COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CSR OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR BANK (Qualitative)
Keywords:
Banking Sector Comparison, Public Sector Banks (PSBs), Private Sector Banks (PVBs), Indian Banking Industry, CSR StrategyAbstract
CSR has been a strategic and ethical concern for the Indian banking industry, especially after the Companies Act of 2013 was enacted, which made CSR spending mandatory for eligible companies. The objective of this research, therefore, is to compare the scope, spending patterns, focus areas, and overall effectiveness of the CSR programs undertaken by Indian public and private sector banks. The research investigates some of the top-rated banks in these two sectors and compares their approaches towards financial inclusion, social development, sustainability, healthcare, education, and environmental protection. It also shows how public sector banks generally emphasize welfare-oriented and government-aligned initiatives, while private sector banks commonly pursue innovation-driven and branding-oriented CSR strategies by using secondary data obtained from annual CSR reports, sustainability reports, and regulatory disclosures. The findings bring out the fundamental differences in the approach of the two sectors towards impact assessment, regional outreach, and CSR expenditure. The study concludes that while both public and private banks contribute significantly to socioeconomic development, private banks are found to exhibit better coordinated implementation and strategic alignment, and public banks were seen to have greater outreach and inclusivity. These lessons may be useful for policymakers, stakeholders, and financial institutions looking at ways to strengthen the CSR frameworks and maximize social impacts in India.
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