Ludhiana leads state with biggest slice of CSR outlays

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 16

Ludhiana, popularly known as the Manchester of India and the industrial capital of the state, has received the biggest slice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) outlays at 13.32 per cent, the government has confirmed.

Of the total CSR spend of Rs 631 crore in the state so far, Ludhiana has got Rs 84.05-crore funding, which is way ahead than any other district in the state, the Punjab CSR Report has revealed.

The report, which was released by Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan, at the maiden Punjab CSR Summit recently, and a copy of which is available with The Tribune, indicated that Amritsar was the second highest recipient of CSR funds in the state with a share of 4.76 per cent, which was almost three times less than Ludhiana.

Among other districts, Hoshiarpur ranked third with 4.68 per cent slice, followed by Barnala 3.15 per cent, Patiala 2.73 per cent, Mohali 2.69, Sangrur 1.52, Jalandhar 1.2, Bathinda 0.88, Tarn Taran 0.78, Ferozepur 0.75, Kapurthala 0.61, Mansa 0.54, Muktsar 0.51, Moga 0.4, Fatehgarh Sahib 0.11, Gurdaspur 0.09, Pathankot, Nawanshahr, Faridkot 0.08 per cent each, and Ropar 0.06 per cent.

However, Fazilka was the lone district in Punjab, which received no CSR funding till date.

Sharing details, the Punjab CSR Authority Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Sandeep Goyal, said 69 per cent of the total CSR funding so far was directed to the Malwa region, which also hosts Ludhiana, the state’s biggest district in terms of area and population.

The founder head of the state government’s CSR body, Dr Goyal disclosed that the top three funding industries in Punjab were oil and gas, coal and petroleum, telecom and automotive, most of which were based in Ludhiana.

“The state has spent Rs 631 crore from 2014 to 2020 and the top four funding industries were HPCL Mittal Limited, Trident Limited, International Tractors Limited, and Bharti Infratel Limited,” he divulged.

The report specifically focuses on Punjab, which was one of the top performing states against SDG goals. In 2019-20, the state scored 62 in Niti Aayog’s SDG index, while Punjab’s SDG score further increased to 68 in Central body’s ratings for 2020-21.

Punjab ranks fourth

When it comes to the comparison of CSR spend in the northern region, Punjab ranked fourth among eight states, including Union Territory of Chandigarh.

While Delhi topped the chart with receiving the highest of Rs 3,114-crore CSR funding from 3,660 companies, Uttar Pradesh ranked second with Rs 2,175-crore receipts from 1,848 donor firms. Haryana stood third with Rs 2,027-crore CSR spends from 1,677 companies, followed by Punjab with Rs 631 crore from 534 firms, Uttarakhand Rs 616 crore from 559 companies, Himachal Pradesh Rs 304 crore from 263 firms, Jammu and Kashmir Rs 301 crore from 262 companies and Chandigarh got Rs 76 crore from 153 donor corporates since 2014 when the Government of India had enacted the CSR law.

Officialspeak

This data-driven insights report, which highlights the pattern of CSR spendings in the state, will enable the government and corporates to take informed data-backed decisions on choosing areas of focus and investment to tackle social impact-related challenges in future. — Vini Mahajan, Chief Secretary