“Over the last decade, our spend on CSR activities, between the Tata trusts and the Tata companies, has been in excess of Rs 8,000 crore. In the last three years, we have been trending at an average of Rs 1,000 crore per annum between the trusts and our companies, typically in a 60:40 ratio between the companies and the trusts,“ said Mukund Govind Rajan, member-group executive council and brand custodian, Tata Sons, the holding company of the $100-billion group.
The Tata trusts hold 66% of Tata Sons, which in turn has holdings across group companies.
The Aditya Birla Group, which has a presence in cement, telecom, carbon black and financial services, spent Rs 150 crore on CSR in 2012-13. The CSR spend has risen in 2013-14 with growth in profits.
The group’s CSR initiatives are led by Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development.
The Godrej Group is also among conglomerates that run their philanthropic activities through trusts. About 25% of the shares of the Godrej Group’s holding company Godrej & Boyce are held in a trust that supports initiatives in education, healthcare and environmental sustainability.
Apart from the trust, Godrej Group companies spent around Rs 18 crore on CSR under the ‘Good and Green’ initiative, which is more than 2% of the profits.
Around 8,000 companies are expected to come under the ambit of the new CSR regulations. The annual CSR funding by companies is expected to be in the range of Rs 15,000-20,000 crore, according to industry estimates.