Revolutionising Corporate Social Responsibility in India: Is It Truly Revolutionised?

Abstract

The approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR) has changed through years from the philanthropy to the self-regulatory and to the present multi-stakeholder approach. In India, the CSR mandate has been looked and projected as a game changer and is expected to revolutionise CSR beyond the lens of defensive CSR, promotional CSR and charitable CSR to the next-level paradigm of strategic CSR. It is in this context an attempt has been made to discuss the CSR approach of public- and private-sector companies in India. The article makes an analysis of the CSR vision and mission statements, expenditure, areas of interventions and initiatives, CSR policy framework and reporting among public and private companies in India. The article is based on the secondary data for a period of four years (2011–2015) and gives a representative view of the companies making difference to the Indian society at large. The article intends to answer whether revolutionising CSR as a mandate is an attempt in the right direction.