TNN

New Delhi,  Feb 3: Oil minister Murli Deora on Monday asked state-owned companies under his wings to raise nearly three-folds the spending on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, or about 2% of their profit.

Deora's initiative is expected to make Rs 600 crore available for various social projects. At a meeting in Mumbai, Deora and petroleum secretary R S Pandey asked top executives for a sharper focus on community development. The oil companies run various projects to provide education, health and medical care as well as clean drinking water in villages and remote areas.

But sceptics, however, see the move as another ploy for the government to use the public sector as a milch cow. Such a feeling arises from apprehension that the projects will be hijacked by the government to further the ruling establishment's political agenda.

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had in September last year first made efforts to tap corporate funds for government's various social initiatives by suggesting that state-run units in Gujarat will have to spend as much as 30% of their profit before tax on CSR projects and wanted private sector to follow suit.

"By and large, corporates undertake CSR activities. However, the efforts are scattered and dispersed because of which the outcome is not visible to the public at large. (Hence) there is a need to synergise CSR activities with government initiatives to ensure better visibility, sustainability and outcome," Modi said in his draft industrial policy.

Under Deora's new dispensation, allocation for CSR activities will not be less than that of the previous year. If the budget allocated for CSR projects in any year is not spent on the identified projects, the unspent amount will be carried forward to the next year. Besides, each company will form a dedicated team to look after identification and execution of CSR projects.