Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives and Disclosure by Indian Central Public Sector Enterprises – Evidence from Navratna Companies

Abstract

Ethics, responsibility and social responsiveness have become significant themes in research and the public domain. They are discussed under labels such as the ethical economy, sustainability, fair trade, corporate citizenship and more generally as Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR and it can be regarded as a corporate attempt to institutionalize ethics. CSR typically stands for corporate responses to ethical, environmental and social issues. Indian businesses have a long tradition of engaging in philanthropic and community programs and entrepreneurs today are effectively using these principles of social-business. In India, public sector enterprises have taken a lot of CSR initiatives which have met with varying needs of the society. The present study has made an attempt to understand the status of CSR initiatives and practices made by Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in India by measuring their level of CSR disclosure. For this, an original Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure Index for Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprises (CSRDI – NRCPSE)) was developed and used. The required data for the period of five years from 2010-2011 to 2014-15 were collected from the annual reports of Navratna companies using content analysis. It also finds the yearwise, company-wise and Indices-wise differences in the CSR Disclosures of Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprises in India