The Ministry of Corporate Affairs in its circular dated 12^th January 2016, has clarified that, the Board of the Company is free to decide whether any unspent amount from out of the minimum required CSR expenditure is to be carried forward to the next year. This provision is uniformly applicable to all CSR eligible companies including Public Sector Undertaking (PSUs).

This was stated by Shri Arun Jaitley, Minister of Corporate Affairs in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

Board discretion on CSR carryforward allows companies to decide if unspent mandated CSR funds move to the next year. The board has discretion to decide whether any unspent portion of the minimum required Corporate Social Responsibility expenditure may be carried forward to the next year; this clarification applies uniformly to all CSR eligible companies, including Public Sector Undertakings.