Schedule VII - every CSR-eligible activity, line by line

Schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013 is the exhaustive list of activities that qualify as CSR. Any spend outside Schedule VII does not count toward a company's 2% obligation. For NGOs receiving CSR money, your programme must map cleanly to at least one Schedule VII clause - otherwise the corporate's auditor will reject the spend at CSR-2 audit time. This guide walks every category with practical examples.

The full list

Schedule VII has 13 broad categories. The text below is interpretive - read with the latest MCA circulars (FAQs released by MCA from time to time clarify edge cases).

(i) Eradicating hunger, poverty & malnutrition

Covers: nutritional support, mid-day meals, food banks, distribution of ration kits, anganwadi support, "no-hunger zones", livelihood programmes specifically for the BPL population.

Includes: Healthcare and sanitation when targeted at BPL communities. Drinking water for BPL households (also covered under (iv)).

Excludes: General poverty-reduction "consulting" or research without direct beneficiary delivery.

(ii) Promoting education, including special education and employment-enhancing vocational skills

Covers: school construction, scholarships, teacher training, digital classrooms, libraries, special education for differently-abled, livelihood-skills training (ITI, NSDC-aligned), girls' education programmes, hostels for tribal/BPL students.

Includes: Scholarships even at the postgraduate level, provided beneficiaries are economically disadvantaged. School infrastructure (buildings, toilets, water).

Excludes: Politically-affiliated educational institutions. CSR cannot fund a single university's endowment unless it's clearly a public-purpose institution.

(iii) Promoting gender equality, empowering women, and protection of the elderly

Covers: women's self-help groups (SHGs), micro-finance for women, vocational training for women, shelter homes for women in distress, anti-trafficking programmes, eldercare facilities, old-age homes, day-care centres for senior citizens.

Includes: Programmes for orphans and abandoned children (often co-classified with (i) or (ii)).

(iv) Ensuring environmental sustainability

Covers: ecological balance, protection of flora and fauna, animal welfare, agroforestry, conservation of natural resources, soil/water/air quality. Includes solar/wind installations, tree plantations, rainwater harvesting, waste-water treatment, biodiversity conservation, climate-change adaptation programmes.

Includes (per 2014 amendment): Contribution to Clean Ganga Fund. Per 2021 amendment: contribution to the National Mission for Clean Ganga.

Excludes: Pure R&D without on-ground impact (unless covered under (ix)).

(v) Protection of national heritage, art and culture

Covers: restoration of buildings and sites of historic importance, public libraries, promotion of traditional arts and handicrafts. Setting up libraries / museums.

Includes: Conservation of artefacts in ASI-protected monuments (with ASI permission).

Excludes: Private art collections, religious-only restoration that doesn't have heritage value.

(vi) Measures for the benefit of armed forces veterans, war widows and their dependents, and CAPF veterans

Covers: monetary benefit, education for veteran's children, vocational training, healthcare for veterans, support to families of martyrs. The 2019 amendment added Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) veterans.

(vii) Training to promote rural sports, nationally-recognised sports, paralympic sports and Olympic sports

Covers: sports infrastructure in rural areas, athlete training, scholarships to athletes, equipment supply, building of academies, support to underprivileged athletes.

Excludes: Professional / commercial sports leagues, IPL-style franchises.

(viii) Contribution to specified central government funds

Covers: PM National Relief Fund, PM Cares Fund, PM National Defence Fund, PM Rashtriya Bal Suraksha Kosh, Swachh Bharat Kosh, Clean Ganga Fund, Disaster Relief Fund (state-level), specified Chief Minister Relief Funds.

Note: These funds are 80G(2)(a)(iv) recipients too - the corporate gets 100% deduction even without invoking CSR.

(ix) Contributions to incubators or research and development projects in S&T

Covers: contributions to incubators funded by central/state govt, technology incubators within recognised academic institutions (IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, central universities). Per 2019 amendment, this clause was widened.

Excludes: Private corporate R&D centres (even with university partnerships).

(x) Rural development projects

Covers: anything that benefits a rural area - roads, drinking water, sanitation, electricity, irrigation, primary health centres, anganwadi buildings, panchayat infrastructure. Broad bucket.

Includes: Construction of school/hospital buildings in rural areas (overlaps with (ii) and (i)).

(xi) Slum area development

Covers: improvement of housing, sanitation, water supply, paved roads, drainage, community centres, livelihood programmes specifically in declared slum areas.

(xii) Disaster management, including relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities

Covers: immediate relief (food, water, shelter) during natural disasters, medium-term rehabilitation, long-term reconstruction. Added by the 2019 amendment.

Includes: Pandemic response (per 2020 MCA circular - covered COVID-19 expenses).

(xiii) Activities benefiting SC/ST/OBC, minorities and EWS

Sweeping category covering any activity benefiting socially / educationally / economically disadvantaged groups. Most NGO programmes targeting marginalised populations get classified here as a fallback if (i)-(xii) don't fit precisely.

Practical mapping for common NGO programmes

Activities NOT eligible for CSR

Per Rule 2(1)(d) of CSR Rules + various MCA clarifications:

1. Activities undertaken in pursuance of the normal course of business (e.g., a pharma company donating its own products to its own hospital - that's marketing, not CSR)
2. Activities exclusively benefiting the employees of the company or their families
3. Political contributions directly or indirectly
4. Activities outside India (only post-2014 - international training of Indian beneficiaries is OK if the benefit accrues to India)
5. Contributions to political-party-affiliated bodies
6. "Sponsorship" of marketing-led events where the principal purpose is branding
7. One-off events / token activities without a sustained programme

Geographic preferences

Per Rule 4(7): The company is required to give preference to the local area in which it operates. Not mandatory, but most corporate CSR committees set this as policy.

If you're pitching to a Tata-group corporate, having programmes in Jamshedpur, Bombay-area, or specific Tata operational footprints helps. Bangalore-based IT corporates often prefer Karnataka programmes.

Documentation NGOs must maintain

1. Programme proposal clearly mapping to specific Schedule VII clause(s)
2. MOU between corporate and NGO stating Schedule VII alignment, deliverables, timeline, budget
3. Quarterly utilisation reports with photos / beneficiary data / expense breakdown
4. Annual impact report with measurable outcomes (kids enrolled, trees planted, health camps held, etc.)
5. Utilisation certificate (Form CSR-2 attached) at programme close
6. Bank statement showing receipt of CSR money + utilisation
7. Tax invoices for every expense paid from CSR funds

Frequently asked questions

Can a corporate fund an NGO's general operations? No. CSR funds must be programme-tied. General-purpose donations aren't Schedule-VII-mappable.

What about NGO admin overhead? Rule 7(1) caps CSR-paid admin at 5% of the CSR amount. The rest must be programme.

Can CSR money build the NGO's office? No. Office construction is admin (capped at 5%), and the building doesn't accrue to beneficiaries.

Can CSR fund medical research? Yes via clause (ix) if the research is at a recognised academic institution / govt-funded incubator. Not a private CRO.

Does CSR money count as the corporate's expense for income-tax purposes? Yes - CSR spend is deductible as business expense u/s 37(1) after the 2014 amendment, EXCEPT contributions specifically excluded by sub-clauses (e.g., Section 80G donations claimed separately).