Corporate Social Responsibility Practices in India: a Study of Top Fast Moving Consumer Goods Companies

In recent years the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility has expanded very rapidly in India in all the sectors. Corporate Social Responsibility is the contribution towards the society while working with in ethics. In a developing country like India, FMCG sector plays a very important role in upgrading the economy of the country, not only by lending money or increasing the liquidity in the country but also by imposing a new practice called corporate social responsibility (CSR).The FMCG sector is in a leading position in discharging CSR in the country.

This paper tries to enlist various initiatives taken by the FMCG sector in the recent times with respect to CSR along with its future scope. The Corporate Social Responsibility is the commitment of the corporate for the equitable growth&sustainable development of the society. Under the new Companies Act, 2013, passed by Parliament in August 2013, profitable companies will have to spend at least 2 per cent of their average net profit over the preceding three years on CSR activities. In this context the present paper looks into the corporate social responsibility spending of the Indian FMCG companies.

Statement of the Problem: From the past studies it has been found that the contribution by Indian companies on corporate social responsibility is deficient. The new legislation of Companies Act 2013 requires certain class of companies to spend at least 2 % of their three year average annual net profit towards CSR activities. It in this perspective the following study is undertaken to figure out CSR spending of the Indian FMCG companies.