In an effort to facilitate greater corporate participation in corporate social responsibility (CSR) areas, BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd.), on Monday, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) to collaborate and develop a CSR index and increase awareness about CSR.
“The IICA and BSE partnership will go a long way in raising the level of awareness and accountability,” said Sachin Pilot, Union Minister for Corporate Affairs, at the signing ceremony here on Monday .
On the proposed CSR index, he said, “top corporate leadership must lead from the front. It is a new beginning for companies with the wherewithal to undertake such initiatives. The index will help in giving a larger platform to such companies and also a global perspective.”
IICA-BSE proposes to form an advisory committee to help in the CSR index construction and the committee will interact with various stakeholders.
IICA-BSE will work on capacity building to assist companies to meet their agenda of CSR and will conduct awareness programmes in the next six months, an IICA-BSE statement said.
The new Companies Act 2013 has mandated eligible companies to spend 2 per cent of their profits on CSR activities.
