The Ministry of Coal, in collaboration with Coal India Ltd (CIL), launched the Comprehensive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Framework for Indian Coal Companies in New Delhi on 8 September 2026. Union Minister for Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy unveiled the framework in the presence of Minister of State Satish Chandra Dubey and senior officials. It is the first sector specific CSR framework for coal companies since CSR became a legal requirement under the Companies Act, 2013.
What Is the Comprehensive CSR Framework for Coal Companies?
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) means the legal duty of large companies to spend a part of their profits on social and environmental welfare. The new Comprehensive CSR Framework for Indian Coal Companies gives coal companies a common rulebook for planning and carrying out such work.
The framework was prepared by the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), which works under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. It was developed in collaboration with Coal India Ltd and released by the Ministry of Coal. The aim is to make CSR in the coal sector structured, transparent and focused on results that can be measured.
The framework pushes companies to move beyond one time donations. It asks them to design projects based on local needs, track progress in real time, ensure quality in service delivery, and build models that can be expanded to other mining districts. It also stresses accountability in the use of funds and clear reporting of outcomes.
Why the Coal Sector Needed Its Own Framework
Coal mining directly affects the land, water, air and livelihoods of nearby communities. Mines often operate in remote and tribal dominated districts in states such as Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. Families in these areas face displacement, dust related health problems, pressure on drinking water, and limited access to hospitals and schools.
So CSR in coal areas cannot be generic charity. It has to repair the specific harm caused by mining and share the benefits of coal production with local people. Until now, each coal company followed its own CSR policy along with broad central guidelines for public sector firms. This led to uneven quality and difficulty in comparing results.
A stakeholder consultation on the new framework was held on 7 September 2026 under Additional Secretary Rupinder Brar. The discussion focused on aligning projects with local priorities, linking activities with green and environmental goals, and using measurable indicators for health, education and livelihood outcomes.
How CSR Works in India: The Legal Background
India is the first country in the world to make CSR spending compulsory by law. Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, along with Schedule VII of the Act and the Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, 2014, sets out this system. The rules came into force on 1 April 2014.
The law applies to a company in any financial year if it meets any one of three limits in the previous year. It must have a net worth of ₹500 crore or more, or a turnover of ₹1,000 crore or more, or a net profit of ₹5 crore or more. Such a company must form a CSR Committee of the Board, adopt a CSR policy, and spend at least 2 percent of its average net profits of the last three years on activities listed in Schedule VII.
Schedule VII covers areas such as health, education, gender equality, environment, protection of national heritage, support to armed forces veterans, sports, disaster relief and rural development. If a company fails to spend the amount, it must explain the reason in its Board report and transfer the unspent sum to a specified fund or an unspent CSR account as per the rules. Central Public Sector Enterprises, which are government owned companies, also follow additional guidelines issued by the Department of Public Enterprises on CSR expenditure and sustainability.
Two Flagship Health Initiatives That Show the Model
The launch event also celebrated milestones under two health focused CSR programmes of Coal India. Both programmes are presented as examples of the outcome oriented approach that the new framework wants all coal companies to follow.
Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana
Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder in which the body makes less haemoglobin than normal. Children with severe forms need repeated blood transfusions through life. Aplastic Anaemia is a condition in which the body stops making enough new blood cells. The permanent cure for both conditions is a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT), also called a stem cell transplant, in which damaged marrow is replaced with healthy stem cells. Doctors say the treatment works best when done at an early age.
Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana (TBSY) was started by Coal India in 2017 to pay for such transplants for poor children. From 2021, children with aplastic anaemia were also included. The scheme works under the guidance of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and is implemented with the support of the patient group Thalassemics India.
Under the scheme, Coal India gives financial help of up to ₹10 lakh per patient directly to the hospital for the transplant. The network has grown from 4 hospitals at the start to 21 empanelled hospitals across India, including AIIMS New Delhi, CMC Vellore, Tata Medical Center Kolkata and PGIMER Chandigarh. The scheme has a total outlay of ₹130 crore across four phases. More than 1,050 bone marrow transplants have been completed so far. Coal India is the only Central Public Sector Enterprise to run a health programme of this scale for these rare blood disorders. More than 10,000 children with thalassemia are born in India every year, which shows the size of the need.
Nanha Sa Dil
Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) means a structural problem in the heart present from birth. It affects blood flow and can be fatal without timely surgery. About 2.4 lakh newborns in India are estimated to be born with such defects every year.
Nanha Sa Dil was launched by Coal India in March 2024 to find and treat these children. It began in four districts of Jharkhand and was later expanded through subsidiaries such as South Eastern Coalfields (SECL), Central Coalfields (CCL), Northern Coalfields (NCL) and Western Coalfields (WCL). It is run with the Sri Sathya Sai Health and Education Trust.
The programme uses modern diagnostic tools for early screening. So far it has screened more than 2 lakh children and supported over 1,500 free corrective heart surgeries. Travel, hospital stay and surgery costs are fully borne under the programme, so families pay nothing.
| Programme | Started | What It Treats | Key Achievement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana | 2017, aplastic anaemia added in 2021 | Thalassemia and aplastic anaemia in children | More than 1,050 bone marrow transplants, up to ₹10 lakh per patient, 21 hospitals, ₹130 crore outlay |
| Nanha Sa Dil | March 2024 | Congenital heart defects in newborns and children | More than 2 lakh children screened, more than 1,500 free heart surgeries |
Key Institutions Behind the Initiative
The Ministry of Coal is the central ministry that frames policy for exploration and development of coal and lignite reserves in India. It works through public sector firms, mainly Coal India Ltd and NLC India Ltd, along with the joint venture Singareni Collieries Company Ltd in Telangana.
Coal India Ltd (CIL) came into being in November 1975 after the nationalisation of coking coal mines in 1971 and non coking coal mines in 1973. It is headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal and holds Maharatna status, the highest category for central public sector firms. It is the single largest coal producer in the world and one of the largest employers in India with a workforce of more than 2.12 lakh as on 1 April 2026. It operates through subsidiaries such as ECL, BCCL, CCL, WCL, SECL, NCL, MCL and the consultancy arm CMPDIL, covering 84 mining areas across eight states. Coal India is among the highest CSR spenders among public firms. It spent ₹988.78 crore on CSR in 2025-26, and its CSR spend of ₹850 crore in 2024-25 was 30 percent higher than the previous year. Over the last ten years, its coal companies have spent ₹6,149 crore on CSR, which is 26 percent more than the legal requirement.
The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. It was registered as a society on 12 September 2008 and its campus at Manesar in Haryana became functional in 2012. It acts as a think tank, training academy and research centre for corporate laws, governance, CSR and responsible business conduct. The Union Minister for Corporate Affairs is the President of the IICA Society, and the Secretary of the Ministry chairs its Board of Governors. IICA prepared the new coal CSR framework and has also supported wider work on CSR governance, ESG standards and tribal development.
The Way Forward
The new framework is expected to bring common standards to CSR planning across all coal and lignite companies, including Coal India subsidiaries, NLC India and Singareni Collieries. Projects will be judged on real outcomes such as lives saved, children treated, schools improved and incomes raised, rather than only on money spent.
At the launch, Coal Minister G. Kishan Reddy pointed to TBSY, Nanha Sa Dil and the SECL initiative SECL Ke Sushrut, which gives free residential coaching for medical entrance tests to students from mining areas, as models to follow. Coal Secretary Vikram Dev Dutt stressed quality care, real time case tracking and scale as the next priorities. A book on TBSY was also released and beneficiary families shared their experiences.
For mining districts, the test will be whether the framework improves early screening near mines, builds treatment capacity in local hospitals, and ensures support for education of cured children. If implemented well, it can turn CSR funds from scattered projects into a steady system of health, education and livelihood support around coalfields.
Key Takeaways
- The Comprehensive CSR Framework for Indian Coal Companies was launched on 8 September 2026 in New Delhi by Union Coal Minister G. Kishan Reddy.
- It is the first sector specific CSR framework since CSR became mandatory under Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013.
- The framework was prepared by the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs based in Manesar, Haryana.
- Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana provides up to ₹10 lakh per patient for bone marrow transplants and has completed more than 1,050 transplants through 21 hospitals with a ₹130 crore outlay.
- Nanha Sa Dil, launched in March 2024, has screened more than 2 lakh children and enabled over 1,500 free heart surgeries for congenital heart defects.
- Coal India Ltd, established in November 1975 and headquartered in Kolkata, spent ₹988.78 crore on CSR in 2025-26 and is the world’s largest coal producer.
