Sammaan, a BSE-enabled platform to help companies find agencies for carrying out social welfare activities, has registered 837 programs needing nearly Rs 1,508 crore from 817 non-profit organisations.
The CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) platform, launched by BSE along with industry body CII and think tank IICA, went live on the stock exchange in December last year.
“There are 837 programs needing Rs 1,507.84 crore from 817 NGOs across 390 towns/cities on Sammaan,” BSE managing director and CEO Ashish Kumar Chauhan said here today.
He said the programs are targeting for funds towards education, livelihood, rural poor and children.
“CSR initiatives shouldn’t be measured by the money spent or by the percentage of work being done. The focus must be on the programme’s effectiveness, the quality and the change it promotes as well as its ability to accomplish the mission,” Chauhan said.
He was speaking at BSE, IICA national CSR Conclave 2016.
Speaking at the event, Tata Power Managing Director and CEO Anil Sardana said CSR should be also looked at as a business opportunity rather than a responsibility alone.
“Companies should come up with ideas where CSR and business can go hand in hand. We cannot expect the government to do everything. But businesses could take up certain projects where they will spend not only as a part of their CSR activity but create a business opportunity for themselves,” he said.
Sardana further said there was a need to form an association which will guide small businesses in spending their money on effective CSR activities.
“Large corporates can form an association where they can include small businesses. These small companies not necessarily have no idea about how to spend the money on CSR. Such small corporates can be roped in this association that will guide them to spend in areas like health, education, among others, so that it becomes all progressive,” he added.
Meanwhile, speaking about the IPO market, Chauhan told reporters that as many as 30-35 initial public offers are expected to hit the BSE’s SME segment in the next few months.
The fact that IPO market is robust in India despite the global volatility represents the resilience and strengths of Indian capital markets, he added.
A PTI release.