The Political Economy of Corporate Responsibility in India

The overall socio-economic development experience in India under different economic governance frameworks since the 1950s has given rise to a large number of interrelated concerns, including: impacts on employment and distribution of income, emergence of new forms of vulnerabilities, weakened state structures, imbalanced demographics with sub-national disparities, environmental and biomass degeneration and dismal performance on several human development indicators. However, all the institutional actors, including private sector corporations, have responded to these challenges in different ways. Also, the increased focus and pressures by campaigners on corporations to not only minimize harm but also maximize benefits emanating from their operations has put many leading corporations globally in the line of fire and have had a profound influence in many countries, including India. This book documents these experiences in the Indian context and identifies the scope and limitations of corporations to address such concerns.

Bimal Arora is based at the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ICCSR) Nottingham University Business School, UK