CSR spending by large companies in Gujarat shrinks 30% in FY22

AHMEDABAD: The corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending by 16 large corporates from Gujarat has shrunk by 30% in FY22, according to data compiled by CSRBox, an Ahmedabad-based analytics platform that tracks social impact projects.

The cumulative actual spends by top 16 firms stood at Rs 260.2 crore in FY 2022, down from Rs 369.4 crore in FY21. These companies are among the top 301 surveyed by the firm.
Gujarat-based corporates have implemented 262 CSR projects across the country. "Profitability of firms has been impacted during the pandemic, as a result, many that delivered negative returns were not compelled to spend on CSR. Many companies have therefore not complied due to which their effective spending has declined. This is a trend seen across the country and in Gujarat," said Bhomik Shah, founder and CEO, CSR Box.
Significant rise in CSR spending on education
Furthermore, according to CSRBox, companies had over-committed their spending targets. "Covid-19 was the key driver for corporates to over-commit spending targets in FY 2021. This was rationalised considerably during the subsequent year," said Shah.
Even after Covid year, healthcare continued to remain a key priority for CSR spending among Gujarat's corporates. However, overall spending in the healthcare sector declined 60%. At the same time, spending in other sectors such as education, environment increased significantly.
"The decline is a sign of the post-Covid recovery period. A shift in priorities can be seen in other sectors like education and skill development, environment and sustainability and sports promotion. The latter two, in fact, emerged vitally in CSR Landscape for FY 2021-22 in Gujarat," according to CSRBox.
As far as projects executed in Gujarat is concerned, the state received Rs 596.12 crore of CSR spends in FY 2021-22 from corporates across India. This declined 12% as compared to Rs 676 crore of spending in the state in FY 2020-21.
Some 179 companies from across India including those headquartered in Gujarat have implemented at least 1,000 projects in Gujarat. The average CSR spent per project is Rs 59 lakh.