift in society and reflects the mood of India Inc”, said Noorul Hassan, partner at law firm Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan. “By supporting these initiatives, companies can drive social change, improve community health and empower the youth. Additionally, focusing on these areas can attract international recognition as well. Ultimately, this will benefit local communities and contribute to a more equitable and vibrant society,” he added.

Education pips health, again
As the pandemic fears abated, education again topped the list of sectors to have received maximum CSR funds in 2022-23, beating health.

The CSR spending on education alone spiked 54% from a year before to ₹10,085 crore in 2022-23, while that on health (excluding related segments) dropped almost 13% to ₹6,830 crore.

Spending on livelihood enhancement projects jumped 94% on-year to ₹1,654 crore.

With a total expenditure of ₹803 crore, HDFC Bank led the pack of CSR spenders in 2022-23, followed by Tata Consultancy Services (₹774 crore), Reliance Industries (₹743 crore), ICICI Bank (₹477 crore), Tata Steel (₹475 crore) and ONGC (₹454 crore).