Purpose-Built, Purpose-Driven | Rethinking CSR in India’s New Age of Flexspaces

By Kushal Bhargava, Co-Founder, MyBranch Services

Have you ever wondered what “giving back” really means when it comes to running an office space? For me, CSR isn’t just a yearly report or a corporate checkbox—it’s about doing well by doing good, with real impact shaped right inside our workspaces.

How CSR Has Shifted—And Why It Matters

You may have heard of the Companies Act, 2013, and its famous mandate: companies over a certain size must spend at least 2% of their profits on CSR. Sounds straightforward, right? But let’s be honest, numbers can only tell part of the story. Here’s the real kicker: In 2023-24, Indian companies poured a record ₹34,909 crore into CSR, but the conversation has grown from size to substance. More leaders now ask, “How do we move from ticking CSR boxes to truly moving the needle in our communities?”​

When I walk into a new MyBranch flexspace—whether it’s Mumbai or Vellore—I see possibilities. What if every chair, conference room, and coffee corner could help build more than just business? With our expanding network, we’re trying to do exactly that: turn every square foot into a force for good.

What CSR Means to Me (And Us)

CSR used to mean writing a cheque or sponsoring a school drive. Today, the best CSR is hands-on and local. What matters most is getting involved—not just showing up once a year. For MyBranch, spreading branches across India means becoming part of dozens of unique local stories.

I feel ‘The most meaningful CSR initiatives strengthen the communities we coexist with—not through distant donations, but through proximity and participation. To me, CSR is about building community, not just giving back.’

Here’s how we try to live this every day:

• We rent local properties and hire locally, so our office becomes a natural part of town life.
• We open our doors to women for skill-building & thus employ them in our flexspaces when work winds down for the day.
• Our impact isn’t just numbers. We celebrate every new local hire, woman promoted, and micro-venture launched in our spaces.

Flexspaces: More Than Places—They’re Community Engines

So, what does it look like when an office becomes a hub for community, not just commerce? 

• Your flexspace doubles as a skilling centre for the area’s youth.
• Women find new career paths and feel welcome & safe.
• Entrepreneurs get access to workshops and mentoring—sometimes in the same room you pitched your latest idea.

Isn’t it more exciting when CSR goes beyond a signature and transforms into a living, breathing part of the workplace? That’s our motto.

Ask Yourself:

• What if every meeting room helped launch the next local success story?
• How would your workspace change if it became a launchpad for neighbourhood dreams?

Making CSR Part of the Everyday

What truly blows my mind is how flexible offices can solve old-world problems with new energy. In Indore, for instance, our centre has a women’s lounge that turns into an entrepreneur and digital literacy zone over the weekend. Suddenly, the same space serves double duty: driving profits by day, and purpose by night.

And here’s the cool part—every bit of social impact can be tracked. Occupancy rates? Retention? Why not also monitor volunteer hours, jobs created, and small businesses supported? CSR becomes part of our dashboard—visible, tangible, energising. What gets measured gets done.

Tech helps, too. With IoT sensors and online platforms, we’re opening rural learning pods, accessible workstations, and even telehealth corners for local health. If innovation is the engine of business, it’s also the driver of inclusion.

Why Small Cities Need CSR More

Let’s talk about the real frontier: India’s smaller cities. Sure, metros like Mumbai and Delhi kicked off the flexspace craze. But the action now? It’s in Tier II and III towns. Every new MyBranch centre in these places means an opportunity for people who might not have had access before.

Some numbers to chew on:

• Demand for coworking spaces in Tier-II cities rose 12% just last year.​
• About 9 million square feet of flex offices are now outside major metros—and that’s growing each quarter.
• Cost advantages? Rent is 30–50% lower, plus there’s better talent retention when folks can stay close to home.

CSR shines brighter where it matters most. When new jobs boost family incomes, micro-enterprises transform neighbourhoods, and businesses become true community partners, the ripple effect is instant.

Women: The Heart of Our CSR Journey

Here’s where I get personal. At MyBranch, we put women at the centre of our CSR strategy—not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s smart business. When women lead, workplaces thrive, and communities flourish.

• 100% of our office spaces in the South zone are run by women support staff.
• We build dedicated, meaningful career tracks for women, with real growth and progression.
• Safety, wellness, flexible hours, and other supports for women’s employment. 
• We track concrete goals: at least 30% of new hires are women, and we try to run schemes/discounts on our flexspaces specifically for women entrepreneurs.
• Our branches host workshops for women micro-entrepreneurs, sharing space, mentorship, and resources.

MyBranch, as part of the Narayan Bhargava Group, realised during its expansion across India that meaningful CSR efforts thrive through partnerships with like-minded organisations. Embracing the philosophy of our flagship group is vital to enabling us to bring structured, community-driven initiatives into our flexspaces—extending our impact well beyond business operations.

Every time a woman builds her career, every time a mother feels safe returning to work, every time a small business takes off, we know CSR is at the heart of what we do.

What This Journey’s Taught Us

We’ve learned that the companies that last are those that treat their communities as a strategy, not as an obligation. It’s absolutely central to building India’s next-generation workspaces.

Each time we launch a new branch, these two questions guide us:

• How does this space help the community around it?
• Does it advance our purpose as much as our profits?

If it’s only about occupancy, we’ve missed the point. When we get it right, we scale impact and business growth together, empowering cities as we expand.

Because when offices become launchpads for lives and dreams, we don’t just rent desks—we build futures.

So, what does CSR mean to us in the new age of flexspaces? It means finding purpose not only in profits, but in people and building meaning, square foot by square foot, story by story.