Abstract

This paper examines Corporate Social Responsibility in the Indian banking sector through a comparative analysis of public and private sector banks under the Companies Act, 2013 regime, mapping expenditure trends, thematic priorities, governance architectures, and disclosure quality between 2018 and 2023. The study situates CSR within modern banking strategy, arguing that responsibility is most effective when integrated with core intermediation levers-financial inclusion and literacy, livelihoods and MSME ecosystems, and green finance-supported by board oversight, standardized indicators, and independent impact assessment. Evidence from sector syntheses and comparative case materials indicates broad adherence to the two percent profit-linked CSR norm, convergence on education, health, skills, environment, and rural development themes, and gradual professionalization of measurement and transparency through Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting, albeit with heterogeneity in outcome metrics, geographic balance, and external assurance. Public sector banks emphasize rural development, education, sanitation, and foundational health aligned with their developmental mandate, while private sector banks foreground innovation, livelihoods platforms, digital inclusion, and environmental projects within broader Environmental, Social and Governance; both ownership groups are converging toward outcome-oriented CSR with more apparent program logic and stakeholder reporting. The paper recommends integrating CSR with business strategy and risk appetites, concentrating resources on fewer, high-fit multi-year programs, adopting common results frameworks and third-party evaluations, expanding credible partnerships with Non-Governmental Organizations and communities, scaling green finance with auditable taxonomies, and deploying public digital dashboards for standardized, assured reporting. Limitations include variability in bank disclosures and constraints on causal inference; future work should build bank-level panels linking assured CSR indicators to customer usage, resilience, and portfolio risk, complemented by quasi-experimental evaluations to substantiate impact pathways.

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