Coal India Limited’s annual CSR spend rises close to Rs 1,000 crore mark

New Delhi: Government-owned mining giant Coal India Ltd has emerged among the largest corporate social responsibility (CSR) spenders in the country with its annual outlay close to Rs 1,000 crore, according to an official statement issued on Tuesday.

Cumulatively, from FY 2014-15 to FY 2025-26, CIL has spent Rs 7,276 crore against a statutory requirement of Rs 5,795 crore. The coal giant has not merely met its statutory CSR obligation, but exceeded it consistently, year after year, the statement said.

In the three years leading up to the CSR Act, CIL's consolidated community development spend varied from Rs 82 crore (FY 2011-12) to Rs 409 crore (FY 2013-14). After the changes introduced by the Companies Act, 2013, companies are now required to spend a statutorily defined share of their average net profits on CSR.

CIL built on this with at least 80 per cent of its annual CSR expenditure being allocated within a 25 km radius of mines and establishments, prioritising Project Affected Areas, with the balance for state and national initiatives. As a natural consequence of this local-area focus, more than 90 per cent of CIL's CSR expenditure continues to be incurred within coal-bearing states — keeping the benefit anchored where the impact of mining is felt most directly, the statement said.

CIL is also deliberately converging its CSR with national missions. It was the number one Central public sector enterprise contributor to the Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan, completing over 50,000 toilets in government schools; it was among the earliest major contributors to the PM-CARES Fund and ran an extensive Covid-19 relief programme, from dedicated hospitals in Odisha and Chhattisgarh to oxygen plants under "Mission Praana Vayu". The company’s scholarship schemes have covered over 2,500 children. This has been matched by major healthcare and education infrastructure such as a 500-bed medical college and hospital at Angul and a cardiac care centre at Jharsuguda, together worth Rs 596 crore, the statement said.

Besides, the CSR initiative extends to skilling and livelihood programmes — including Project PRAGATI, tribal women's poultry support, and plastic engineering and multi-skill training — which have benefited more than 48,000 people over the last four financial years alone. The Khelgaon Sports Academy, run in partnership with the Jharkhand government, has produced over 1,800 medals, including 15 at the international level; and landmark public-interest works — from the centenary building at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad to the illumination of Kolkata's Howrah Bridge — have carried CIL's CSR footprint into premier institutions and national landmarks alike.

Taken together, these efforts have touched an estimated 3.56 crore lives, directly and indirectly — with vulnerable groups including SC/ST communities, persons with disabilities, and women forming a significant share of the beneficiaries. This work has also meaningfully advanced India's sustainable development goals (SDG) commitments — health (SDG-3), education (SDG-4), gender equality (SDG-5), clean water and sanitation (SDG-6), and poverty alleviation (SDG-1), the statement added.

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