# Kiran Mazumdar hits back at MLA seeking CSR funds for road repairs 2026-08-27T01:51:38+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has criticised Anekal MLA B. Shivanna after he reportedly asked companies in the industrial cluster to use their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for road repairs. She called the demand an abdication of government duty and said CSR money cannot substitute for public works. Shivanna had earlier flagged the poor condition of roads serving the industrial belt on the city's outskirts. Mazumdar countered that tax-paying companies already fund government infrastructure through taxes and that CSR is meant for community welfare, not basic civic maintenance. The dispute highlights a recurring tension over who bears the cost of infrastructure near industrial zones. ## Indian Opinion Analysis CSR funds are legally tied to specific social and environmental projects under the Companies Act, 2013, and cannot be diverted for public infrastructure that is the government’s own responsibility. The Karnataka High Court and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs have previously clarified this boundary. If the MLA persists, the next step could be a formal notice from the Registrar of Companies or a shareholder complaint, forcing the companies to defend their CSR spending before the company law tribunal. ## Coverage - ndtvprofit.com Leads with Mazumdar's reaction, not the MLA's initial demand, framing the corporate side first This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Bengaluru, Biocon, CSR, Karnataka Assembly, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/kiran-mazumdar-hits-back-at-mla-seeking-csr-funds-for-road-repairs/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/kiran-mazumdar-hits-back-at-mla-seeking-csr-funds-for-road-repairs/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/