The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, in its circular dated 12th 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 Undertakings under the Companies Act, 2013.

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

Carry forward of unspent CSR obligations: board discretion to decide carrying unspent CSR expenditure to the next year. The board has discretion to decide whether any unspent portion of the minimum required CSR expenditure may be carried forward to the next year; this clarification applies uniformly to all companies liable for CSR under the Companies Act, 2013, including Public Sector Undertakings.