Schedule VII, Companies Act 2013 — eligible CSR activities

In short

Schedule VII lists the permitted heads of CSR expenditure. It is read liberally, but spending that does not map to one of these heads cannot be counted as CSR under Section 135.

Who it applies to

All companies undertaking CSR under Section 135, and the NGOs implementing on their behalf.

Key points

• —Eradicating hunger, poverty and malnutrition; promoting health care and sanitation.
• —Promoting education, including special education and vocational skills.
• —Promoting gender equality and empowering women; setting up homes for the elderly and differently-abled.
• —Ensuring environmental sustainability and conservation of natural resources.
• —Protection of national heritage, art and culture.
• —Rural development, slum area development, and disaster management.
• —Contributions to specified government funds (e.g. PM CARES) and, since amendments, R&D in science/technology and incubators.

Deadlines & renewal

Schedule VII is amended periodically by MCA notification — check for additions (e.g. COVID-era and disaster-relief inclusions).

What to do

Map every CSR project to a specific Schedule VII head before committing funds; keep documentation linking the activity to the head.

Worth knowing

Mis-classified spend may be disallowed as CSR, creating an apparent shortfall against the 2% obligation.