Financing Resilience: Interventions & Recommendations to Restructure India’s CSR Landscape for Risk Informed Sustainable Development

Repaul Kanji; Tanmay Gound

Abstract

This body of work critically evaluates the efficacy of India’s mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) regime, as a potential alternative financing mechanism for Disaster Risk Management (DRM). While the mandated framework demonstrates significant potential in ex post disaster response, relief, and recovery efforts, the study finds that fundamental structural and behavioural biases severely impede strategic investment in proactive ex ante Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). Integrating established theoretical frameworks, specifically Institutional Theory and the Proximity & Signalling Bias, the analysis unpacks the root causes of the misalignment. Empirical evidence shows that CSR funds are disproportionately directed toward sectors offering easily quantifiable, high-visibility metrics (e.g., basic education and healthcare), critically neglecting highly vulnerable states and complex, long-term DRR needs. The study uses powerful visualisations to illustrate an investment gap to plug disaster risks through CSR funds. To bridge this structural gap and transform compliance-driven spending into strategic investment, the study proposes a set of integrated governance and policy imperatives. Key recommendations include multiple options, ranging from redefining ‘disaster management’ in Schedule VII, to establishing a tiered investment approach within companies for segregated ex ante and ex post financing or, implementing a Risk-Weighted Expenditure Support Programme (RWESP). The RWESP establishes a new Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, enforcing a data-driven investment strategy through co-funding from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to incentivize high-risk, high-impact projects. Collectively, these policy reforms, coupled with an urgent reform of the reporting ecosystem to prioritize verifiable long-term impact, have the potential to transform the CSR mandate into a truly strategic, equitable, and sustainable instrument for national resilience building.

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