CSR platform goes live on BSE; projs worth Rs 2,000 cr listed

Mumbai: Sammaan, a platform to help companies find agencies for carrying out social welfare activities, has become operational on stock exchange BSE with more than 600 projects requiring funds of about Rs 2,000 crore listed on it as of now.

The CSR platform, launched by BSE along with industry body CII and think tank IICA, went live on the stock exchange on December 9.

Sammaan would help corporates undertake effective CSR(corporate social responsibility) activities by connecting them to non-profit and non-government agencies that have legitimate records.

NGOs looking to fund their programmes would be required to list on Sammaan along with their projects, while companies are required to register themselves to access the segment.

"In three days, we have already seen registration of close to 200 corporates. We have over 600 projects across 325 cities/towns listed by NGOs that are looking for donations," BSE Strategic Advisor Praveen Chakravarty told PTI.

"Nearly 650 projects requiring close to Rs 2,000 crore are listed on Sammaan now. Also 200 corporates are currently going through the screening process. We hope to achieve closure of funding for these projects in six months time," Chakravarty said.

Under the new Companies Act, corporates in India are mandated to spend up to 2 percent of their average net profits over the last three years towards CSR.

As per a recent analysis done by BSE, there are 1,294 companies listed on its exchange that are required to spend nearly Rs 7,800 crore on CSR activities in the current fiscal. "Sammaan is one of the world's first initiatives to provide an end-to-end framework to help corporate be socially responsible. We are very proud of this initiative of the BSE," BSE chairman S Ramadorai told PTI.

According to BSE, there are about 20 lakh NGOs registered in India but there is considerable confusion among corporates on their legitimacy and credibility.

Just as companies go through a process of registration and merchant banker scrutiny to list on the stock exchange, similarly, NGOs would also have to follow the listing procedures to list on Sammaan, Chakravarty said.

"They (NGOs) are listed on Sammaan either through the certification process of the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) that works with six different ministries to get clearance for each NGO or through a recognised associate NGO partner of Sammaan such as Dasra, Credibility Alliance, HelpYour NGO," Chakravarty added.

Every NGO would go through a check of its documentation, verification of projects by an associate partner or IICA and only then gets listed on Sammaan.