Social and Environmental Performance of Private and Public Sector Banks in India:A Comparative Study

The present study is an effort to know about the social as well as the environmental performance of private and public sector banks of India after taking into account the guidelines regarding CSR by Companies Act, 2013. The major CSR initiatives undertaken by Indian Banks are found and ranking of banks is done on the basis CSR scores calculated through content analysis technique. A comparison is made between the social and environmental performance of Indian private and public sector banks by applying t-test. Eradication of extreme hunger and poverty (70%) followed by promotion of education (52%), reduction of child mortality and improving maternal health (45%), environmental sustainability (41%) and rural development (40%) are the major CSR areas of concern in case of private sector banks while rural development (67%) followed by eradication of extreme hunger and poverty (65%), promotion of eduction (52%) and employment enhancing vocational skills (42%) are major CSR initiatives of public sector banks. But both the sectors could not achieve even 50% of the total expected CSR score. J & K Bank (76%) is the biggest social performer followed by Yes Bank, Federal Bank and ING Vysya (60%) and Axis Bank (58%), all the top performers from private sector only. Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank (54%) are the top performers of public sector banks. Overall no significant difference is found in the average CSR scores of both the sectors.