NEW DELHI: According to the new
Companies Bill 2012, companies with a net worth of Rs.500 crore or more, a
turnover of Rs.1,000 crore or more or a net profit of Rs.5 crore or more in a
financial year are mandated to pay 2% of their profit towards CSR.
Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin
Pilot on Friday said religions contributions by corporates should not be
considered as corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity.
“Religious
contributions by corporates should not be considered as CSR. For a corporate
entity to do religious donations… I don’t think it constitute a part of CSR,”
he told reporters on the sidelines of an interactive session with industry
honchos organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
According to the new Companies Bill
2012, companies with a net worth of Rs.500 crore or more, a turnover of
Rs.1,000 crore or more or a net profit of Rs.5 crore or more in a financial
year are mandated to pay 2% of their profit towards CSR.
This provision has led to
considerable discussion in the corporate sector regarding its pros and cons.
“Certainly, we will make some broad
guidelines about what are the things which will be considered as CSR, but it is
upto the companies to decide. The boards of the companies have to give
approvals to these and it should be put up on the website of the companies for
public view,” Pilot said.
While interacting with the industry
members earlier, he said out of a total 800,000 companies in the country,
around 15,000 companies in India will qualify for CSR activities.
“With CSR being made mandatory, we
do not want corporates to spend money on it grudgingly. We want the companies
to come forward to contribute in nation-building. It is not about the quantum
of money, it is about being part of the social and economic development of the
country,” he added.
Pilot said the CSR activities of the
companies should be approved by their respective boards. “This will be as
open-ended as possible.”
The industry leaders who attended
the interactive session were Adi Godrej, chairman, Godrej Group; Kris
Gopalakrishnan, executive vice-chairman, Infosys; Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairman
and managing director, Biocon Limited; Rahul Bajaj of Bajaj Electricals; and
Rajive Kaul, chairman, Nicco Corporation, among others.
Regarding the ongoing Tata-Unitech
issue, where the Serious Fraud Investigation Office has questioned the purpose
of the Rs.1,700 crore deal in 2007 between the Tata Group and Unitech, Pilot
said the report will come out in the next few days.
(IANS)
No comments:
Post a Comment