CSR expansion to boost research impact, rankings for public universities

Scope of CSE spending extended to public funded universities, IITs, national labs and autonomous bodies engaged in research in science, technology, engineering and medicine

Expansion of the scope of corporate social responsibility (CSR), as part of finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's tax rate cut measures for India Inc on Friday, is set to boost research impact and thereby improve global rankings for public funded institutes like Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

As part of expanding the scope of the two per cent CSR spending, contributions made to public funded universities, IITs, national laboratories and autonomous bodies engaged in conducting research in science, technology, engineering and medicine has now been recognised by the government. The announcement by the finance minister also lays out further clarity on