When we talk about CSR at its early stages the CSR was considered just a corporate philanthropy which was being a choice for the organizations to fulfil corporate social responsibility for securing an integral position in the society. But if we look at today's scenario Corporate Social Responsibility has not only proved to be a merit for a company's brand image and reputation but helped to fulfil Moral & Legal obligation as a whole due to its contribution to making this world a better place.

These organisations do maintain good capital with them and can provide a good economical benefit to the society rather than individuals of the company doing CSR separately. Such organisation do have a large community and consumer approach which can create a positive influence on society as well as a beneficial deal for the organisation too.

CSR: Connotation & Legality
One has to pay for what they have taken" is the basic idea behind CSR philosophy. The base of CSR i.e. Philanthropy, economical sustainability and social welfare of people will remain as it is as the main reasons for the companies to do CSR as a priority not as a choice. Now the stakeholders of the company do look ahead at the organisation for more CSR activities.

If we look upon the legal provisions of CSR in India setup by Ministry of Corporate Affair in 2014 under Section 135 Companies Act,1956 elucidating its Applicability and power of committee setup under this section which have come out to be positive in many ways but with the transforming world and new threats coming for the society and environment, there are still some challenges regarding framing of CSR polices and its better implementation.

When it comes to enforcement and its results the transparency and full disclosure plays a vital rule in CSR policy framework such disclosure helps to gain trust of stakeholders and a stakeholder invest only when there is transparency of work and company's compliance with the Indian legal framework.

Current Scenario
After COVID 19 the CSR emerged so much as such critical situation gave birth to new technology and innovation for the world. Companies now use data analytics for collection and analysing the data regarding the CSR for them to frame policies and then conduct activities. The use of current technology and innovation enable the companies to understand the impact of their initiatives which they had done or planning to do, to identify the areas of improvement where the policies and activities had lack, and to allocate the resources more efficiently and in an effective way.

With advanced analytics tools and technology, the companies can now gain valuable insights into the social and environmental impact of their interventions, helping them make data-driven decisions and maximize their positive contributions. By leveraging these technological advancements, the implementation process can be made more efficient and effective, ensuring the successful implementation of CSR initiatives.

The companies must look forward for broad CSR policies and updating them time to time containing different goals, multiple process or procedures, fundings etc for better achievement of CSR goals in the current transforming technology. When a company look upon the changing technology it must also maintain transparency and full disclosure regarding the new policy framework.

In the earlier times when CSR was just being considered as philanthropy rich people use to do CSR as a charity on individual basis which do not have huge impact and sometimes do lack proper procedure but in current scenario companies do looking forward for different collaborations with different sectors and organisations.

The main reason for the companies to collab for CSR as they can combine their resource, their expertise, and their huge networks from which they can achieve common goals ( CSR ) in a more efficient way. Collaborative efforts and agreements between government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academic institutions, and private sector companies can amplify the impact of CSR initiatives, creating a collective force for positive change as such institutions do have huge connection on ground and can provide proper guidance and help to the organisation for better implementation of the CSR activities. With the different collabs different people from different sectors do connect from where different perspectives are being given for how to frame best polices and how the policies are being on ground implemented.

Let take an example of a company and an NGO who works for girl child education .The idea is that capital will be funded by the company and to framing of policies and activities will be done by both company and NGO whereas NGO will help in effective ground implementation and in a better way as the NGO is more connected with the society for such social purposes in comparison to the company, from this the CSR goals are achieved to the fullest.

Currently companies look upon to conserve and protect the natural resources and environment and to reduce their proportion of carbon footprint for such companies to make a sustainable decision they are now moving towards the more use of renewable energy which is necessary for the environment as well as beneficial for the goodwill of the company and responsibility towards the society.

The society expects the companies to not just make profits and make more of them but also to give to the society, in the changing world where increment in global warming due to emissions across the world is seen and companies who do contain a significant capital and profits with them should contribute for the ecosystem by investing in renewable energy. Some global companies like MGM and amazon have announced new and better ideas for sustainable development from which investment in renewable resources and energy production as a part of their future CSR policies and activities is on the priority list.

As the concept of renewable energy usage for companies is a bit new the basic way to invest in renewable energy is to invest in solar, wind, biomass energy where a company can invest in renewable energy production by installation of companies own power generation plants. From such ecofriendly energy generations, a company can itself use the energy generated and can save money on fossil fuel energy consumption and can gave it the government production houses for them to meet the demand of increasing energy.

One such latest example is of TATA STEEL ltd. It has installed a 3MW solar project in the state of Jharkhand where the company run its operations for to reduce the fossil fuel energy dependency and to achieve environmental sustainability. For India to reduce its dependency on fossil fuel energy the companies to the nation have come forward as their responsibility towards the society and to have good economical and sustainable growth for the nation.

GAIL India [LTD] a Natural gas transmission company has spent 147.67 Cr Fy21-22 as CSR Initiative which includes Rs. 25.59 Cr. for education, Rs. 14.13 Cr. for sanitation and water, Rs. 4 Cr. for rural development, and Rs. 1.38 for environmental initiative in which it aims at conversion of diesel boat to CNG in Varanasi which will significantly improve the air and water pollution levels in Varanasi.

The Tata power which mainly focused on energy generation through coal based energy generation process is now shifting its traditional methods of energy generation to renewable power energy generation like in the year 2016 Tata power had acquisition of Welspun renewables, for a record price of $1.3 billion, the largest acquisition in the Indian renewables sector and currently also planning to increase its investing proportion in the renewable sector and for that Tata power had also set up an target to increase its usage of renewable energy through its own production of power through renewable sources of energy to 30%-40% till 2025.

Conclusion
From all the above points we can say that the future of CSR in India is bright and is requires to have universal applicability as to maintain the communitarian spirit of the country but on the other hand holds great responsibility and management. When such large capital companies do their CSR there is a consolidated fund which is being organised by them which they can allocate in-

• Technological Advancements: Companies are leveraging data analytics and advanced technology to enhance their CSR initiatives. This enables better understanding, impact assessment, and resource allocation.
• Collaborative Efforts: As stated above, the collaborations between companies, NGOs, government agencies, and other sectors amplify the impact of CSR initiatives by combining resources, expertise, and networks.
• Environmental Sustainability: The best example of this is TATA STEEL LTD which is focused on reducing carbon footprint and conserving natural resources through investments in renewable energy.

In the Globalisation era CSR should not only be seen from one perspective but as an approach of every business organization to attain socio-economic welfare. Therefore, an integrated approach including Legal obligation, Moral obligation and Ethical framework should be established. Activities which do have vast reach for the people and can attain economic development through energy production and distribution to people and also helps the companies to reduce their own carbon footprints should be practised and implemented through which India can aim for a society where social welfare is being followed with sustainable development.

Written By:

• Mr.Suyash Agrawal - 5th year student at Manipal University, Jaipur &
• Mr.Sarthak Bhatnagar - 5th year student at Manipal University, Jaipur