The State of impact reporting is a survey that analysed impact reporting of CSR projects undertaken by Nifty 250 listed companies in India. In 2013, government of India under Companies Act mandated CSR for companies meeting the eligibility criteria and five years later in 2018, impact assessment regulations came to effect. The law states that impact assessment is mandatory for companies with CSR obligation of INR 10 crore or more in the immediately preceding three financial years and companies that have CSR projects with outlays of minimum INR 1 crore and which have been completed not less than 1 year before undertaking impact assessment. Thus, CSR companies in India began to file impact reports for the CSR projects undertaken by them.
The survey showed that out of 114 out of 250 Nifty listed companies were eligible for to undertake impact assessment study in India. 91 out of 114 companies disclosed information on impact assessment in the annual report. Among the 114 companies, 91 companies have provided access to the detailed impact assessment reports.
Framework of the survey was based on five key pillars viz. inclusion of stakeholders, sample size, tools, methodology, impact reporting segmentation and benchmarking and way-forward. All 250 reports were analysed on the aforementioned parameters. The survey took deep dive on each of the impact assessment reports and analysed it across various disclosure parameters.
The study showed that only 35 per cent of the companies have considered primary, secondary, and institutional stakeholders as part of the impact assessment study. Around 94 per cent of the companies disclosed impact assessment framework used for the study. Demographic profiling of respondents was disclosed by 59 per cent of the companies as part of the report. The study highlights maturity of the Sec 135, and approach of Indian companies towards CSR. At the beginning CSR spend was regulatory compliance and over the years Indian companies have developed a strategic approach to CSR which aligns with larger business values.
State of impact reporting in India
Nifty 250 companies undertake CSR project impact reporting for statutory purpose. The study analyses these reports to ascertain the state of impact reporting in India