Concentration or Inclusion? CSR Portfolio Priorities in Selected Maharatna Companies, 2014-15 to 2023-24

Abstract

This study evaluates whether the corporate social responsibility (CSR) portfolios of four Indian Maharatna public enterprises were broadly inclusive or concentrated in a small set of conventional activities. It analyses cumulative identified expenditure of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), NTPC Limited, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), and Coal India Limited (CIL) for 2014-15 to 2023-24. The evidence base is a locked 12-category activity matrix constructed from annual reports, CSR annexures, official project disclosures, and controlled company workbooks. Administrative, technical, residual, and inseparable multi-theme amounts are excluded from thematic ranking. The analysis applies activity shares, three- and five-category concentration ratios, the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, Shannon entropy, the effective number of categories, pairwise rank correlations, and Kendall’s coefficient of concordance. Identified substantive expenditure totalled Rs.5,428.65 crore. Education and skill development accounted for 21.35%, health and nutrition for 21.00%, and environmental sustainability for 15.62%. The five leading categories absorbed 83.72% of the identified portfolio. CIL displayed the greatest concentration, while SAIL had the widest thematic spread. The four companies nevertheless showed significant agreement in their overall priority rankings. Women’s empowerment, vulnerable-group welfare, livelihood and entrepreneurship, and senior-citizen welfare received relatively low separately identifiable expenditure. Because 35.24% of total CSR expenditure remained unresolved or mixed, these findings represent a conservative, lower-bound description rather than a complete thematic allocation. The study concludes that the selected companies shared a strong human-development orientation but need clearer portfolio safeguards and beneficiary tagging for inclusion-oriented activities.