India’s top 200 companies account for 49% of total CSR spending, Give Grants study finds

Key takeaways

• India’s top 200 companies account for 49% of total corporate social responsibility spending.
• These companies operate approximately 12,500 CSR projects, averaging ₹1.6 crore per project.
• Another 29,046 companies collectively run more than 69,600 projects, averaging just ₹18 lakh each.
• The study identifies differences between companies and non-profits over responsibility for project outcomes.
• Only 3% of surveyed CSR teams said they were likely to use SEBI’s Social Stock Exchange during the year.
• Employee donations and volunteering represent an estimated ₹1,850 crore annual opportunity.
• Only 22% of surveyed Indian companies match employee donations, compared with 93% globally.

India’s CSR spending is concentrated among 200 companies

India’s corporate social responsibility ecosystem is dominated by a relatively small group of large companies, according to the third edition of Give Grants’ Dus Spoke India Inc 2026: Trends, Insights & Voices report.

The study found that India’s top 200 companies account for 49% of total CSR expenditure. Together, they operate approximately 12,500 projects, with an average project size of ₹1.6 crore.

The next 300 companies undertake around 6,600 projects, with an average outlay of ₹61 lakh. Meanwhile, the remaining 29,046 companies collectively operate more than 69,600 projects, with an average project size of only ₹18 lakh.

This indicates a substantial difference in the scale of CSR programmes across corporate India. A relatively small group of companies can finance larger initiatives, while thousands of other businesses operate projects with considerably smaller budgets.

Distribution of CSR projects across companies

Company group	Number of companies	Number of projects	Average project size	Share of total CSR spending
Top 200 companies	200	12,500	₹1.6 crore	49%
Next 300 companies	300	6,600	₹61 lakh	Not separately stated
Remaining companies	29,046	69,600+	₹18 lakh	Not separately stated

Figures are based on the Give Grants 2026 study. Project counts and average project sizes are rounded.

The concentration of funding raises questions about how CSR capital is distributed, whether smaller organisations can access corporate funding and how effectively large projects address social development challenges.

What does the study say about India’s CSR ecosystem?

The report examines how companies allocate CSR funds, work with non-profit organisations and measure the outcomes of their social development programmes.

It draws on Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings covering more than 29,500 companies, surveys of 67 CSR leaders and 200 non-profit leaders, and publicly available leadership information from 100 of India’s largest CSR-spending companies.

The findings suggest that India’s CSR sector is becoming more specialised, but important differences remain between funders and implementing organisations.

According to the study, CSR teams increasingly have dedicated professionals and domain-specific expertise. However, the relationship between companies and non-profit organisations still faces challenges involving accountability, project design and responsibility for outcomes.

Companies and non-profits disagree over project accountability

One of the report’s important findings concerns how companies and non-profit organisations perceive their responsibilities in CSR projects.

Around 82% of surveyed CSR teams believe that projects are jointly designed and implemented with shared accountability.

However, only 40% of non-profit organisations share this view.

The difference indicates that corporate funders and implementing organisations may have different expectations about who is responsible for project delivery and its eventual results.

Survey finding	CSR teams	Non-profit organisations
Believe projects are co-created with shared accountability	82%	40%

The report also found that half of the surveyed non-profits consider themselves solely responsible for project implementation and outcomes.

This difference can create difficulties when projects fail to achieve their targets. Companies may believe that they share responsibility because they provide funding, monitor performance and oversee governance. Non-profits, meanwhile, often carry the operational responsibility for implementation and face the immediate consequences of delays or poor results.

Give Grants CEO Sumit Tayal highlighted the imbalance in power between corporate funders and non-profit organisations. He called for greater participation by implementing agencies in programme design and two-way feedback mechanisms.

The findings suggest that improving collaboration could be as important as increasing the amount of CSR funding.

Social Stock Exchange struggles to attract corporate CSR funding

The study also identifies limited corporate interest in SEBI’s Social Stock Exchange (SSE).

The Social Stock Exchange was introduced to provide eligible social enterprises and non-profit organisations with a structured platform to raise funds and improve transparency around social impact.

However, the report found that companies have shown limited interest in using the platform for CSR funding.

Only 3% of surveyed CSR respondents said they were likely to use the Social Stock Exchange during the year. Around 60% said they were unlikely to use it.

Non-profit organisations showed greater interest. Approximately half of the non-profits surveyed were either already registered on the platform or considering registration.

Social Stock Exchange survey finding	Percentage
Non-profits already registered	16%
Non-profits considering registration	35%
CSR teams likely to use the platform	3%
CSR teams unlikely to use the platform	60%

The gap indicates that the platform’s ability to attract social organisations has not yet translated into comparable interest from corporate funders.

For the Social Stock Exchange to become a larger source of funding, companies may need greater confidence in its processes, reporting requirements and ability to connect them with suitable projects.

Employee donations represent a ₹1,850 crore opportunity

Another major finding concerns the potential contribution of employees to India’s social development programmes.

Give Grants estimates that salaried employees earning more than ₹5 lakh annually represent an untapped opportunity of approximately ₹1,850 crore a year through donations and volunteering.

The estimate includes around ₹850 crore in potential payroll giving and approximately ₹1,000 crore in volunteering value.

However, employee participation remains limited across many Indian companies.

Only 22% of surveyed companies said they match employee donations. The corresponding figure cited for companies globally was 93%.

The report also found that nearly half of companies operating structured employee donation programmes recorded participation rates below 5%.

This suggests that having an employee giving programme does not necessarily translate into meaningful participation.

Companies could potentially increase employee involvement through donation matching, volunteering programmes, payroll deductions and opportunities to support social organisations working in areas relevant to employees.

Greater participation could also help companies build stronger connections between their workforce and CSR initiatives.

CSR spending follows corporate business locations

The report also highlights how CSR expenditure is geographically concentrated around corporate operations.

For example, Tata Steel accounts for 41% of Jharkhand’s CSR expenditure, while Reliance Industries contributes 21% of Gujarat’s CSR spending.

Five mining and metals companies together account for 53% of Odisha’s CSR expenditure.

Similarly, ONGC, REC, NTPC and GAIL collectively account for 30% of Delhi’s CSR spending, even though their main operating assets are located in other states.

These examples demonstrate that the distribution of CSR funding is influenced by the geographical footprint of large businesses.

While this can direct resources towards communities associated with corporate operations, it also raises questions about whether regions with fewer large companies receive sufficient private-sector social investment.

CSR becomes a specialised corporate function

The study also identifies a growing professionalisation of CSR management within large companies.

Among the top 100 companies analysed, 44% have a dedicated CSR head, while 56% assign CSR leadership responsibilities alongside other corporate functions.

The qualifications of these leaders also differ. Around 55% of dedicated CSR heads have a development-sector degree, compared with 25% among leaders who manage CSR alongside additional responsibilities.

The survey found that 85% of CSR teams consider expertise developed within their own teams an important source of capability. Around 78% also rely on the expertise of non-profit partners, while 33% cite CSR consultants.

These findings suggest that companies increasingly view CSR as a specialised function requiring knowledge of social development, project management and impact measurement.

India’s mandatory CSR framework

India introduced mandatory corporate social responsibility requirements through Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013.

The provisions apply to companies meeting specified financial thresholds. Eligible companies are generally required to spend at least 2% of their average net profits from the preceding three financial years on permitted CSR activities.

The framework covers areas such as education, healthcare, poverty reduction, environmental sustainability, rural development and other activities listed under Schedule VII of the Companies Act.

The government maintains an official database of CSR expenditure through the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

According to Give Grants’ report, India’s corporate CSR spending has expanded substantially over the past decade. The study estimates that annual CSR expenditure increased from approximately ₹10,000 crore in FY15 to ₹41,000 crore in FY25.

The organisation also projects that annual CSR spending could exceed ₹1.1 lakh crore by FY35.

These figures indicate the growing scale of corporate funding for social development, although the effectiveness of that spending depends on how resources are allocated and the outcomes achieved.

The Bigger Picture

The Give Grants study shows that India’s CSR ecosystem has grown into a significant source of social-sector funding, but its distribution and implementation remain uneven. Just 200 companies account for nearly half of total expenditure, while thousands of smaller companies operate projects with much lower budgets. At the same time, differences between corporate funders and non-profit organisations over accountability, limited corporate interest in the Social Stock Exchange and low employee donation matching indicate that the sector still has room to improve.

The next stage of CSR development may depend less on simply increasing spending and more on improving collaboration, project quality and measurable outcomes. Better participation from employees, stronger relationships with non-profit partners and wider access to funding could help corporate social investment address more complex development challenges. The report’s findings suggest that India’s CSR framework is moving beyond basic spending compliance towards questions of effectiveness and long-term social impact.

Looking Ahead

Companies will face increasing expectations to demonstrate the outcomes of their CSR programmes rather than focusing only on annual expenditure targets. Better project monitoring, transparent reporting and stronger partnerships with implementing organisations could become more important as corporate CSR budgets expand. The Social Stock Exchange will also need to attract greater interest from corporate funders if it is to become a meaningful fundraising channel for non-profits.

For India’s social sector, employee giving represents another potential source of funding that remains underutilised. If companies introduce stronger donation-matching and volunteering programmes, they could mobilise resources beyond mandatory CSR budgets. The scale of India’s corporate social investment is already significant, but how effectively that capital reaches communities will determine its wider impact.