India / Global —December 17, 2025 — Coherent Market Insights (CMI) participated as the Research Partner at the ET Now Champions of CSR Conclave 2025, a national platform recognizing organizations demonstrating leadership in corporate social responsibility through measurable social impact, governance excellence, and responsible business practices.
At the conclave, Mohit Shrivastava, AVP – Research & Consulting at CMI, presented the structured research methodology developed to identify India’s “Champions of CSR.” His address outlined the evaluation framework, data validation approach, and scoring parameters used to ensure neutrality, transparency, and sectoral representation in the final recognition process.
He discussed on the strategic deployment of CSR activities, long-term community development, and governance-led responsibility at the conclave with corporate leaders, policymakers, and sustainability heads as well as foundations and CSR practitioners. With businesses increasingly aiming to align CSR initiatives with ESG commitments, the need for dialogue around accountable and adaptable social impact has become the need of the hour. Moreover, ET Now is one of the important platforms that help achieve this feat.
The Development of a Reliable CSR Evaluation Framework
CMI, as a research partner, took the initiative of developing and implementing a structured, intelligence-led evaluation framework. It aims to determine the firms delivering unique CSR outcomes in India.
CSR Evaluation Approach
Eligibility screening marked the first step of CSR organizations assessment. These organizations were gauged based on four core criteria: operational presence in India for at least three years (as of March 2025), consistent CSR funding commitment, the presence of a dedicated CSR or sustainability function, and adherence to national CSR regulations and recognized guidelines.
In order to ensure diverse sectoral representation, organizations across the IT, FMCG, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, energy, automotive, manufacturing, financial services, and consumer goods industries were sourced. This action made sure that social development is supported by both traditional and innovation-driven sectors.
In order to facilitate balanced benchmarking, companies were additionally grouped according to their level of CSR investment:
- Emerging Enterprises: ₹0–50 Cr
- Growing Enterprises: ₹50–100 Cr
- Established Enterprises: Above ₹100 Cr
Following that, each corporation was subjected to desk-level profiling and validation using publicly accessible sources, such as industry magazines, corporate websites, CSR and sustainability reports, and regulatory filings. Further, program scope, financing consistency, implementation maturity, and quantifiable impact in areas including community development, healthcare, education, and the environment were all evaluated for CSR projects.
A standardized scoring framework was adopted for the evaluation of the shortlisted organization. This framework was concerned with measuring both CSR performance and societal impact. CSR program implementation, CSR budget growth, compliance with CSR regulations, community and environmental impact, innovation in CSR initiatives, and leadership and governance were the important parameters.
The weighted scoring model used the distribution below:
- CSR Program Implementation — 25%
- CSR Budget Growth — 20%
- Community & Environmental Impact — 20%
- Compliance with CSR Regulations — 15%
- Innovation in CSR — 10%
- Leadership & Governance — 10%
Implementation effectiveness, governance transparency, and measurable social outcomes were the key emphasis areas of the structure framework. These made sure that the shortlisted organizations show strategic commitment as well as real-world impact.
Jury Evaluation and Final Validation
A jury panel included senior editorial leaders from The Economic Times, ET Now, and ET Edge, CSR experts, and independent evaluators was the key to the final stage.
Jury members evaluated the organizations independently on the basis of impact outcomes, governance practices, innovation, and long-term sustainability commitment. A final validation round verified CSR disclosures, implementation records, and impact outcomes to ensure the credibility and authenticity of the recognized organizations.
Enabling Data-Driven Recognition of Social Impact
The research-led evaluation framework curated by Coherent Market Insights enabled the company to contribute to this drive by presenting a structured CSR leadership assessment framework that can be employed across various industries. Through this initiative, organizations were encouraged to align their social initiatives with measurable impact and governance answerability. As a result, transparency in CSR recognition was achieved.
About ET Now Champions of CSR Conclave 2025
The ET Now Champions of CSR Conclave 2025, a national recognition platform, celebrates corporations and institutions that employ CSR initiatives and innovation-driven community programs and deliver measurable social outcomes. The conclave aims to highlight organizations that fast-track India’s inclusive and sustainable development agenda through their contributions.
About Coherent Market Insights
Coherent Market Insights is a global market intelligence and consulting firm delivering data-driven insights across diverse industries. CMI has its headquarter in India and operates globally. In addition to U.S. presence, it has strategic partnerships in the U.K. and Japan.
CMI caters to its clients in over 32 countries with the support of 300+ full-time consultants and a global network of domain experts across 24 countries, influencing well-informed decision-making in rapidly changing markets.
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