Question : CSR Funds of SAIL

(a) the guidelines for utilising Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Funds;
(b) the details of the work for which the CSR amount is spent and the places where the amount is utilised;
(c) the Parliamentary constituencies coming under Jharkhand in which the mines of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) are located;
(d) the amount of CSR allocated by SAIL to the above areas from 2009 to 2019, year-wise; and
(e) the details of the CSR amount utilised for the said constituencies, work/year-wise?

THE MINISTER OF STEEL (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

(a)&(b): Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) laid down under Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, as amended vide The Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019, inter-alia stipulate that all Corporates, including CPSEs exceeding the threshold limits as specified in the Act, have to allocate at least 2% of their average net profits (PBT) of three immediately preceding years for CSR activities. Further, in pursuance to the powers conferred under Section 135 and sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 469 of the Companies Act, 2013, Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, 2014, have been notified by Ministry of Corporate Affairs effective from 1st April, 2014.

Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has also issued guidelines to the CPSEs vide Office Memorandum (OM) dated 01.08.2016 for observance of transparency and due diligence in selection and implementation of activities under CSR. Subsequently, based on the recommendations of the CPSEs Conclave held in April, 2018, guidelines have been issued by DPE vide OM dated 10.12.2018, inter-alia on adoption of a common theme for each year; spending 60% of the annual CSR expenditure on thematic programme, preference to aspirational districts identified by NITI Aayog, etc. The CSR theme for the year 2019-20 is Healthcare, Nutrition and School Education.

Thrust areas of the CSR activities is laid down under Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013 and include promotion of educational health, women empowerment, sustainable income generation through Self Help Groups, assistance to divyangs, access to water and sanitation facilities, village development, environment sustenance, sports coaching, promotion of traditional art and culture, etc. CSR projects are mainly carried out in periphery of steel plants, steel townships and mines.

(c) Singhbhum, Palamu and Dhanbad are the Parliamentary constituencies coming under Jharkhand where mines of SAIL are located.

(d)&(e): A statement showing CSR budget allocated and expenditure incurred for mines in Jharkhand from 2009 to 2019-20 (upto December, 2019) is at Annexure-I.

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