India's Private Giving

Economic growth, domestic regulation on Corporate Social Responsibility and global interest in India’s development are transforming the role of domestic philanthropic giving. First, the rapid expansion of the economy over three decades of strong economic growth, with a concurrent increase in domestic wealth, bodes well for the potential for philanthropic giving. Second, the Indian Companies Act of 2013 regulates Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and mandates higher corporate spending towards specific sectors. Third, global interest in India’s social and economic development is high – reflected in important levels of external funding – and it has become the largest recipient of international philanthropic flows, while external financing from foreign direct investment (FDI) and personal remittances have increased as a percentage of GDP. Meanwhile, official development assistance (ODA) as a percentage of Gross National Income (GNI), has decreased. The OECD invited 178 of the largest CSR and philanthropic organisations in India to be part of a survey to map India’s domestic giving sector and compare it to other sources of funding, such as ODA, international philanthropic flows and public social expenditures. Family foundations and corporate foundations, however, were reluctant to share financial data, so domestic funding has been partially identified for only 50 large organisations by type of funder, target sector and the Indian States and Territories in which it is carried out.