They say ‘a little good goes a long way’. Here’s something to testify that: From FY14-19, cumulative spending on corporate social responsibility (CSR) by India’s top 100 listed companies stood at Rs. 350.77 billion. According to KPMG’s India’s CSR Reporting Survey 2019, this money is being spent in improving education, health and sanitation, environment, and rural development across the country. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan and Odisha are the top five states with highest number of CSR projects. As directed in the Companies Act, 2013, 76% of the companies spent 2% of their FY19 profit on CSR activities. Five years since the implementation of the Act, more and more companies are complying with the requirements, states the report. In FY19, companies spent Rs. 86.91 billion, 70% higher as compared to the amount in FY15. 41% of the companies have also aligned their projects to sustainable development goals (SDGs) and 30% of the companies have had more than three CSR committee meetings. It is also interesting to note that there has been a 220% increase in expenditure towards ‘reducing inequality’ at companies which had women chairing the CSR committee. However, all is not well. In FY19, 24% of the companies that did not spend the prescribed 2% stated reasons such as ‘long term programmes’, ‘exploring opportunities’ and ‘scaling up’ for the failure to do so. The survey also suggests that less than 1% of CSR spend has gone towards technology incubators, slum area development and support to war veterans. So, while Indian companies have helped bring smiles on many faces, many a village still awaits its turn.