CSR in J&K's Public Sector: What a CAG Audit Found on Spending for 2022-23

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the rule under Section 135 of the Companies Act that asks eligible companies to spend a share of profit on social causes such as schooling, skilling and health. A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on J&K's public sector enterprises (PSEs), covered by The Tribune, looked at how nine UT PSEs handled it in 2022-23.

What the audit found

• Seven of the nine PSEs were eligible for CSR; two were exempt because of losses.
• Only 3 of the 7 eligible PSEs spent CSR funds, and only 4 of the 9 had constituted CSR committees.
• J&K Bank fully utilised its CSR allocation.
• J&K State Power Development Corporation spent ₹1.57 crore of ₹25.80 crore, a 94% shortfall.
• Chenab Valley Power Projects spent ₹0.30 crore of ₹0.44 crore.

Unspent money and delays

Unspent CSR amounts are meant to move to a designated fund within a statutory period. The report says the unspent ₹7.60 crore (2020-21) was transferred in October 2024 and ₹8.54 crore (2021-22) in June 2025, well beyond the deadline; ₹8.09 crore related to 2022-23. The CAG pointed to institutional mechanism deficiencies and called for compliance with Section 135(5).

A caution: the Tribune's report gives an overall allocation of ₹27.42 crore and spending of ₹3.05 crore alongside a required CSR amount of ₹12.64 crore, and the figures do not reconcile in the text, so we have not built on those totals.

Why it matters to young Jammu

CSR money is one of the few funding sources for scholarships, skilling centres and school infrastructure that is tied to local companies. How much of it is actually spent determines whether such programmes exist in Jammu.

Photo: file photo of the Tawi at Jammu.

Source: The Tribune.