INTRODUCTION:

It is a well-established truth that industries are one of the major causes behind environmental degradation as well as carbon emission leading to global warming and climate change. Consequently, for over the last six or seven decades, many conscious citizens, groups, agencies, activists, have been raising their voice out of legitimate concern against unethical, unmindful, narrow and self-centric business practices. The popular perception regarding large-scale business ventures is that they are driven solely and unfailingly by profit.

It is this mistrust about the corporates that led to the concept of business leaders making a continuing commitment. This commitment is to integrate ethical behaviour in all activities leading to economic development to improve quality of life not only for the work force and their families, but also for the host community and larger section of the society. This in fact is the definition of Corporate Social Responsibility. This definition was created by World Business Council of CSR and Sustainable Development. Under this concept, business houses are expected to integrate environmental and social concerns into their ethical business processes. It is not merely altruistic or philanthropic giving. Businesses have a duty and responsibility towards every species of flora and fauna that inhabits the planet, the human community and most importantly the earth itself along with the future generations that will inherit it. Therefore, must act sooner rather than later before things go out of control. So they must necessarily integrate ethics and morality, corporate accountability, corporate strategic management in the business process.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD, 2000) defines CSR as “the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their quality of life.” CSR may also be defined as the duty of the organisation to respect individuals’ rights and promote human welfare in its operations (Manakkalathil and Rudolf, 1995; Oppewal et al., 2006). At a very macro level, CSR captures the dynamics of the equation between business and society (Hill et al., 2003), whereas CSR at a micro level talks about the minimization and internalization of negative externalities generated by a firm as well as greater generation of positive externalities (Jones, 2005).

Corporate social responsibility can bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots by enhancing human capabilities and making them employable. It can support research and development efforts like social incubators and start-ups to help strengthen small and informal sectors thereby bringing more equity and participation. Corporate social responsibility can also bring more awareness among communities as well as with business leaders to reduce stress on natural resources, bio-capacity, greenhouse gases, global warming, and unethical practices, human rights, labour, corruption which are all major causes of concern for our planet and people.

Some may perceive it as responsibility of the businesses while other may look at it as philanthropy. Businesses have been guided by different drivers over the years while undertaking CSR and hence it has meant different things at different times. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), as a mechanism to address the social and environmental issues, has gathered momentum in the last few decades (Lance, 2001). But, whether a firm visualises these issues as a trivial concern or as a challenge (to cure social and environmental ills) or as a business opportunity can be contested. The CSR initiatives undertaken by the firms are sometimes related to the firm business and sometimes are strikingly unrelated. Many business leaders lately have been using CSR as a strategic tool for driving various business objectives while mitigating the risk. These risks may be at the level of society or towards environment. CSR as “socially responsible” has meant different things depending on local contexts. While in some countries the CSR will be dictated by religious notions, in others it may be dictated by morality. In yet others, there may be a need to build reputation due to earlier issues with similar industry or there may be specific activities that need to be undertaken at the behest of local governments or communities that have provided land. All the contexts may be vastly different from each other and hence the activities will differ as well. Interestingly, another approach to the CSR debate was fuelled when India mandated a specific set of companies to spend at least 2% of the average net profit of the preceding three years towards activities that would qualify as CSR as per schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013. With this enactment the Union of India became the first country to mandate spending towards CSR activities and also specified activities that would qualify as CSR activities. In this paper we have attempted to review the status of corporate CSR practices of the largest company in India based on the public disclosures made by the company. It further critically assessed details of CSR funds employed towards various CSR activities undertaken. Finally the study explored the extent of socio-economic impact due to such CSR initiatives.

It is observed that a good number of researches have been undertaken on CSR practices in the economicand organizational contexts of Europe and theUnited States of America. But there is lack of case study based research focusing on assessment of details of CSR funds employed towards various CSR activities and its socio-economic impact in the context of listed companies in India. The aim of this paper is to report the findings of our study that sought to assess how far any proactive company can strengthen its socio-economic infrastructure, if it incurs expenditure towards various CSR activities.

The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 gives a brief overview of the literature relevant to this paper. Section 3 provides details about data and methodology adopted followed by a discussion of the findings relating to the CSR initiatives by corporate and its socio-economic impact in section 4. Section 5 sums up and gives concluding remarks.

LITERATURE REVIEW:

A good number of review is available in Bowen (1953), Votaw (1972), Carroll (1999), Van Marrewijik (2003), Ite (2004), Garriga and Mele (2004), Fisher (2004), Godfrey and Hatch (2007), Beurden and Gossling (2008), Spector (2008), Dahlsrud (2008), Okoye (2009), Carroll and Shabana (2010), Rahman (2011), Sheehy (2015), Ghobadian et al. (2015), Danilovic et al. (2015) defining corporate social responsibility and its evolution.

As our study focuses case study on CSR practices and for the purpose this research has selected an oil and gas company, therefore we provide a review of literature that examines how does oil and gas sector take initiative on CSR activities.

Frynas (2010) says that the oil and gas sector lead as industry champions of CSR due to the socio-political context of emerging countries where they operate and due to the increasing awareness of scope of effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Renouard and Lado, 2012). But one of the significant driver behind this is the highly visible negative effects of oil spills (Frynas, 2010) which adversely impacts farmlands, food security, marine life and health (Edoho, 2008) and is resulting in civil society protests (Frynas, 2010).

The management of environmental, health and safety, liability and corporate reputation are critical for companies' long-term success (Spence et al., 2011) which are driving adoption of CSR. Also, governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), in addition people will be trying to influence development of oil and gas since prevention and redressal of any harm is necessary due to risks involved (Spence et al., 2011) and this problem will persist as long as oil companies are not adopting authentic CSR strategies to address their adverse environmental impact (Edoho, 2008).

As a result, MNCs are increasing community development (CD) investment to demonstrate their commitment to society (Idemudia, 2009). The adoption of codes of conduct as well as focus on reporting etc. can be considered as indicators of increasing involvement of oil companies in CSR (Utting and Ives, 2006). It can be observed that they are taking leadership and developing CSR practices and codes of conduct (Tuodolo, 2009). However, Buldybayeva (2014) argues that CSR in oil and gas industry poses certain questions of delicate nature since this industry is synonymous with scandals which hides bad CSR solution. Most important is the contention by Frynas (2012) that CSR is being adopted in the face of such disaster either forcefully due to mandatory government regulation or voluntarily through initiatives under CSR. According to him, government regulation played a significant part in these improvements rather than CSR in these improvements.

Whatever the case may be, Spence et al. (2011) states that much of oil and gas companies focused initially on environmental concerns as part of sustainability, is widely used in the domain of CSR and this focus is on account of public pressure or regulatory jurisdiction (Guenther et al., 2006). This is relevant since protests against oil companies have been historically fuelled due to oil companies abandoning their responsibility to mitigate the ecological problems (Ojo, 2012). Also, this focus on environment is paradoxical in the oil industry sector, since oil industry has reputation of being the leading polluter in the world (De Roeck and Delobbe, 2012).

Berger, Cunningham and Drumwright (2007) observed that the three drivers individually or put together forms the primary pillars or driving force of Business to undertake CSR activities. These leads to three models of CSR: Social Value based model, Business Case model and Syncretic model. Social value based or normative model comes from the belief that it is good to do good to all. The business case however is predominantly the main driver of CSR. Frynas (2009) observed that CSR is usually justified as either as risk management strategy to protect firms from external threats or through involvement with NGOs or other developmental agencies for developing new product services to benefit from external opportunities. At times, both of these can drive CSR of firm making it a business case. In the syncretic model, the normative case of CSR that it is good to good as well as Business case to earn gains can be present together to help firm strategies their CSR activities. For example, some of the Oil and Gas corporations have put out their priority areas for social investment or community development projects. Some others are doing it based on what the local governments require of them. Some work directly with the community to manage stakeholder concerns while others work with the governments as a mediator between community and corporations. Such diversity in practices lacks a unified approach and it is observed that none of the companies have a specified budget for the CSR and it is dependent every year is dependent on either their revenues or the profits.

The literature review suggests that a huge gap exists in the academic discourses on CSR. There are limited studies on CSR globally and even the existing studies are focused on few regions of the world. CSR is a diverse issue and studies available do not touch upon CSR of different geographies and societies. The studies in Indian context are again very limited and those available (Singh and Ahuja, 1983; Maheswari, 1993; Batra, 1996; Hyde et al., 1997; Banerjee, 2001; Paul and Pal, 2001; Pramanik et al., 2007) focused on a few aspects of the same. Only a few studies tried to look into the entirety of CSR but limited themselves to a few industrial setups. A further deeper analysis of review suggests that globally there are a lot of discussions on CSR of Oil and Gas sector companies due to their resourcefulness as well as nature of their business. However, the same in not available in Indian context despite the fact that Oil and Gas sector companies of India are among the largest companies of the world with significant impact on economic health of the nation as well as long list of stakeholders.

DATA, SAMPLE AND METHODOLOGY:

This section describes the research design of the study including sample description and data collection.

Sample Study:

As per the report compiled by the NGO Global Justice Now, 69, out of top 100 economies (based on revenue) in the year 2015, were corporations (Global Justice Now, 2016). Of these 100 top economies including 69 corporations, there are eight corporations from the Oil and Gas sector (World Bank, 2011). If we combine the wealth owned by these 69 companies in the upstream and downstream companies in these Petroleum Oil/Gas sector we get amazingly vast amount of resources controlled by these corporations. Accordingly, oil sector has been identified as the research study, as it has significant impact on the world economy. Let’s glance through the facts, presented in Figure 1, related to the petroleum, oil and gas companies across the world.

Source: Fortune, n.d.

Figure 1: Fortune 500 Oil and Gas Corporations

Secondly, more practical part is the fact that the oil and gas industry in the past has recorded conspicuous negative environmental effects such as oil-spills, rig explosions, refinery explosion, environmental degradation. These have led to antagonism public outcry and activism by the civil society groups and local communities. This has led the oil and gas industry to do something more for the local communities and to mitigate the harmful effects it creates and to build the reputation to be perceived as a preferred corporate neighbours by the local community. Research and surveys make it clear that the CSR by the Oil and Gas companies have been more due to the pressure to keep up their reputation and brand building than by any other driving force.

Now most of the companies in the oil sectors across the globe are found to be engaged in various social issues, some of which may be common across geographical locations across the segment. The state owned oil companies across the world have shown different system of engaging in CSR activity, more in sync with government imperatives and programs.

In India too, 50% of the top 10 companies by revenues in 2016 were from the oil and gas sector (Figure 2). Of these, 4 companies are owned by the government or are Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), while one is from the private sector.

In India, there are currently 13 oil and gas sector CPSEs under administrative control of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. It is viewed from Figure 2 that Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) ranked first in terms of revenue in 2016 out of 10 largest companies in India. Secondly, IOCL had highest turnover i.e. 37.71% (INR 4,76,627.4 Cr), out of total turnover (INR 12,63,859.1 Cr) of 13 oil and gas CPSEs. Accordingly, the study here concentrated to review the status of CSR practices of IOCL based on the public disclosures made by the company.

It further critically assessed details of CSR funds employed towards various CSR activities undertaken by IOCL. Finally the study explored the extent of socio-economic improvement due to expenditure towards IOCL’s CSR activities.

Data and Methodology for the Study:

The data for this research is secondary in nature and the research method used Content Analysis. CSR related items were hand picked from all previous researches on the topic primarily those related to CSR of IOCL, Annual Reports of the sample Company for the relevant years, Business Responsibiliy Reports, specific reports on CSR, data submitted and published by various bodies pertaining to CSR of the sample company, data published by Government Bodies etc., after a thorough examination of the contents of the same. Literature survey was used for reviewing the related CSR activities over the years.

The research approach used for this study is Case Study Method following Yin (2009), Tellis (1997), Zainal (2007), who mentioned that case study method is recognized as a tool in many social science studies more prominent when deals with issues related with regard to sociology (Grassel and Schirmer, 2006), education (Gulsecen and Kubat, 2006), and community based problems (Johnson, 2006), such as poverty, unemployment, drug addiction, illiteracy, etc.

The Case Study Method enabled a look at the entirety of the phenomenon of Corporate Social Responsibility in this study, the Analytical Method allowed for identification and interpretation of data already existing in documents, reports and media. It further enabled the researcher to analyse contextual information that was very useful and very essential to the researcher for an accurate interpretation of data. The analytical method further enabled the researcher to look into the qualitative as well as quantitative aspects of documents pertaining to the sample company with equal attention to both and at the same time integrating the data with various concepts on CSR propounded globally through concept analysis.

Sample Description:

To review the status of corporate CSR practices of the sample company based on the public disclosures made by the company and to critically assess details of CSR funds employed towards various CSR activities undertaken in a systematic manner, sample description was considered necessary. Indian Refineries Ltd. (Established 1958) and Indian Oil Company (Established 1959) were merged to incorporate Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) on 01.09.1964 with registered office in Mumbai India. Thereafter, Assam Oil Company Ltd was also merged with IOCL in 1981. IOCL, the oil and gas major, is the largest corporate identity in India in terms of turnover. IOCL has 68.57% shareholding of Central Government. During the year 2013, IOCL was ranked at 96^th in Global Fortune 500 list, the highest for any Indian Corporate. As on 31.03.2014, it has 33,793 regular employees (Executives 15,407, Non-Executives 18,386. IOCL is having the highest turnover among all the companies in India. This is also a Maharatna Company. Its presence is there in all areas of hydrocarbon business - starting from exploration, storage transportation, refining, marketing of Petroleum products. It is also present in the petrochemical segment. Since its foundation in the year 1964 it has been dutifully supporting various social welfare and community development initiatives as claimed through various communication and annual reports placed in public domain. Towards CSR Budget, it had been earmarking 0.5% of the net profit of previous year since 1991 that was increased to 2% of the previous years retained profit in 2009. After implementation of Companies Act, 2013 and Company (CSR Policy) Rules 2014 from 2014-15 it is allocating 2% of the average net profit of the preceding 3 years towards various CSR activities.

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS:

To critically assess details of CSR funds employed towards various CSR activities undertaken by IOCL and allocation of budget; identify thrust areas for CSR and activity wise investment in CSR activities were considered necessary.

CSR Budget:

IOCL has committed to allocate 2% of the average net profit of last three years towards CSR budget that will be non-lapsable as stated in its latest Sustainability and CSR policy. Every year IOCL provides INR 10 Crore of its CSR fund to the corpus of Indian Oil Foundation. Balance CSR fund of the year as well as the carry forward fund of earlier years is utilized for undertaking various CSR activities through its local offices all over India as well as corporate office. As mentioned between 1991 and 2009 it was allocating 0.5% of the net profit of previous year for CSR which was increased to 2% of the previous year’s retained profit thereafter. From 2014-15 it is allocating 2% of the average net profit of the preceding three years towards various CSR activities.

Focus/Thrust Areas:

IOCL CSR policy (Indian Oil Corporation Limited, 2018) enshrines following CSR thrust areas:

· Safe drinking water

· Healthcare and Sanitation

· Empowering women and socially and economically backward groups

· Education and employment-enhancing vocational skills

· Environment sustainability

· Protection of national heritage and promotion

These were further detailed in the prevailing Sustainability and CSR policy with addition of focus area in the area of sustainability such as:

· Efficiency in operations and process

· Safe and healthy environment in and around the work place

· Promotion of responsible business practice (conduct business with transparent integrity and accountability)

· Tourist friendly facilities at monuments of national importance

· Environmental sustainability as reflecting in the CSR policy that has been detailed with focus on clean energy options, rainwater harvesting, limiting emission of green house gases, reduce-reuse-recycle of resources/wastes.

CSR Activities:

Driven by its Policy during the financial year 2015-16 IOCL had allocated 2% of its average net profit of previous 3 years amounting to INR 141.50 Cr as CSR Budget. There was a carry forward amount of INR 19.61 Crore from previous year making the total CSR budget of the year INR 161.11 Cr. Out of this, during the year 2015-16 IOCL has invested INR 156.67 Cr at various activities within its focus areas as well as within schedule VII of the Company Act 2013. These activities were carried out through outside agency as well as through in-house efforts of IOCL. A small amount of INR 4.43 Cr was unspent during the year which was carried forwarded.

Some of the major CSR activities undertaken during the financial year 2015-16 as recorded in annual report (Indian Oil Corporation Limited, 2017), Business Responsibility Report, website, flyers, coffee table book available in public domain are given in Table 1.

Table 1: IOCL: Major CSR Activities During FY 2015-16

CSR Budget	During the year an amount of INR 141.50 (2.0% of the average net profit of the last 3 years INR 7075.00) was allocated. Unspent CSR Budget of earlier year amounting to INR 19.61 was added to current year’s allocation taking the total CSR Budget allocation for the year to Rs 161.11 Crores. During the year INR 156.67Crore was spent, leaving a balance of INR 4.43 Crore. Thus, about 97% of allocated Budget was spent during the year.
IOCL Support to Government Initiatives
LPG Scheme for BPL families	This scheme has been launched at the guidance of MoPNG (w.e.f. Jan 2010) where 20% of CSR fund (2% of profit) of six CPSE Oil companies namely ONGC/ OIL / GAIL/ IOCL / BPCL/ HPCL are utilized for providing free of cost Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG or cooking gas) connection to people below poverty line (BPL). Security deposit for basic equipment is provided from the common CSR fund. During 2015-16, IOCL had provided INR 28.3 Cr for providing 22.8 lakhs free connection. Since inception 32.4 lakhs connections have been released by IOCL to BPL beneficiaries.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan/ Swachh Vidyalaya:	Government of India initiated Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan (SVA) under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) (since 2014), the largest cleanliness drive ever taken. SVA aims to provide separate toilets for girls and boys in each of the government school in the country. IOCL had joined SVA/SBA involving all stake holders including employees to sensitize about the cause and undertaken more than 3600 activities. Under Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan scheme it has constructed about 2855 toilets in 16 states at a cost of INR44.87 Cr in partnership with state governments.
Health Care Initiatives	1. Indian Oil Assam Oil Division hospital Digboi Assam: IOCL operates a modernized 200 bed hospital at Digboi. This was set up in 1906 to take care of the need of local poor populace. During 2015-16 about 16423 people were provided treatment in this Hospital. 2. Swarna Jayanti Samudayik Hospital Mathura UP: A 50 bedded hospital is operated by IOCL at Mathura. It also operates free mobile medical unit there. The treatment is free for destitute and subsidized for others. During the year 52660 people (other than employees) were treated. More than 8 Lakhs people have benefited since inception 3. Sarve Santu Niramaya (SSN) Digboi, Assam: This developmental initiative was initiated by IOCL in the year 2012 to provide free medical treatment to the poor people living in and around Digboi as well as the live stock they own. During the year about 2500 people and 12200 live stocks were treated (since inception 5400 patients and 57000 live stocks took benefit of the project) 4. Indian Oil Muskaan: IOCL has initiated this programme to address the problem of people affected with cleft lips or palates. During the year 2015-16 corrective surgeries were carried out on 204 persons (90 girls) from 26 districts of Assam.
Skill Development Livelihood generation	1. Assam Oil School of Nursing/ College of Nursing Digboi Assam: IOCL have been operating a nursing school free of cost at Digboi with an intake of 20 candidates for very long time. This is an all-expense paid training where boarding lodging and education is free and the students are given stipend during the period of studies. In the year 2014 College of Nursing was started with intake of 30 students. During 2015-16,16 students completed General nursing and midwifery programme. 391 students have completed the course with 100% placement records since it started in 1986. 2. Indian Oil Multi Skill Development institute Digboi, Assam: The institute was started in the year 2014. This provided job oriented skill development programme.271 beneficiaries received the skill training during the year on various courses such as welding, hospitality, fitter, retail, auto repair etc. Since inception 388 benefited of the scheme. 3. Indian Oil Industrial Training Centre, Digboi, Assam: This programme started in 1975 under the aegis of NCVT. It provides 3-year industrial trade courses with a capacity of 68 intakes. During the year 61 candidates were trained up (since 1975 about 1238 people have benefited). 4. Shikshak Dakshta Vikar Abhiyan, Digboi, Assam: In coordination with District Education department this programme was started in 2012 to train up teachers on various soft skills. During the year 81 teachers were trained up. The total since inception is 355 covering 42 villages in and around Digboi
Scholarships (Educational)	1. Indian Oil Academic Scholarship Scheme: IOCL provide scholarship to 10+ students who are in ITI/Engineering/MBBS/MBA course. 49.5% of the scholarships are reserved for SC/ST/OBC. It also has reservation for women candidate and people with disability. During the year 3137 students availed of this benefits. Since inception more than 15000 students have availed this facility.
Scholarships (Sports)	1. Indian Oil Sports Scholarship Scheme Started in 2006-07 IOCL provide sorts scholarship to young sportsman representing states/ nation. About 150 scholarships are given every ears in about 20 games to the people belonging to 14-19 years of age. The scholarship is given for three years in addition to providing sports kits.

Source: IOCL (2015-16)

Apart from above major CSR initiatives undertaken, various locations pan India have undertaken numerous CSR activities based on the needs of local community to enhance quality of life by supporting health care, education, livelihood generation skill development and also in the area of cleanliness and environmental sustainability and clean water. IOCL has also collaborated with government, local administration and various independent agency at numerous place to support worthwhile activities within its focus areas. These include, but are not limited to, providing infrastructure support to government hospitals and dispensaries, government schools and colleges, supplementing government schemes including ICDS etc.

It is also observed that some of the long term major projects as mentioned above have been ongoing for quite some time, and a few are over a very long time too.

Table 2 presents Schedule VII item wise CSR spent by IOCL during the financial year 2015-16. In terms of Schedule VII alignment it is observed that out 472 activities, 281 activities valued at INR 75.50 Cr were undertaken in item (i) of Schedule VII of the Company Act 2013, that is “…to eradicate hunger, poverty and malnutrition, promote preventive health care and sanitation and making available safe drinking water”. The second largest investment was in the area of item (iv) of schedule VII of the Company Act 2013 that is “…to ensure environmental sustainability, ecological balance, protection of flora and fauna, animal welfare, agroforestry, conservation of natural resources and maintaining quality of soil, air and water including contribution to the Clean Ganga Fund set-up by the Central Government for rejuvenation of river Ganga”. About 17 activities at INR 40.20 Cr. were undertaken towards this. While substantial investment (INR 28.80 Cr.) was made in the item (ii) of promoting education, including special education and employment enhancing vocation skills especially among children, women, elderly, and the differently abled and livelihood enhancement projects. No investment has been made in item no (vi), (viii), (ix), (xi) that is in the area of “…benefit of armed forces veterans, contribution to the Prime Minister's National Relief fund, contributions to technology incubation projects and slum area development project”.

A detailed analysis of item no (i) of Schedule VII of Company Act, 2013 shows that out of 281 activities undertaken at an approximate cost of INR 75.50 Cr., about 200 activities valued at INR 56.4 Cr. was undertaken under item (i) “…promoting sanitation and making available safe drinking water” in schools, villages and communities. Balance about 81 activities (INR 19.10 Cr) were undertaken purely in “…promoting health care including preventive health care”.

A detailed analysis of item no (ii) of Schedule VII shows that out of 124 activities undertaken at an approximate cost of INR 28.80 Cr, about 110 activities for an amount of INR 21.22 Cr. is exclusively towards promotion of education by providing scholarships, school infrastructure such as construction of Classrooms, library, amphitheatre, supply of school furniture, equipment, computers, laboratory equipment. The balance of 14 activities amounting to about INR 7.60 Cr was spent towards job oriented Skill Development and vocational training out of which INR 4.5 Cr was exclusively for setting up skill development institute as directed by Government of India.

Out of these 472 activities valued at INR156.68 Cr, IOCL has undertaken 276 activities valued at INR 136.5 Cr. Balance 196 activities (INR 20.25 Cr) were invested through outside agencies like non-profit Organisation, foundation Cooperatives, Trust etc. This amounts to be only about 13% of total investment showing greater control on CSR invested. This has increased over years from about 47% in 2013-14.

Table 3 shows number of beneficiaries who have been identified against above major CSR projects undertaken by IOCL. In addition to above, IOCL CSR initiatives have touched millions of lives by providing various infrastructure and grass root development activities in the focus areas identified in the CSR policy of the company. Provision of water facilities; infrastructure at hospitals, schools, colleges, skill development institutes / industrial training institutes; setting up sports facilities were made across the country.

Table 2: Schedule VII item wise CSR spent by IOCL: FY 2015-16

Item Under Schedule VII of Company Act 2013	Item	No. of Activities	%	INR Lakhs	%
Eradicating hunger, poverty and malnutrition, promoting health care including preventive health care and sanitation including contribution to the Swachh Bharat Kosh set-up by the Central Government for the promotion of sanitation and making available safe drinking water	(i)	281	59.53	7552.53	48.20
Promoting education, including special education and employment enhancing vocational skills especially among children, women, elderly and the differently abled and livelihood enhancement projects	(ii)	124	26.27	2883.17	18.40
Promoting gender equality, empowering women, setting up homes and hostels for women and orphans; setting up old age homes, day care centres and such other facilities for senior citizens and measures for reducing inequalities faced by socially and economically backward groups	(iii)	16	3.39	74.00	0.47
Ensuring environmental sustainability, ecological balance, protection of flora and fauna, animal welfare, agroforestry, conservation of natural resources and maintaining quality of soil, air and water including contribution to the Clean Ganga Fund set-up by the Central Government for rejuvenation of river Ganga	(iv)	17	3.60	4020.78	25.66
Protection of national heritage, art and culture including restoration of buildings and sites of historical importance and works of art; setting up public libraries; promotion and development of traditional arts and handicrafts	(v)	2	0.42	53.59	0.34
Training to promote rural sports, nationally recognized sports and Olympic sports	(vii)	6	1.27	145.88	0.93
Rural development projects	(x)	24	5.08	190.44	1.22
Administrative overheads	-	2	0.42	747.28	4.77
Grand Total		472	100.00	15667.67	100.00

Socio-Economic Impact

Table 3: IOCL: Socio-Economic Impact of CSR Activities

Description	Since
· Indian Oil Assam Oil Division hospital Digboi Assam: Around its refinery in Digboi IOCL operates a 200 bed hospital. This was set up in 1906 with the aim to provide free of cost health care services to marginalized and economically weaker section of local populace. It provides medical services to a population of around 2 lakh people in its catchment and neighbouring states.	1906 Caters to over two lakhs population
· Swarna Jayanti Samudayik Hospital Mathura, UP: This 50 bedded hospital was setup in 1999 and is operated by IOCL in Mathura, UP. It also operates free mobile medical unit there. The treatment is free for economically weaker sections, destitute and totally subsidized for others.	1999 Benefited more than 8 lakh people
· Sarve Santu Niramaya (SSN) Digboi, Assam: This unique initiative was taken up in the year 2012, IOCL aims to provide free medical treatment to the economically weaker section of local community around Digboi refinery as well as for the livestock that these community members own.	2012 Benefited more than 5400 patients and 57000 livestock
· Indian Oil Sachal Swasthya Seva: In January 2012, IOCL launched a primary mobile healthcare scheme for running 52 mobile medical units (MMU) in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. The MMUs travel to the villages with a 4-member team lead by a MBBS doctor to provide free primary healthcare facilities and free medicines. This facility has ended in the year 2014-15 and no reference is made in 2015-16 annual report.	2012 Has impacted more than 4 million patients
· To support the underprivileged section with cancer prevention diagnosis therapy rehabilitation and palliative support which is otherwise inaccessible due to high cost of treatment Indian Oil has signed an MOU with Tata Medical Centre Trust (TMCT) and Tata Eastern Medical Trust (TEMT) to set up a 250 bed hospital.	2013-14
· Indian Oil Muskaan: IOCL has initiated this unique programme to address the problem of often neglected people affected with cleft lips or palates. During the year 2015-16 corrective surgeries were carried out on 204 persons (including 90 girls) from 26 districts of Assam.	2013-14
IOCL’s Ongoing Education and Skill Development Related CSR Projects	Since
· Indian Oil Industrial Training Centre, Digboi, Assam: This old initiative of IOCL started in 1975 under the aegis of NCVT. It provides 3-year industrial trade courses with a capacity of 68 intakes under 8 discipline.	1975 a total of 1238 youth have been trained
· Indian Oil Scholarship Schemes: Since 1984-85, IOCL has been operating a Scholarship Scheme for the poor and deserving students. Indian Oil awarded around 2600 Scholarships on merit-cum-means basis to students pursuing full-time courses in 10+2/ITI, Engineering, Medical and Business Administration to nurture and support talent among students with belonging to families with less than INR 1 lakh gross joint annual income. 50% scholarships are reserved for students from backward communities, 25% for girl students and 10% to Persons with Disabilities.	1984-85 More than 15000 students benefited
· College of Nursing Digboi Assam: IOCL have been operating a nursing school free of cost at Digboi with an intake of 20 candidates since 1986. This is an all-expense paid 4-year training on general nursing and midwifery. In addition to boarding, lodging and free education, the students are given stipend during the period of studies. In 2013-14 a total of 20 students joined and 18 passed out. Till 2015-16, more than 350 students have completed the nursing course and mid-wifery course with 100% placement records.	1986 More than 350 beneficiaries
· Indian Oil Sports Scholarship Scheme: Started in 2006-07 IOCL provide sports scholarship to young sportsman representing states/ nation. About 150 scholarships are given every year in about 19 games to the people belonging to 14-19 years of age. The scholarship is given for three years in addition to providing sports kits.	2006-07 More than 1600 beneficiaries
· Shikshak Dakshta Vikash Abhiyan, Digboi, Assam: To address the burning issue of competencies of teachers particularly in the area of soft skills IOCL in coordination with District Education department started this programme in 2012 to train up teachers. So far (2014-15), 248 teachers have been trained covering many villages in and around Digboi.	2012 Beneficiaries about 250 teachers
· Indian Oil Multi Skill Development Institute Digboi, Assam: Keeping in view the increased flow of working age population and poor employability IOCL started Multi skill development Institute Digboi during 2014 for making the marginalized youth self-dependent. This provided job oriented skill development programme. First batch of more than 80trainees have joined the course in August 2014	2014

Source: IOCL (2015-16)

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

On an overall basis, it is suggested that a huge gap exists in the academic discourses on CSR. There are limited studies on CSR globally and even the existing studies are focused on few regions of the world. CSR is a diverse issue and studies available do not touch upon CSR of different geographies and societies. The studies in Indian context are again very limited. Only a few studies tried to look into the entirety of CSR but limited themselves to a few industrial setups. A further deeper analysis suggests that globally there are a lot of discussions on CSR of Oil and Gas sector companies due to their resourcefulness as well as nature of their business. However, the same may not available in Indian context despite the fact that Oil and Gas sector companies of India are among the largest companies with significant impact on economic health of the nation as well as on the long list of stakeholders.

Further, this paper has tried to review the status of corporate CSR practices of sample company in India based on the public disclosures made by the company. It further critically assessed details of CSR funds employed towards various CSR activities undertaken by the company. Finally the study explored the extent of socio-economic impact due to such CSR initiatives.

IOCL CSR initiatives have touched millions of lives by providing various infrastructure and grass root development activities in the focus areas identified in the CSR policy of the company. Provision of water facilities; infrastructure at hospitals, schools, colleges, skill development institutes/industrial training institutes; setting up sports facilities were made across the country. Environment related initiatives like providing LPG connection to disadvantaged section of society, improving sanitation, health and livelihood and providing livelihood generation skill stand tall among various initiatives undertaken. The company through a robust process have been reaching out to the disadvantaged section of the society even before the Companies Act 2013. However the reporting and disclosure in the public domain has transformed post Companies Act. The socio-economic impact of CSR activities of IOCL can be understood from the fact that it has invested its CSR budget in activities that are more permanent and add to the national developmental efforts.

As with all empirical work in this area, our results are subject to certain limitations. First, our sample study covers only one enterprise and the results we document may not adequately capture the historical trend of socio-economic gain due to expenditure towards CSR initiatives. Second, we do not take primary data for the analysis through discussion into consideration. Despite these potential shortcomings, we believe that our findings contribute evidence on the recent trend of oil and gas sector CPSEs.

There is need for continuing more exploratory and empirical research on different aspects of corporate social responsibility. Instead of focusing only one Oil and Gas sector CPSE, comparison could be made among all 13 Oil and Gas sector CPSEs on the issue. Apart from evaluating socio-economic impact only, future research may analyze brand value, investor pressure, litigation, regulation/legislation, innovation and quality control, productivity and cost savings, research and development, expenditure on social overheads, industrial safety, quality assurance and consumer protection, employees participation in management, corporate governance parameters etc. on corporate social responsibility practice. Even, future research may be conducted to identify the driving forces for taking CSR initiatives in the Indian context in a more detailed way. A comparative study may also be undertaken on CSR initiatives in developing countries. It is generally assumed that identification of CSR thrust area in more systematic manner along with logical investment towards CSR initiatives would promote socially responsible behavior.

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Received on 27.05.2020 Modified on 20.06.2020

Asian Journal of Management. 2020;11(4):468-478.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2020.00071.2