#DataViz: How India's Rs 34,000 Crore CSR Spending Is Distributed

Under the Companies Act, 2013 (Section 135), companies that meet certain financial thresholds must spend at least 2% of their average net profits from the previous three years on CSR. This includes social projects such as addressing hunger, promoting education, gender equality, sustainability, and research and development. This could be done by the companies directly or through non-governmental organisations, their own foundations, or eligible government bodies.

And problems have always existed. IndiaSpend’s 2018 analysis found that most firms treated communities as “recipients of charity” rather than partners, and only 15 of 99 companies identified community needs before planning projects.

In October 2025, Sattva Consulting released the CSR's Next Act report, which examines Rs 30,086 crore of CSR spending across 4,149 companies—accounting for 87% of total CSR spending for the year 2023-24. The analysis reveals increasing alignment of corporate strategy and societal needs, but funds concentrate in industrial districts where companies operate, and bypass the country's poorest regions.

In five charts we look at the trends in India’s CSR spending.

Larger firms prefer in-house foundations

More than 60% of firms with CSR budgets above Rs 10 crore implement programmes through in-house foundations rather than NGOs. But among companies with budgets under Rs 1 crore, only 11% operate their own foundations.

This “reflects the absorptive capacity limits of traditional NGOs in managing large-scale, high-value programmes,” making corporate foundations the default mechanism for large CSR spenders, the report noted.

Specialised institutions—such as educational, sports, religious institutions, and hospitals—now account for 13.4% of CSR funds, while government institutions receive around 12.4%. During 2021-2024, companies spent Rs 4,758 crore through their own foundations

CSR projects routed through corporate foundations averaged Rs 1.83 crore, nearly twice the size of projects implemented through other agencies. For companies spending more than Rs 100 crore a year, foundation-led projects are nearly three times larger, allowing them to run bigger and more structured programmes, the report found.

Small firms, big impact

Companies with CSR budgets under Rs 1 crore are far more likely to exceed their prescribed spending. Many of them overshot their requirement during 2021-24, and 765 firms spent at least twice their prescribed amount. The report also notes that 380 companies with no CSR obligation still spent Rs 809 crore on CSR activities.

The pattern is very different for large companies. Among firms spending Rs 50 crore or more on CSR, 58% did not meet their mandated amount in at least one of the three years analysed. And of the 51 companies that spent above Rs 50 crore in each of the past three years, 19 consistently underspent across all three years.

“The challenge with large CSR budgets lies in both capacity and strategy,” the report explains, adding that many non-profits cannot absorb big, complex grants within a single year, while large companies are increasingly moving towards multi-year projects that require careful planning, execution and scaling.

Industrial districts, tier-2 cities see rise in spending

CSR spending is increasingly flowing into industrial districts and Tier-2 cities, the Sattva report shows. In three years to 2023-24, CSR expenditure in industrial districts grew by 120%, while tier-2 cities saw a 55% increase in funds. This marks a shift away from metros, which hitherto received the largest share of CSR spending.

The report notes that CSR allocations often follow a company’s industrial footprint, with firms preferring to fund projects in regions where they have manufacturing units, supply chains or a workforce. Cities such as Vadodara (+131%), Madurai, Mysuru and Varanasi recorded some of the fastest growth in CSR funding.

This concentration is visible in district-level patterns as well. The report finds that around 20% of district-level CSR now flows into industrial districts. This trend is driven in part by sectors such as metals, mining and oil and gas, which operate in clusters and tend to fund development in surrounding areas.

CSR spending in India’s ‘aspirational districts’---a group of 112 underdeveloped districts identified by NITI Aayog—more than tripled over the last decade. But they still attract under 5% of all CSR spending.

Three-fourths of district-level CSR spending goes to 193 districts, mostly metros, Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities or industrial hubs. Of these, 137 have low poverty levels. Only three of the 54 high-poverty districts appear among the top CSR-receiving districts, meaning 90% of district-level CSR flows to areas with relatively low need.

Government-owned companies lead CSR spending in aspirational districts, directing 11% of their budgets—three times the share of private firms, the report noted. Larger corporates with CSR budgets above Rs 10 crore also increased their allocations to 5% in 2023-24, with much of this support coming from banking, financial services and insurance, and energy & mining companies whose rural operations align with these districts.

Specialised institutions preferred for large projects

Specialised institutions, including Indian Institutes of Technology, universities and hospitals received 19% of implementation funding in 2023-24. Education-linked institutions take the largest share within this category accounting for over half of specialised institution funding.

Companies prefer these institutions as they can absorb large, structured grants, especially for long-term programmes or capital projects. This marks a shift away from smaller community organisations toward more formal institutional partners.

A significant portion of this funding goes toward infrastructure. According to the report, 39% of funds directed to specialised institutions involve infrastructure such as school building, hospital wing, or research centre.

Alignment with core sectors

An analysis of the top 20 industries which account for nearly 90% of national CSR spending shows that more than half of all CSR funds in 2023-24 were channeled into areas “materially linked” to industry needs, as per the report, indicating an “increasing alignment where corporate strategy meets societal needs”. IT/ITES and automotive companies show the highest alignment, directing over three-fourths of their CSR spending,77.1% and 76.4% respectively, toward education and skilling.

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