The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, instituted the annual National Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Awards to recognize companies that have made positive impact on the society through their innovative & sustainable CSR initiatives. These awards are the apex national level recognition by the Government of India.

In the National CSR Awards (2020), the three-stage process has been carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the submissions by the companies and reports of the independent assessment by CSR experts and the Grand Jury, 20 award winners and 17 Honourable Mentions across the three award categories have been selected as per the list given below:

National CSR Awards – 2020

List of Winners and Honourable Mentions

Category 1:

Corporate Awards for Excellence in CSR

Category 2:

CSR Awards for CSR in Aspirational Districts / Difficult Terrains

Category 3:

CSR Awards for contribution in National Priority Areas

ABOUT THE CSR AWARDS

The CSR awards seek to infuse excellence in CSR interventions undertaken by corporates in pursuance of Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013. Upto 20 awards are conferred each year in three main categories, namely, Corporate Awards for Excellence in CSR, CSR Awards for CSR in Aspirational Districts / Difficult Terrains and CSR Awards for contribution in National Priority Areas. Equal numbers of Honourable Mentions are also given to the companies having appreciable CSR interventions.

The awards in the category ‘Corporate Awards for Excellence in CSR’ are for recognition to a company based on total eligible CSR spend, the awards in the category ‘CSR Awards for CSR in Aspirational Districts / Difficult Terrains’ are for the recognition to a company based on their CSR efforts in Aspirational Districts, difficult terrains/ disturbed areas, challenging circumstances etc., and the awards in the category ‘CSR Awards for contribution in National Priority Areas’ are chosen based on contribution of CSR projects in National Priority Areas. One Award in each of the three main categories is reserved for MSME.

National CSR Awards adopts a rigorous three stage process:

a) Online nominations are invited on the National CSR Data Portal (www.csr.gov.in) through Ministries/ Departments of Govt. of India, all State Governments & Union Territories; three Professional Institutes: The Institute of Company Secretaries of India, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, The Institute of Cost Accountants of India ; and various Trade and Industry Chambers.

b) Shortlisting of the nominations is done and detailed submissions are invited from the shortlisted companies. Subsequently, the CSR projects of the shortlisted companies and claims made in detailed submission are subjected to field verification by independent expert Committee members, under the guidance of the Grand Jury of the Awards.

c) The Grand Jury considers and examines the reports of the expert committee and recommends the winners and Honourable Mentions across various categories and sub-categories.

First National CSR Awards were conferred on 29 October 2019 by His Excellency President of India in a ceremonial function held at the Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. There were total 19 winners and equal numbers of Honourable Mentions in different sub-categories of the award in the first cycle.