With a donation of ₹7,904 crore during 2019-20, IT giant Wipro’s founder chairman Azim Premji topped the list of “India’s most generous” released by Hurun India and EdelGive on Tuesday. This is a jump of 1,645% from ₹453 crore donated by Mr. Premji in the previous year.
Shiv Nadar, the founder of another IT major, HCL, who had topped the “EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List” last year, was the distant second on the list, with donations of ₹795 crore during the April 2019 to March 2020 period, as against donations of ₹826 crore during the previous fiscal.
The primary cause for which both Mr. Premji and Mr. Nadar donated is education.
India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited, was third on the list, with donations of ₹458 crore, primarily for disaster relief.
Others in the top 10 include Kumar Mangalam Birla (₹276 crore donation), Vedanta founder and chairman Anil Agarwal (₹215 crore), Ajay Piramal (₹196 crore), Infosys co-founder and chairman Nandan Nilekani (₹159 crore), the Hinduja brothers (₹133 crore), Gautam Adani (₹88 crore) and Rahul Bajaj (₹74 crore donation).
This is the seventh annual ranking of the most generous individuals in India, and features individuals who have donated ₹5 crore or more during the period under review.
Anas Rahman Junaid, managing director and chief researcher of Hurun India, said that the preferred cause supported by India’s top philanthropists has been education, although poverty alleviation has grown dramatically to become the second most popular cause this year.
“With 90 philanthropists cumulatively donating ₹9,324 crore, education emerged as the most favoured cause. With 84 donors, healthcare registered a 111% increase in cumulative donation, followed by disaster relief and management, which has 41 donors, registering a cumulative donation of ₹354 crore or an increase of 240%,” the release said.
It added that Indian philanthropy numbers are at a record high, with the number of individuals who have donated more than ₹10 crore increasing to 78 from 37 over the last two years.
“Led by Shibulal, 65, who donated ₹32 crore, there are 28 new additions to the list. Total donations by new additions stood at ₹313 crore,” it stated, adding that with a donation of ₹27 crore, Amit Chandra and Archana Chandra of the A.T.E. Chandra Foundation are the first and only professional managers to enter the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List.
