Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

1. Background:
Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 (the Act), inter alia, requires every company including its
holding or subsidiary, and a foreign company defined under Section 2 (42) of the Act having its branch
office or project office in India, having net worth of rupees five hundred crore or more, or turnover of
rupees one thousand crore or more or a net profit of rupees five crore or more during any financial year
to formulate an internal Corporate Social Responsibility Policy to indicate the activities to be undertaken
by the company as specified in Schedule VII of the Act.
2. Scope
This policy provides the guidelines and framework for charitable contributions and related expenses
incurred by Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Pvt. Ltd. (the Company) under its
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.
3. Policy Statement
Franklin Templeton is committed to being recognized as a responsible global corporate leader. As such,
the Companys CSR Policy is to invest in the sustainable long term prosperity of the communities in
which it operates.
4.

Committees
4.1. CSR Board Committee shall consist of three or more directors of the Company, out of which at
least one director shall be an independent director.
4.2. CSR Management Committee shall also be formed to recommend the activities to be carried out
by the Company for the approval of the Board through CSR Board Committee and be
responsible for execution and monitoring of those activities.

5.

Activities
5.1. The Company may undertake projects or programs relating to any of the following CSR activities
as prescribed under Schedule VII of the Act from time to time:
eradicating hunger, poverty and malnutrition, promoting preventive health care and
sanitation and making available safe drinking water;
promoting education, including special education and employment enhancing vocation skills
especially among children, women, elderly, and the differently abled and livelihood
enhancement projects;
promoting gender equality, empowering women, setting up homes and hostels for women
and orphans; setting up old age homes, day care centres and such other facilities for senior
citizens and measures for reducing inequalities faced by socially and economically backward
groups;

ensuring environmental sustainability, ecological balance, protection of flora and fauna,

animal welfare, agroforestry, conservation of natural resources and maintaining quality of
soil, air and water;
protection of national heritage, art and culture including restoration of buildings and sites of
historical importance and works of art; setting up public libraries; promotion and
development of traditional arts and handicrafts;
measures for the benefit of armed forces veterans, war widows and their dependents;
training to promote rural sports, nationally recognised sports, paralympic sports and
Olympic sports;
contribution to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund or any other fund set up by the
Central Government or the State Governments for socio-economic development and relief
and funds for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, other backward
classes, minorities and women;
contributions or funds provided to technology incubators located within academic
institutions which are approved by the Central Government;
rural development projects.

5.2. The Company may also undertake projects or programs relating to activities as may be approved
by the Board in pursuance to the recommendation of the CSR Board Committee subject to the
condition that such activities are covered under the subjects enumerated in Schedule VII of the
Act.
5.3. The activities undertaken in pursuance of normal course of business of the Company shall not
form part of the CSR activities.
5.4. The Contribution, if any, of any amount made directly or indirectly to any political party under
Section 182 of the Act, shall not be considered as CSR activity.
6.

CSR Corpus:

The CSR corpus for every financial year, shall include at least two per cent of the average net profits of
the Company, computed as per the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility) Rules, 2014, made
during the three immediately preceding financial years.
Any surplus arising out of the CSR activities shall not form part of the business profit of the Company.
7.

Area of operation

The amount earmarked for Corporate Social Responsibility activities shall be preferably spent in the
locations where the company has a business presence, including:
Maharashtra
Tamil Nadu
Any other location where the Company has office set up / branch / or any business interest
The Board of Directors may change the said list of locations from time to time.
8.

Responsibility
8.1. CSR Board Committee in consultation with the CSR Management Committee shall be
responsible for formulating and recommending projects/ programmes to be carried out by the
Company in each financial year to the Board of Directors. It shall also be responsible for having a
transparent monitoring mechanism for implementation of the approved CSR activities. The
Committees may also give its recommendation to the Board on various matters including
change in area of operation, exit from any approved CSR project, etc.

8.2. Board of Directors shall be responsible for approving the CSR projects/ programmes and
estimated budget recommended by the CSR Board Committee for each financial year and
ensuring implementation of this policy. They shall also be responsible for allocating the surplus
funds, if any, amongst the pre-decided activities or to any of the ad hoc activities in accordance
with this policy.
9.

Selection and mode of implementation of Activities/ Projects

Projects/ Programs:
9.1. Project Selection Criteria
The Selection of CSR projects shall be based on the following criteria:
Projects shall be undertaken within India.
Projects chosen should not exclusively benefit the employees of the Company or their family
members.
Project shall not present a conflict of interest or be contrary to the Corporate Citizenship
messages or strategic giving areas within Franklin Resources Inc.s Community Relations
group
(http://www.franklinresources.com/corp/pages/carousel/about_us/corpCitizenship.jsf)
Sustainability Projects which are sustainable (capacity building) will be preferred.
Preference shall be given to projects which have measurable goals and outcomes.
Preference shall be given to projects/activities that reflect the Companys values and brand.
The projects/ programmes will be selected as per Franklin Templetons internal grantmaking
evaluation processes.
9.2. Modes of implementation

Employees of the Company may enrol themselves for voluntary participation in the CSR
activities by writing to the CSR Team1 about the activities that they would like to support.
CSR Team shall review and recommend the names of select employees to the CSR
Management Committee for being associated with specific projects.

The Company may undertake its CSR activities through a registered trust or a registered
society or Section 8 Company (Company formed with charitable objects, etc.), established by
the Company or its holding or subsidiary or associate company or otherwise (collectively
called NGOs herein after). If such NGOs are not established by the Company, their selection
criteria shall include:
Established, reputable organization with proven track record of at least three years in
undertaking similar programs/projects.
Registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA).
Clearly defined program, goals, and success criteria.
Good financials: audited financials, clear budgets and strong cash flow management.
Broad-based support, with funds received from a variety of sources and self-reliant:
Functioning of the NGOs shall not be affected adversely after the source of income from
the Company is stopped post completion of the project.
Strong monitoring system to ensure that the funds are adequately utilized for the
selected project and necessary results are duly being achieved.
Transparency: The NGOs shall be able to demonstrate to the Company the outcome/
results of utilization of CSR funds and provide necessary reports, data, etc. as may be
requested by the Company.

CSR Team indicates the key contact persons for CSR activities.

The Company shall specify the projects to be undertaken through such NGOs, modalities of
utilization of funds on such projects and monitoring and reporting mechanism to ensure
proper utilization of funds.

Collaborate/ pool resources with other companies The Company may also collaborate or
pool resources with other companies to undertake CSR activities in such a manner that the
respective CSR Board Committees are in a position to report separately on such project in
accordance with the Act or rules thereunder. Established track record, financial status,
brand image, geographical reach, social standing, etc. shall be taken into consideration while
finalizing such companies.

Company may appoint institutions with established track record of at least three financial
years as Implementing agencies. However, expenditure to build own CSR capacities and
those of Implementing agencies shall not exceed 5% of the total CSR expenditure of the
company in one financial year.
CSR activities for FY 2014-2015 will support the sustainable long term prosperity of the communities with
a focused emphasis on education and other key needs of the community, including employment
enhancing vocational skills, promoting gender equality, empowering women and other activities as felt
appropriate by the CSR Board Committee. The details of the projects/ programs are attached as
Annexure 1.
9.3. Project Exit criteria
The Board of Directors may decide to exit from any approved CSR project on account of various
factors including but not limited to the following:
Completion of project or part thereof;
Fulfilment of the financial commitment towards the project;
Misappropriation of Funds by the NGO/other company;
Unsatisfactory project progress;
Suspension/cancellation of the FCRA registration of the NGO; or
Any other breach of terms of engagement/collaboration with NGO/other company.
10. Execution and Monitoring
The CSR Team shall overview the execution of the approved projects as follows:
Regular, ongoing communication with NGOs;
Project review visits;
Call for reports from the NGOs/ companies associated with;
Measure and monitor the CSR activities against budgets and plans.
The CSR Team shall provide a summary report including the project status update, monitoring etc. to the
CSR Management Committee and CSR Board Committee. The report along with comments of the CSR
Board Committee shall be placed before the Board of Directors for their review.
11. Disclosure
The Annual Directors report under sub-section (3) of section 134 of the Companies Act, 2013 shall
include the following details on the Corporate Social Responsibility of the Company:
Brief outline of the Companys CSR policy including overview of projects/ programs proposed to
be undertaken ;
Composition of the CSR Board Committee;
Average Net Profit of the company for last 3 financial years;
Prescribed CSR expenditure (2% of the average net profits as provided in the above item);
Details of CSR expenditure spent during the year; and

Shortfall, if any to spend at least two per cent of the average net profits of the company made
during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of this policy and reasons
thereto.

The CSR Policy including the list of approved projects/ activities/ programmes to be undertaken by the
Company shall be placed on the company's website. The web-link to the CSR Policy shall be indicated in
the Board Report.
12. Review and Reporting
The Auditors report on the CSR activities along with comments of the CSR Management Committee
shall be placed before the CSR Board Committee.
The Board of Directors shall review and update this policy on a periodic basis. Wherever necessary,
midcourse corrections shall be taken.
If the Company ceases to meet the specified criteria for 3 consecutive financial years, it will not be
required to comply with the provisions of CSR and this CSR Policy shall not be effective till such time it
meets the specified criteria.
Notwithstanding anything contained in this policy, the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and
Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility) Rules, 2014 (including any amendments thereto) shall be
applicable. In the event of any conflict between the provisions of the Act and rules and this policy, the
Companies Act, 2013 and rules issued thereunder shall prevail.

Version: 1
Modified: June 2014
Approved by the Board: June 27, 2014

Annexure 1
The CSR projects/ programmes for the current financial year are as follows:
CSR Plans for the Financial Year 2014-2015

Theme

Education

Education Focus on
Girl Child

Projects/ Programmes

Adoption of school - Abhyudaya Nagar Mumbai

Public School
The program tries to address the inequities in
education by creating sustainable, systemic reforms
within the education system. As part of a
Government policy NGOs are allowed to adopt
entire municipal schools and run them with their
own staff, along with autonomy of administration.
The program aims to achieve transformation in 3
areas : a) prove that every child has the ability to
learn and achieve high levels, b) demonstrate
importance of skilled educators by investing into
the recruitment and retention of high quality school
staff, c) using these schools as learning labs to
improve quality of education.
Nanhi Kali - Adoption of 2353 Girl children
The program, part of the K C Mahindra Educational
Trust, aims to provide education support to the
socially weaker and economically disadvantage
sections of society through appropriate education,
vocational and livelihood training with emphasis on
education for the girl child. The key objectives of
the same being: a) reduce the high rate of drop outs
among the girl children from this section, b)
improve learning levels and attendance.

Reference
Item No.
of
Schedule
VII
ii)

ii)

Location

Modalities of
execution

Implementation
Schedule

Estimated
Budget for FY
2014-15 (Rs)

Mumbai
(Maharashtra)

NGO
The
Akanksha
Foundation

February
onwards

2015

1,06,99,985

Chennai
(Tamil Nadu)

NGO - K. C.
Mahindra
Educational
Trust

February
onwards

2015

70,59,000

Theme

Projects/ Programmes

Reference
Item No.
of
Schedule
VII
ii)

Location

Modalities of
execution

Implementation
Schedule

Estimated
Budget for FY
2014-15 (Rs)

Yuva Parivartan (Empowering lives through Skill

Jharsuguda
NGO
- April
20

29,95,000
Development)
(Orissa)
/ Kherwadi
August 1, 2015
50 camps to impart vocational skills to 2000 youth
Jodhpur
Welfare
in Jodhpur/Jharsuguda: Despite the Indian
(Rajasthan)
Assocation
economy growing a large number of youth are
Society
deprived of work due to inadequate skills. While
Vocational
92% of the jobs are in the unorganised sector the
Skills
focus on skill enhancement is more for the
organised. The camps being set up will help reach
out to youth and women in the chosen area and
impart skill enhancements in areas which provide
for employment opportunities relevant to that
particular area.
The 3 projects above would have an impact on close to 2800 children and 2000 youth across 4 locations in the country in the current year.
Disaster
Contribution to the Jammu and Kashmir disaster
(i)
Jammu
and NGO - United October 2014
5,95,305
Recoveryrelief programme organized by United Way of
Kashmir
Way of India
Medical
India
aid,
eradicating
hunger and
safe
drinking
water

CSR Corpus for 2014-2015 : Rs. 42,123,980

Estimated Budget allocation to the projects mentioned herein above : Rs. 21,349,290