Sector-wise CSR spending report for 2023–24

National CSR expenditure has demonstrated consistent year-over-year growth over the last decade, more than tripling from ₹10,065.93 crore in FY 2014-15 to a peak of ₹35,917.98 crore in FY 2023-24. This upward trajectory reflects a maturing corporate social responsibility landscape, with significant acceleration occurring in the latter half of the decade.

Key observations from the expenditure trend include:

• Sustained Momentum: The transition from FY 2018-19 (₹20,217.67 crore) to FY 2023-24 represents a 77% increase in just five years, signaling that social impact investing has become deeply integrated into corporate strategy.
• Resilience During Volatility: Despite global economic shifts, spending grew steadily through the 2020-2022 period, maintaining a positive delta each year.
• Recent Surge: The most significant single-year nominal increase occurred in the final year of the data set, with expenditure jumping by approximately ₹4,734 crore between FY 2022-23 and FY 2023-24.

Education and Health Care emerged as the primary beneficiaries of CSR funding in the 2023-24 fiscal year, together accounting for nearly ₹20,000 crore in total expenditure. Education led all sectors by a significant margin with ₹12,508.19 crore, followed by Health Care at ₹7,344.74 crore. This dominance reflects a continued corporate prioritization of foundational social infrastructure over more niche development areas.

The distribution of the remaining top-tier funding was relatively balanced across environmental and community development sectors:

• Environmental Sustainability (₹2,483.27 crore)
• Rural Development Projects (₹2,458.57 crore)
• Livelihood Enhancement Projects (₹2,408.67 crore)

While these mid-tier sectors received substantial support, there is a steep drop-off to the lower end of the spectrum. For instance, Technology Incubators received the lowest total funding at just ₹1.91 crore, and critical social infrastructure like Slum Area Development (₹39.52 crore) and Setting Up Orphanages (₹34.09 crore) saw comparatively minimal corporate investment during this period.

CSR spending for the 2023-24 fiscal year is heavily dominated by Non-PSU companies, which contributed ₹31,092.29 crore to the total. This represents a significant majority of the corporate social responsibility landscape compared to the PSU sector, which spent ₹4,825.69 crore during the same period.

The distribution highlights a substantial gap in social investment between the two categories:

• Non-PSU companies account for the bulk of the expenditure, spending over six times the amount contributed by public sector entities.
• PSU companies, while contributing a smaller absolute amount of ₹4,825.69 crore, represent the state-owned portion of mandated social development funding.

This disparity underscores that the private sector remains the primary engine for CSR-funded development projects in India, carrying the vast majority of the financial responsibility for these initiatives.

In 2023-24, Education emerged as the primary development sector by expenditure across all five leading regions, followed consistently by Health Care and Environmental Sustainability. Maharashtra and the "Pan India" category led the nation in total spend, with Education investments reaching ₹2,256.30 crore and ₹2,787.41 crore respectively.

The spending patterns across the top states are summarized below:

• Maharashtra & Pan India: Both regions followed an identical priority order: Education (ranked 1st), Health Care (2nd), and Environmental Sustainability (3rd). Notably, Maharashtra's Health Care spend (₹1,667.84 crore) was significantly higher than the Pan India allocation for the same sector.
• Gujarat & Karnataka: These states also prioritized Education and Health Care within their top three. Gujarat allocated ₹1,007.92 crore to Education, while Karnataka spent ₹961.94 crore. A key difference appeared in the third rank: Karnataka spent ₹349.89 crore on Environmental Sustainability, whereas Gujarat spent ₹170.42 crore.
• Delhi: Delhi presented a unique profile as the only leading state to include Livelihood Enhancement Projects in its top three, ranking 2nd with ₹457.06 crore. This displaced Health Care to 3rd place (₹346.57 crore) and excluded Environmental Sustainability from its leading trio.

HDFC Bank Limited led corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending in the 2023-24 fiscal year with a total contribution of ₹906.97 crore, followed closely by Reliance Industries Limited at ₹899.08 crore. These two entities represent the top tier of contributors, each nearly reaching the ₹900 crore threshold and significantly outpacing the rest of the field.

The top 10 contributors demonstrate a high concentration of spending within the banking, energy, and technology sectors:

• Top Tier (>₹800 Cr): HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, and Tata Consultancy Services (₹812.65 crore) are the only three companies to exceed the ₹800 crore mark.
• Mid-Range (₹400–₹650 Cr): A secondary group is led by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (₹612.41 crore) and Tata Steel (₹572.75 crore), with Infosys and Indian Oil Corporation also contributing over ₹430 crore each.
• Baseline (₹300–₹400 Cr): The list is rounded out by ITC Limited (₹380.44 crore), ICICI Bank (₹367.99 crore), and Power Grid Corporation (₹337.88 crore).

This distribution highlights that while the top three firms are the primary drivers of large-scale CSR funding, the presence of major Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) like ONGC and Indian Oil underscores the significant role state-backed enterprises play in national development initiatives.