takes up areas that directly concern its business processes, and thereafter any other related or unrelated issues. These can also yield strategic benefits to the company.

CSR philosophy to be defined and articulated
Every company must clearly define its own CSR philosophy and objectives, stating which issues it intends working on or contributing to. It is recommended that a company first takes up areas that directly concern its business processes, and thereafter any other related or unrelated issues. These can also yield strategic benefits to the company.

Minimum annual CSR expenditure
Every company must spend a minimum of 0.2% of its annual income on CSR activities. The CSR spending of a company should not be linked to the profit made by the company because this would vary from year to year and the CSR activities would thus not be consistently maintained.

The scale of operations of a company and its impact is connected with its sales, and not with its profits. The larger the company, the greater is the damage it is doing to the environment. Conversely, the greater is the company's ability to do good.

Protection and restoration of the environment
Every company must be engaged in CSR activities that minimise its harm to the environment, and which help restore damage done to the environment because of the company. For example, all companies should use energy-efficient technologies for their factories and offices, and adopt rainwater harvesting irrespective of the production process they are engaged in.

Employment for marginalized groups
Every company should provide inclusive employment opportunities and include the physically-challenged and marginalized groups in their workforce. The number of employment opportunities offered to such groups should be stated in the Annual Reports as is done by Public Sector Undertakings.

Local community development
It is recommended that a company first undertakes projects in the places where it functions, and helps those local communities and environments that are affected by its work.

Use of core competence
Every company should use its core competence to benefit its stakeholders and society. For instance, banks can use their expertise to identify and counsel debtors who are likely to run into financial trouble

Extending profile and area of businesses
A company should attempt to stretch its business beyond its existing profile and into areas where it does not normally work so as to reach out to under-served groups and populations. While this may sometimes mean smaller profit margins or marginal losses for the company, it will invariably result in valuable business learning's as well as effective CSR for the company.

Developing internal CSR implementation systems
A company may choose to develop an in-house CSR team or division that undertakes the CSR activities for the company. This is desirable as it leads to greater sensitization and awareness within the company about it's processes, responsibilities, role, etc. and leads to the internalization of the company's CSR philosophy.

Instead of contributing to the trust of the CEO or the promoter family, a company should set up its own trust/foundation as a matter of proper business ethics.

The company may also choose to partner with one or two Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) or other organizations for its CSR activities.

It is recommended that a company set up a committee that includes an external Director, an NGO and local stakeholders for selecting, monitoring and evaluating its CSR activities.

Focused CSR activities for greater impact
It is recommended that a company identifies a few issues for it's CSR activities and works on these areas for a sustained period of time so that measurable results and improvements can be achieved, rather than undertaking or supporting several small initiatives across several areas thereby reducing effective impact.