Public vs Private Sector on CSR Investments in India

In the world of business, the main “responsibility” for corporations has historically been to maximize profit and increase shareholder value. In other words, corporate financial responsibility has been the sole bottom line of success. With an era of globalization the economies of business has changed from corporate centric to the consumer centric, where the consumer's perception for a product, service, concept or an organization is most concerned. Business being an integral part of the society, which influences and influenced by the society, cannot ignore the importance of society. In the last few decades this wind of transformation gave birth to a broader corporate responsibilities-for the environment, for local communities, for working conditions, and for ethical practices-has gathered momentum and taken hold. This new driving force is known as corporate social responsibility (CSR). This consists of wide range of activities and programs, which involves looking at how to improve social, environmental and economical impacts of business. CSR plays a vital role in the sustainable business strategy, which emphasizes on how to maximize the utility of resources with minimum consumption, exploration of resources without exploitation and maintain surplus balance of resources for future generations. In this context, it is noteworthy to mention that The Brundtland Report (1987) says "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:

The concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given and

The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs."

Here the researcher tries to present a comparative analysis of how the private and public sector industries are responding to the CSR norms decided by Govt. of India on specific industries.