SHIV NADAR TOPS HURUN INDIA PHILANTHROPY LIST
Information technology moguls have emerged among India’s most prolific donors to social causes, grabbing two of the top-three spots in a list of India’s most generous philanthropists.
The chairman of HCL Technologies, Shiv Nadar, topped the list with a contribution of ~826 crore during financial year 2018-19 (FY19). Wipro founder Azim Premji was second with ~453 crore; Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani was third with ~402 crore; Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani was fourth with ~204 crore, followed by Piramal Enterprises chairman Ajay Piramal, according to the Edelgive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2019 released on Monday.
Contributions have been increasing, according to a press statement on the study. The cumulative value of contributions in the list is ~4,391 crore against ~2,310 crore last year. It said the top 10 individuals featured on the list accounted for 61 per cent of the donations. The remaining 90 individuals accounted for 39 per cent.
Education accounted for 35.6 per cent of the contributions; healthcare followed at 6.6 per cent; and arts, culture and heritage was third at 6.3 per cent. However, this may imply that other areas could require more focus.
According to Anas Rahman Junaid, managing director and chief researcher, Hurun Report India, there is also a focus on education which can result in positive changes over the long term.
"I think because of the measurability; a lot of causes don’t get the necessary attention. There is not enough funding, for example, going into women’s issues... violence or trafficking or access to legal justice," said Vidya Shah, chief executive officer of Edelgive Foundation.
Funding for advocacy/rights-based organisations may be affected partly by measurability of outcomes and partly by fear among people that they don’t want to be seen to be supporting some organisations at a time when there has been a crackdown on foreign nongovernmental organisations, Shah said.
Others in the top 10 list included Rohini Nilekani (Infosys), Rahul Bajaj (Bajaj Auto), Cyrus S Poonawalla (Serum Institute of India), Anil Agarwal (Vedanta), Gautam Adani (Adani group) and the Godrej family (Godrej group).in addition to Rohini Nilekani (~142 crore); Kiran Mazumdar Shaw of Biocon, who contributed ~72 crore and Leena Gandhi Tewari of USV, who contributed ~34 crore, were among the other key women donors.
The average contribution of those who made it to the list was ~44 crore. The average age was 64. Mumbai accounted for 31 individuals. New Delhi was second with 16. Bengaluru was third with 11.