The News Minute’s investigation that exposed how 14.7 percent of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was given to organisations linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), was mentioned in front of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026. 

As the committee discussed increasing the threshold of CSR funding that requires independent oversight, certain members cited TNM’s investigation, to highlight the need for auditing CSR funding and having independent directors on the CSR committee. 

The Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposes key changes to the CSR rules under the Companies Act, 2013, purportedly to reduce “compliance burden.” However, some members argued against reducing accountability for CSR expenditure, as it could result in misuse of funds. 

TNM reported in July that the ONGC, a state-owned company and one of India's largest public sector undertakings, gave Rs 668.01 crore of CSR funds to 20 registered organisations linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) over 10 years.

This was roughly 14.7 percent of the Rs 4,531 crore it disbursed to more than 2,000 organisations between 2015 and 2025. Nine of the 20 organisations are directly affiliated to the Sangh, nine were started by or are led by people with RSS ties, and two have worked with RSS. 

After deliberations, the JPC on the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, endorsed amendments that will take an estimated 11,204 companies out of India's mandatory CSR regime, and allow thousands more to spend CSR money without an independent director checking where it goes.

The estimate comes from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, which gave it to the committee when asked what the change would cost. Those 11,204 companies would have been required to spend about Rs 1,281.67 crore on CSR in 2025-26. Under the amended law, they will not have to spend any of it. 

The Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 rewrites the Companies Act, 2013 and the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 23 and referred the same day to a 31-member JPC, chaired by BJP MP Sudheer Gupta. The panel took 130 written submissions and heard 83 stakeholders across 24 sittings before........

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