The Story of CSR in India

There is a lot of excitement in India with the new Companies Act 2013, particularly its infamous Section 135 which makes corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandatory for companies meeting certain criteria of net-worth, turnover or net-profit. CSR however is not a new concept in India. Some companies like the Tata group have pioneered it long before even this term was coined. But the buzz around CSR continues unabated. There is still a lot of doubt and confusion in the mind of companies that have hitherto seldom been engaged in CSR. Therefore, Pushpa Sundar’s Business & Community – The Story of Corporate Social Responsibility in India with a foreword by Ratan Tata could not have been published at a more opportune time.

This book provides a unique historical perspective of corporate citizenship in India, tracing the course of business engagement with communities over a span of one and a half centuries. In a little under 400 pages this easy-to-read, jargon-free hardbound volume reiterates the need for businesses to earn public trust and details how best this can be done.