Large companies in India must spend part of their profits on social causes and report where. Asked in the Lok Sabha why Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state, receives less of this corporate social responsibility money than industrial states, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs gave the state-wise spending for 2023-24 from companies’ own filings.
Companies spent Rs 34,908.77 crore. Of the Rs 26,946.67 crore that can be traced to a state, five took 55.5%: Maharashtra (Rs 6,065.95 crore), Gujarat (Rs 2,707.54 crore), Karnataka (Rs 2,254.88 crore), Tamil Nadu (Rs 1,968.76 crore), Delhi (Rs 1,949.95 crore). A further Rs 7,962.10 crore was reported as national or not assigned to any state.
The most populous state, a quarter of Maharashtra’s amount
Uttar Pradesh received Rs 1,545.01 crore, 25 per cent of Maharashtra’s Rs 6,065.95 crore. Bihar received Rs 260.53 crore. All eight north-eastern states together received Rs 713.53 crore, 2.6% of state-wise spending.
Source: Ministry of Corporate Affairs, answer to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2338, 15 December 2025, Annexure-I (MCA21 filings).
Why the money clusters
The ministry’s answer explains the rules, not the outcome. CSR is “a Board driven process”; “the Government does not issue any specific direction to the companies to spend in any particular area/activity”; and the framework is disclosure-based. The Companies Act also asks a company to give preference to the local area and areas around it where it operates. Together, these mean CSR money tends to follow where companies are. The question also asked what steps were being taken to encourage CSR spending in aspirational districts; the answer does not describe any.
Got it right
The data is public. Every CSR-mandated company files its spending in the MCA21 registry, and the ministry publishes it, company by company and state by state, on csr.gov.in. That is why an audit like this one is possible at all.
What this does and does not show
- The figures are what companies filed for 2023-24, as of 31 March 2025. Filings for 2024-25 were still open when the ministry answered.
- Spending recorded as “PAN India” may well reach every state, but the figures cannot say where.
- The table says nothing about whether the money was well spent.
Every state and union territory
| State / UT | CSR spending (Rs crore) | Share of state-wise total |
|---|---|---|
| Maharashtra | 6,065.95 | 22.5% |
| Gujarat | 2,707.54 | 10.0% |
| Karnataka | 2,254.88 | 8.4% |
| Tamil Nadu | 1,968.76 | 7.3% |
| Delhi | 1,949.95 | 7.2% |
| Uttar Pradesh | 1,545.01 | 5.7% |
| Odisha | 1,389.39 | 5.2% |
| Rajasthan | 1,145.67 | 4.3% |
| Andhra Pradesh | 1,129.75 | 4.2% |
| Telangana | 1,054.92 | 3.9% |
| West Bengal | 862.57 | 3.2% |
| Haryana | 816.95 | 3.0% |
| Madhya Pradesh | 600.47 | 2.2% |
| Assam | 488.62 | 1.8% |
| Chhattisgarh | 422.73 | 1.6% |
| Jharkhand | 414.63 | 1.5% |
| Kerala | 387.91 | 1.4% |
| Uttarakhand | 360.76 | 1.3% |
| Punjab | 351.89 | 1.3% |
| Bihar | 260.53 | 1.0% |
| Himachal Pradesh | 148.59 | 0.6% |
| Chandigarh | 113.31 | 0.4% |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 98.54 | 0.4% |
| Goa | 85.79 | 0.3% |
| Manipur | 83.19 | 0.3% |
| Sikkim | 41.87 | 0.2% |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 39.57 | 0.1% |
| Puducherry | 32.68 | 0.1% |
| Meghalaya | 30.94 | 0.1% |
| Ladakh | 30.41 | 0.1% |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 30.17 | 0.1% |
| Nagaland | 15.41 | 0.1% |
| Tripura | 9.45 | 0.0% |
| Mizoram | 4.48 | 0.0% |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 3.03 | 0.0% |
| Lakshadweep | 0.36 | 0.0% |
| PAN India (not assigned to a state) | 6,960.21 | — |
| Other Centralized Funds | 1,000.83 | — |
| Not mentioned | 1.06 | — |
| Total | 34,908.77 |
How we did this
- Source: the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ answer to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2338, answered on 15 December 2025, Annexure-I (Corporate Data Management Cell, from MCA21 filings, data up to 31 March 2025).
- Adds up: the rows sum to the printed total within Rs 2 lakh of rounding. Shares are of the state-wise spending, excluding the three rows that are not states.
- Download the data: csr-expenditure-by-state-fy2023-24.csv. Our method and labels are on the Data Audit method page.
Questions
What is CSR spending?
Under section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, companies above certain size thresholds must spend part of their profits on corporate social responsibility activities such as health, education and rural development, and report the spending in their annual filings.
Who decides where CSR money is spent?
The company's board, on its CSR committee's recommendation. The ministry told Parliament that the government does not issue any specific direction to companies to spend in any particular area, and that the framework is disclosure-based. The Act also asks companies to give preference to the local area and areas around where they operate.
What is 'PAN India' in the table?
Spending that companies reported as national rather than in a particular state. It is a large share of the total and cannot be assigned to any state from these figures.
Where does the data come from?
From the Ministry of Corporate Affairs' answer to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2338, answered on 15 December 2025, Annexure-I, based on companies' filings in the MCA21 registry. Company-level data is public on csr.gov.in.
Corrections
No corrections so far. If any figure here is wrong, send the correcting document to editor@oquilia.com and we will correct it and record the change on this page.