Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, HDFC, Tata Steel and Tech Mahindra are among the winners and the recipients of honourable mentions in the National CSR Awards 2020 announced by the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) on Thursday.

The MCA instituted the annual National Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Awards to recognize companies that have made positive impact on the society through their innovative and 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

Sub-category 1.1: Companies having eligible CSR Spend equal and above Rs. 100 crores

Winner: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited

Honourable Mention: Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited

Sub-category 1.2: Companies having eligible CSR Spend equal and above Rs. 10 crores and less than Rs. 100 crores

Winner: Tata Steel Limited

Honourable Mention: Tech Mahindra Limited

Sub-category 1.3: Companies having eligible CSR Spend equal and above Rs. 1 crore and less than Rs.10 crores

Winner: CRISIL Limited

Honourable Mention: Honeywell Automation India Limited

Sub-category 1.4: Companies having eligible CSR Spend below Rs. 1 crore

MSME Winner: Wingify Software Private Limited

Honourable Mention: Tata Motors Finance Limited

Category 2: CSR Awards for CSR in Aspirational Districts / Difficult Terrains

Sub-category 2.1: Northern India

Winner: ITC Limited

Honourable Mention: Indian Oil Corporation Limited

Sub-category 2.2: North-East India

Winner: North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited

Honourable Mention: Power Grid Corporation of India Limited

Sub-category 2.3: Eastern India

Winner: Jindal Steel & Power Limited

Honourable Mention: National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO)

Sub-category 2.4: Western India

Winner: Tata Communications Transformation Services Limited

Honourable Mention: JK Lakshmi Cement Limited

Sub-category 2.5: Southern India

MSME Winner: Avantel Limited

Honourable Mention: Ashok Leyland Limited

Category 3: CSR Awards for contribution in National Priority Areas

Sub-category 3.1: Education

Winner: Tata Steel Limited

Honourable Mention: BMW India Private Limited

Sub-category 3.2: Skill Development and Livelihood

Winner: Tech Mahindra Limited

Honourable Mention: Mahindra and Mahindra Limited

Sub-category 3.3: Agriculture and Rural Development

Winner: Mahanadi Coalfields Limited

Sub-category 3.4: Health, Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation

Winner: Hero MotoCorp Limited

Honourable Mention: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited

Sub-category 3.5: Environment, Sustainable Development and Solar Energy

Winner: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited

Honourable Mention: Bajaj Auto Limited

Sub-category 3.6: Women and Child Development

Winner: Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited

Honourable Mention: Mahanadi Coalfields Limited

Sub-category 3.7: Technology Incubation

Winner: Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited

Sub-category 3.8: Promotion of Sports

Winner: Central Coalfields Limited

Honourable Mention: Aditya Birla Insurance Brokers Limited

Sub-category 3.9: Slum Area Development

Winner: HCL Technologies Limited

Sub-category 3.10: Heritage, Art and Culture

MSME Winner: Elin Appliances Private Limited

Honourable Mention: Hindustan Zinc Limited

Sub-category 3.11: Support to differently-abled

Winner: Jindal Steel and Power Limited

Honourable Mention: ADP Private Limited

About National 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.