Social impact advisory services in India.
Acclime works with all the relevant external stakeholders to assist our clients develop a strategy for ensuring they remain responsible members of the community and benefit as a result.
Benefit from effective solutions
that make a tangible impact.
Local understanding
Leverage our years of experience in assisting companies and organisations from around the world gain a better understanding of the Indian community of which they wish to become a part.
Thorough research
Our teams specialise in helping international social and development organizations understand the best methods to engage in India and help improve fund flow into the right areas.
Stakeholder alliances
We bring together stakeholders including government bodies, private concerns, technology suppliers, manufacturers and investors to help evolve complete solutions to social problems from concept to scale.
Social impact advisory services
Providing the strategic & compliance expertise when you need it.
Government policies in India are changing continuously. We help our clients understand the changes in policy, the documentation that may be required to support their developmental work and how they can benefit from it.
Essential social impact services.
We focus on designing and building effective solutions and offer customized services for our clients that enable tangible impact. We undertake social impact projects encompassing three primary categories:
Market studies and strategy
For the social sector and for scaling impact, understanding the local market is key. Many global innovation fail when it is not fine tuned to local requirements. Our team of market experts are able to provide comprehensive primary and secondary research to help you understand the size, nuances and aspirations of the community that you wish to work with. This helps international social and development organizations understand the best methods to engage in India and helps improve fund flow into the right areas. Our services in this category include:
- Market studies – Our market reports are built on not only thorough secondary research but also highly granular on-the ground primary data. These studies require interactions and consultations with thought leaders spanning academia, industry, government, public and environment for their insights.
- Compliance and Government Policies – Government policies in India are changing continuously. We help you understand the changes in policy, the documentation that may be required to support your development work and how they can benefit your impact.
- Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy – We also help our clients in public and private sectors to create a meaningful CSR Strategy by formulating a CSR Policy, choosing the right projects, selecting the right partners, effectively monitoring the execution of the projects and deployment of funds, getting third party impact assessments and finally reporting. We have various models of engagement with clients and aid them to handpick projects of interest from the CSR ecosystem.
Technology commercialisation & achieving scale
International Development Organisations are working on technologies that address the needs of the unserved and underserved segments of society. For any work to have the desired impact, scale is key. When more people benefit from the activity in a way that is not only sustainable but also bring long lasting improvement to their lives, a multiplying effect in scale is achieved. We support our clients to commercialize the technologies developed or supported by them. We help to identify and work closely with commercial partners who are capable of technology transfer, co-development, manufacturing and taking the products to the market in India. In addition, we help our clients identify and implement pilots in India across their technology portfolio. We not only provide operational assistance but also leverage a supporting network and enable the transfer of technology to the state where applicable.
Our services in this category include:
- Localisation – As the saying goes, one size does not fit all, but modular services which are customisable for local requirements go a long way in improving acceptability and being beneficial for local implementation.
- Project identification – A chasm often stares at an organisation when they wish to translate intent to impact. Starting with the right project helps in building trust and confidence in one’s actions.
- Pilots – Most important piece of the jigsaw puzzle of working in India, is to have a working pilot in India. It is not uncommon to hear key stakeholders indicate that while a solution has worked in other countries, unless there is proof of working in India, it will be difficult to adopt and scale. From identifying the right location to operational assistance to leveraging a supporting network, we help you every step of the way.
- Increasing coverage and reach – Working with the right partners can help in improving coverage and reach of programs and interventions. However, finding the right partner can always be a challenge especially in another country that is as vast and diverse as India. Knocking on the right door saves not only valuable time and effort but also improves credibility for the impact that is sought.
- Stakeholder alliances – We bring together stakeholders in the social impact sector including government bodies, private players, technology suppliers, manufacturers and investors to help evolve complete solutions to social problems from concept to scale. Through its expertise and network we are able to provide the right connect to all stakeholders leading to higher success rate.
Impact assessments
Many times, work is done in all earnestness. But when we look back at that work, in spite of all that was done, the impact / take away was very low. We help you in understanding the impact that you create at periodic times, evaluate progress of your sustainable social initiatives and reinforce work that drives greater improvement towards Sustainable Development Goals. If your organization provides investment for impact or a grant for furthering change or funds via your CSR budget, then our independent assessments will help you unlock that missing potential.
FAQ
Common questions.
CSR spending is mandatory under section 135 of the Companies Act 2013 for any company meeting at least one of the following thresholds in the immediately preceding financial year:
- Net worth exceeding INR 500 crore (approximately USD 60 million at current rates)
- Turnover exceeding INR 1,000 crore (approximately USD 120 million)
- Net profit exceeding INR 5 crore (approximately USD 600,000)
Qualifying companies must spend at least 2% of their average net profit over the three preceding financial years on eligible activities and file annual disclosures with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Foreign companies with a branch or project office in India that meet these thresholds are subject to the same obligations as Indian companies. Non-compliance attracts monetary penalties on both the company and its officers in default. Thresholds are subject to legislative revision and should be confirmed against current MCA guidance before each financial year.
Eligible CSR activities are defined by Schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013, which the Ministry of Corporate Affairs intends to be interpreted liberally. Qualifying areas include:
- Eradicating poverty, hunger and malnutrition
- Promoting education and gender equality
- Healthcare and sanitation
- Environmental sustainability and ecological conservation
- Rural development and slum area improvement
- Disaster relief and rehabilitation
Activities in the normal course of business, activities conducted outside India and contributions to political parties are explicitly excluded. Administrative overheads are capped at 5% of the total CSR obligation. Unspent funds must be transferred to a designated account within 30 days of the financial year end. Schedule VII is periodically amended and companies should confirm current eligibility before committing funds to a programme.
Foreign organisations seeking to receive foreign contributions in India must register under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010, administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Registration is granted only to organisations with a proven track record of at least three years of activity in a recognised field such as social welfare, education or environmental work.
Registered organisations must receive all foreign contributions through a designated account at the State Bank of India’s New Delhi branch and may not transfer those funds to any other organisation. Administrative expenses drawn from foreign contributions are capped at 20% of total receipts. The FCRA regime has seen significant amendment in recent years and is under active legislative review. Organisations should confirm current registration requirements and fund-use restrictions with legal counsel before establishing their India structure. For an overview of the structural options available to foreign organisations entering India, see Acclime’s guide to foreign company registration options in India.
Social impact measurement in India draws on both mandatory domestic frameworks and voluntary international standards. SEBI’s Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) is mandatory for the top 1,000 listed companies by market capitalisation and requires quantitative disclosure across environmental, social and governance indicators aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Companies with an average CSR obligation of INR 10 crore or more (approximately USD 1.2 million) must commission independent third-party impact assessments of their CSR programmes. For organisations seeking international comparability, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards are the most widely adopted voluntary framework and broadly compatible with BRSR disclosures. Effective impact measurement tracks outcomes against defined baselines, including beneficiary reach and contribution to specific SDG targets, rather than spend alone.
CSR compliance in India is a legal obligation. Qualifying companies must spend a defined percentage of profits on Schedule VII activities and report that expenditure to regulators. A social impact strategy is the deliberate design of programmes that create measurable and lasting change in a target community. The two are related but not equivalent.
A company can be fully compliant while funding fragmented projects with little demonstrable outcome. A well-designed impact strategy aligns CSR spending with the company’s business interests, geographic presence and stakeholder priorities, generating both community benefit and reputational value. For foreign companies entering India, the distinction is especially significant: compliance satisfies a regulatory threshold, while a coherent strategy builds the stakeholder relationships and local credibility needed to support a long-term market presence.
