Indian companies are now expected to discharge their stakeholder responsibilities and societal obligations, along with their shareholder-wealth maximisation goal.

Nearly all leading corporates in India are involved in corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes in areas like education, health, livelihood creation, skill development, and empowerment of weaker sections of the society. Notable efforts have come from the Tata Group, Infosys, Bharti Enterprises, Coca Cola India, Pepsico and ITC Welcome group, among others.

In fact, four Indians, including Sunil Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director of the Bharti Group, NRI businessman Anil Agarwal, Shiv Nadar, HCL Technologies Chairman and NGO activist Rohini Nilekani were featured in the Forbes list of '48 Heroes of Philanthropy'.

India has been named among the top ten Asian countries paying increasing importance towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure norms.

India was ranked fourth in the list, according to social enterprise CSR Asia's Asian Sustainability Ranking (ASR).

Corporate India has spread its CSR activities across 20 states and Union territories, with Maharashtra gaining the most from them. About 36 per cent of the CSR activities are concentrated in the state, followed by about 12 per cent in Gujarat, 10 per cent in Delhi and 9 per cent in Tamil Nadu.

Assocham’s ‘Eco Pulse Study’ on CSR for 2009-10, released in June 2009, says some 300 corporate houses, on an aggregate, have identified 26 different themes for their CSR initiatives. Of these 26 schemes, community welfare tops the list, followed by education, the environment, health as well as rural development.

Further, according to a survey carried out in June 2008 by TNS India (a research organisation) and the Times Foundation, over 90 per cent of all major Indian organisations surveyed were involved in CSR initiatives. The leading areas that corporations were involved in were livelihood promotion, education, health, environment, and women's empowerment.

In another study undertaken by automotive research company, TNS Automotive, India has been ranked second in global corporate social responsibility. The study was based on a public goodwill index and India received 119 points in the index against a global average of 100. Thailand was at the top slot with 124 points.

There are plans to also introduce CSR in the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector to increase its reach in remote areas.

The Tamil Nadu government has presented its Corporate Social Responsibility Awards, to corporate companies including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL), Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, for their CSR activities in different spheres, including agriculture, education, women's empowerment and new and renewable energy.

Although corporate India is involved in CSR activities, the central government is working on a framework for quantifying the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies to promote them further. According to Mr Salman Khurshid, Minister for Corporate Affairs, one of the ways to attract companies towards CSR work is to develop a system of CSR credits, similar to the system of carbon credits which are given to companies for green initiatives.