India’s big corporate houses have failed to come forward to support the Modi government’s flagship projects, Swachh Bharat and Namami Gange.
The two cleanliness projects have received a lukewarm response from the private sector, with companies spending little under their corporate social responsibility obligations.
Data prepared by the corporate affairs ministry has shown that among all the projects of the Narendra Modi government, these two have received the least amount of funding from private companies in the year 2014-15.
Altogether, the two projects have not even got 1 per cent of the total spending of Rs 6,337 crore.
While Swachh Bharat Abhiyan got a meager 0.68 per cent of the total spending, the Clean Ganga Mission got only 0.25 per cent.
Companies have spent over Rs 42 crore towards ‘Swachh Bharat Kosh’ under their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in 2014-15. Money was given to improve cleanliness levels in rural and urban areas, including schools.
As many as 460 companies spent a little over Rs 6,337 crore for CSR activities. This included 51 PSUs which spent Rs 2,386.60 crore.
Of the Modi government’s projects, the corporates have shown the most interest in education and livelihood enhancement schemes, which have received over Rs 1,462 crore of the CSR fund.
Similarly, schemes to eradicate hunger, poverty and healthcare have also received about Rs 1,421 crore from business houses.
The two ambitious cleanliness projects require big funds. As per the Niti Aayog report, the Swachch Bharat Mission, which was launched on October 2, 2014, envisages an investment of nearly Rs 2.23 lakh crore over a five-year period for constructing household toilets, community and public toilets, and scientific waste management.
The government is also considering long-term, tax-free Swachh Bharat bonds to raise funds.
Planning
Similarly, the government has devised a three-phase plan spanning nearly 18 years at Rs 51,000 crore to clean the Ganga under the Namami Gange project.
The Union Cabinet has already approved Rs 20,000 crore for the next five years for the ‘Namami Gange’ Programme which integrates the efforts to clean and protect the Ganga river in a comprehensive manner.
However, despite massive estimates, business houses have not come forward with funding under the CSR.
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Keeping in mind that the government will require major sums for these projects, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs had included donations to the Swachh Bharat Kosh and the Clean Ganga Fund as part of the CSR spends by India Inc in October 2014, but the response has not been encouraging so far.
Provision
The new Companies Act requires every company with a net worth of Rs 100 crore to set aside a minimum 2 per cent of its three-year average annual net profit for CSR activities.
To make PM Modi’s dream projects “Clean India” and “Clean Ganga” a success, the finance ministry had made a provision for 100 per cent tax deduction for contributions made towards the Swachh Bharat Fund.
Under the Clean Ganga project, a few companies have shown an interest in taking up the work in Varanasi, which happens to be the Prime Minister’s Lok Sabha constituency.
While campaigning in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Modi had vowed to clean the Ganga.
Moreover, the government is also working on 30 per cent of CSR spends on Swachh Bharat which might be announced soon.
The proposal is under consideration by a panel of Union ministers that is deliberating on ways to fast-track Modi’s top priority schemes – Make in India, Jan Dhan Yojana, Swachh Bharat, Digital India, and Skill India.
This article was taken from here.