Reduce your Energy Cost & meet your CSR obligations

​Reduce your Energy Cost & meet your CSR obligations

Corporate Social Responsibility signifies the integration of a Company's business objectives with environmental and social objectives. Under the Companies Act 2013, certain classes of profitable entities are required to contribute at least two per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

CSR rules are applicable to companies having at least Rs 5 crore net profit, or Rs 1,000 crore turnover or Rs 500 crore net worth.

Are you spending your CSR budget wisely?

Spending on charity may not be as simple as it may seem to be especially when your core business and your core team is profit oriented.

As per Schedule VII of Companies Act 2013 there are many activities that are categorized under CSR and one of them is "ensuring environment sustainability" which further includes projects like the adoption of renewable energy, like solar, which helps buildings becoming sustainable by using electricity from the solar panels installed on your building's rooftop thus becoming less dependent on the grid power during daylight, saving on diesel cost besides doing away with noise and pollution. And while you adopt solar power for your own benefit to meet your power requirements, it also forms a part of you CSR activities by reducing carbon footprint.

In addition to developing your own solar plant under CSR, you can avail Accelerated Depreciation Benefit under Income Tax to reduce the tax outgo. The Ministry of Company Affairs has prepared an illustrative list of activities that can be classified as CSR work. Among them, renewable energy projects are considered as a CSR activity provided that it is not part of the particular company's business. In case of Solar, the types of projects that can be undertaken to meet CSR are:

• Solar for captive use;
• Buy solar power;
• Providing solar lighting & pumping solution to rural households;

Use of Solar can be also be adopted by catering to a village needs through Solar street lights, solar operated water pumping sets, solar operated reverse osmosis plant for clean water drinking, considered as good examples under CSR.

For more information on how your company can best execute CSR through Solar solutions you can contact Shri Shakti Alternative Energy Ltd with your inquiries.