The Ministry of Coal released a comprehensive report detailing Coal India Limited's Corporate Social Responsibility journey from community welfare to inclusive growth. CIL has significantly exceeded its statutory CSR obligations, spending Rs 7,276 crore cumulatively from FY 2014-15 to FY 2025-26 against the required Rs 5,795 crore, with annual expenditure now reaching nearly Rs 1,000 crore, placing it among India's largest corporate CSR spenders.
CIL's CSR activities began even before the Companies Act, 2013 made CSR mandatory, operating under the Community Development Policy 2005 with spending ranging from Rs 82 crore in FY 2011-12 to Rs 409 crore in FY 2013-14. The current CSR framework mandates at least 80% of expenditure within a 25 km radius of mines, prioritizing Project Affected Areas, with over 90% spent in coal-bearing states.
The company has aligned its CSR with national missions, being the top CPSE contributor to Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan with over 50,000 school toilets completed. During COVID-19, CIL contributed significantly to PM-CARES Fund and established dedicated hospitals in Odisha and Chhattisgarh with oxygen plants under "Mission Praana Vayu."
Major healthcare initiatives include the Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana enabling over 1,000 bone marrow transplants, Nanha Sa Dil screening over 2 lakh children and curing 1,700+ congenital heart diseases, and scholarship schemes with the Supreme Court of India benefiting over 2,500 children. Infrastructure projects include a 500-bed medical college and hospital at Angul and cardiac care center at Jharsuguda worth Rs 596 crore, plus over 2,300 smart classrooms and 500 ICT/STEM labs through Digital Vidya.
Education initiatives include the NIRMAN scheme rewarding 1,300+ UPSC aspirants from mining districts. Skilling programs like Project PRAGATI, tribal women's poultry support, and plastic engineering training have benefited over 48,000 people in the last four years. The Khelgaon Sports Academy in partnership with Jharkhand government has produced over 1,800 medals including 15 international medals.
Cumulatively, these efforts have impacted an estimated 3.56 crore lives, with significant focus on vulnerable groups including SC/ST communities, persons with disabilities, and women. The initiatives advance India's SDG commitments particularly in health (SDG-3), education (SDG-4), gender equality (SDG-5), clean water and sanitation (SDG-6), and poverty alleviation (SDG-1).
CIL's CSR governance includes structured output-outcome methodology, Annual Action Plans based on community needs, MoUs with deliverables, phase-wise fund release tied to milestones, mandatory third-party impact assessments for larger projects, and layered audit oversight. On September 8th, the Ministry of Coal became the first government ministry to launch a sector-wide CSR framework for coal PSUs to ensure greater consistency and accountability.