Top 200 companies account for 49% of India's total CSR expenditure: Study

Just 200 companies account for 49% of India’s total corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending, pointing to a significant concentration of corporate funding in the country’s social sector, according to a study by Give Grants.

These companies collectively run around 12,500 projects, with an average project size of Rs 1.6 crore. In comparison, 29,046 companies undertake more than 69,600 projects, with an average outlay of just Rs 18 lakh, the third edition of the Dus Spoke India Inc 2026 report found.

The findings highlight the contrasting scale of CSR initiatives across corporate India, with a relatively small group of companies accounting for nearly half of the spending, while thousands of other companies operate with substantially smaller project budgets.

The study is based on Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) filings of more than 29,500 companies and surveys of 67 CSR leaders and 200 non-profit leaders.

The concentration of spending comes alongside other structural challenges in India’s CSR ecosystem, including differences between companies and non-profit organisations over project accountability and limited corporate interest in newer funding mechanisms.

While 82% of CSR teams surveyed believe projects are co-created with shared accountability, only 40% of non-profit partners share that view. Half of the non-profits surveyed consider themselves solely responsible for project implementation and outcomes.

The gap reflects differing perceptions of the relationship between funders and implementing agencies. CSR teams consider themselves co-creators because they provide funding, monitor progress and oversee governance, while non-profits point to their responsibility for execution and the consequences of project failures.

Sumit Tayal, CEO of Give, said the imbalance in power between funders and non-profits contributes to the disconnect. He called for greater joint participation in programme design and two-way feedback mechanisms, including feedback from implementing organisations on corporate funders.

The study also found limited interest among companies in using the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) Social Stock Exchange (SSE) as a funding channel. While half of the non-profits surveyed are registered on the platform or considering registration, only 3% of CSR respondents said they were likely to use it this year.

The findings come as India’s mandatory CSR framework enters a phase where the focus is increasingly on the nature and effectiveness of corporate social investment, beyond meeting statutory spending requirements.

Tayal said mandatory CSR had helped establish the compliance framework over the past decade, but companies now needed to work towards addressing more complex systemic challenges through collaboration with government agencies and greater employee participation.

The report also estimates that salaried employees earning more than Rs 5 lakh annually represent an untapped opportunity of Rs 1,850 crore a year in donations and volunteering. However, only 22% of companies surveyed match employee donations, compared with 93% globally.

Nearly half of the companies that run structured employee donation programmes also report participation rates of less than 5%.

Together, the findings point to challenges in how corporate India allocates and mobilises resources for social development, both through formal CSR projects and employee-led giving.