The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), under the aegis of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, observed CSR Day recently on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Shri Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh, Director General & CEO, IICA, delivered a Special Address to the Participants of Batch 11 of the IICA Certified CSR Professional Programme. The session, organised virtually by the School of Business Environment, IICA, also served as the curtain-raiser to the 3rd National Conference and Exhibition on Corporate Social Responsibility (NCCSR 2026).
The observance draws on a suggestion made by the then Hon'ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, at the National CSR Awards in 2019, that 2nd October be dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility. Rooted in Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of trusteeship, IICA CSR Day provides a platform for dialogue, recognition, collaboration and knowledge-sharing on India's evolving CSR ecosystem.
Welcoming the DG & CEO, Dr. Garima Dadhich, Head, School of Business Environment and Course Director, said that what the CSR ecosystem needs in greater numbers is trained professionals with the capacity to turn an obligation into an outcome. She emphasised that the programme has been linked with the National Conference as part of its curriculum for this purpose, and informed that NCCSR 2026 has drawn over 550 delegates from across India.
In his address, Shri Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh said that 2nd October and CSR are philosophically connected, as CSR in India has its foundation in Indian tradition and in the concept of trusteeship, and did not emerge only from the Companies Act. Referring to Section 166(2) of the Companies Act, 2013, he said the law itself recognises that a company operates within society and owes responsibility to its employees, the community and the environment, and not to shareholders alone.
Tracing the evolution of the framework, he said that CSR expenditure has grown from about ₹10,000 crore in the first year of the mandate to nearly ₹35,000 crore in FY 2023–24. He described the journey from the early "comply or explain" phase to the 2019 amendments and the 2021 Rules, which introduced the Unspent CSR Account, multi-year projects, certification of fund utilisation and impact assessment. He said that CSR should not be seen as deficit financing that merely supplements government spending. Its purpose is to leverage corporate resources, technology and expertise to create a multiplier effect and to test innovative approaches in the social sector.
He observed that a significant part of CSR remains supply-driven, with projects chosen on the basis of familiar areas, geographies and agencies, and called for needs-based CSR with community participation, a standard operating procedure for need assessment and social impact assessment, and stronger capacity among implementing agencies. He highlighted the CSR Exchange Portal of the Ministry as a platform on which district administrations, organisations and communities can place documented needs before companies, and also encouraged companies in the same sector to pool resources for high-impact national projects.
On Viksit Bharat, he said the goal should not be seen only in terms of the size of the economy and that "Viksit Bharat also requires developed thinking and a developed social consciousness," he said. He further concluded by calling for a shift from spending to transforming, from compliance to commitment, from reporting to evidence, and from isolated initiatives to collaboration, supported by technology-enabled monitoring, and urged the Participants to become ambassadors of this CSR philosophy.
NCCSR 2026 will be held on 6th–7th October 2026 at The Ashok, New Delhi, on the theme ‘Re-envisioning the Spirit of CSR for Viksit Bharat: From Compliance to Commitment’. It is being organised by the School of Business Environment, IICA, and will bring together senior representatives of Government, the corporate sector, Central Public Sector Enterprises, corporate foundations, implementing agencies, United Nations agencies, academic institutions and State Governments.
Along with five High Level Panels and a Fireside Chat spread across 2 days, the National Exhibition on CSR 2026 will also be held alongside the Conference, featuring 30–40 stalls organised around four thematic zones aligned with the Viksit Bharat @ 2047 vision: Yuva (education, skilling and employability), Garib (aspirational districts, tribal and marginalised communities), Annadata (agriculture and rural livelihoods) and Nari Shakti.
For further details, visit: https://iica.nic.in/csrconference/.