Suggested talking points for Mr. N Kumar. Past President, CII and Vice Chairman, The Sanmar Group during a confererence on Corporate Governance and CSR in Mumbai organised by US-India Business Council

Corporate Social Responsibility promotes a vision of business accountability to a wide range of stakeholders besides shareholders and investors. Corporate social Responsibility is the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large. It is an expression used to describe a company's obligation to be sensitive to the needs of all its stake holders in its business operations. .CSR is a part of the multi dimensional process which assumes that the community interests and stability is part of the long term business sustainability. Key areas of concern are environmental protection and the well being of employees, the community and civil society in general. Many Corporates are looking at CSR as a business strategy which can provide long term leverage over the competitors. For example some consumers have become increasingly sensitive to the CSR performance of the companies from which they buy their goods and services. And also some investors and investment fund managers have begun to take account of a corporation’s CSR policy in making investment decisions. As part of the CSR policy many companies are now encouraging their employees to volunteer and take part in community work. Ultimately such actions enhance the company’s reputation and strengthen the brand.
The role of business in Society has been debated in economic literature for a long time. The modern debate on the Social side of business gained momentum in 1953 with the publishing of the book Social Responsibilities of Businessman by Howard .R.Bowen. Bowen reasoned that there would be general Social and economic benefits that would accrue to Society, if business recognized broader social goals in its decisions.In India, many companies believe in CSR has an idea to give back something to the community and also to empower them so that they can lead a life devoid of poverty. Many firms especially from the Manufacturing and Services Industry have shown the way how Indian companies in their own way contribute their part in the nation building process. Many firms are looking at CSR as a strategy for the economic upliftment of the poor and the needy. Many believe the fruits of the Indian economic resurgence should be benefited by all and there is an opportunity which is to be tapped.
Tata Group was the front runner in taking care of the needs of the community. The stupendous economic growth seen in India poses a constraint on the resources and the effective way is to manage this is to work out a sustainable method where the environment is protected, the needs of the community is taken care off, employing the disabled and the school drop outs by enhancing their Skills, using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve the standard of living of the community etc.
A strong case for the CSR activity is a company’s commitment to sound labor practices, environmental stewardship and good community relations plays an influential role in how it is perceived by the public. In a survey conducted in 20 developed countries, CSR related factors collectively accounted for 49% of company’s image compared with 35% for brand image and just 10% for financial management.

In India CSR has moved from the model of standalone projects to collaborations among public organizations, private firms, and civil society in addressing the developmental bottlenecks. These results-oriented interactions potentially improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery mechanism by leveraging the expertise and technical excellence of the Indian Private sector. The concept of Public Private Partnership in Development projects is fastly gaining ground in India. CII have also been in the forefront of this unique partnership model.
Public sector organizations and Government Institutions in India are becoming increasingly reliant on collaboration with the private sector and civil society to strengthen innovative capacity and respond to the needs of the rural poor. New collaborative modalities include public-private partnerships, knowledge exchange networks, research consortia, technology joint ventures, public-private-non-governmental extension services and other partnership-based approaches.
Results have been encouraging and suggest that such collaborations are an important step in helping achieve the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and developing a global partnership for development.
The relation between CSR and Good Governance is closely related to the building up of economic competitiveness at the firm. Corporate Governance and CSR are two pillars which is the long run create a Sustainable and Ethical organization. Corporate Governance is a tool to add to the shareholder value while CSR adds value to the Stakeholders. The fundamentals of a strong organization is laid by sound Corporate Governance practices which invariably promotes fundamental values of Market economy and sustainable business practices which ultimately benefits the community. Institutions like CII have the task in hand to see corporate Governance becomes an Instrument for closer stakeholder engagement, greater transparency, equity and social responsibility. Sound Corporate Governance practices leads to Sustainable wealth.

Using these two strategies of CSR and Corporate Governance , the Private sector in India has a responsibility to create an enabling environment conducive for Inclusive growth by creating a high and a sustainable economic growth that would create employment opportunities and create an Inclusive society where the benefits of the economy growth reaches all section of the society.