Wipro’s Azim Premji pledges 34% shares for philanthropy
BENGALURU: India’s information technology (IT) czar and Wipro chairman Azim Premji has earmarked 34% of Wipro Ltd shares worth ₹52,750 crore ($7.5 billion) for his philanthropic activities, a statement said on Wednesday.
“Azim Premji has increased his commitment to philanthropy, by irrevocably renouncing more of his personal assets and earmarking them to the endowment, which supports Azim Premji Foundation’s philanthropic activities,” the citybased foundation said in a statement.
With his new commitment, Premji’s total contribution to the philanthropic endowment corpus is ₹1.45 lakh crore ($21 billion), which includes 67% of economic ownership of Wipro Ltd, it said.
This is in addition to his earlier donations to philanthropy, which included Wipro’s shares, as well as other assets owned by him.
The promoter holding in Bengaluru-based information technology services firm Wipro Ltd stood at 74.3% as on December 2018.
The foundation works in the education sector, aiming to improve the quality of public schooling system, and supports other non-profit organisations working in the field through multi-year financial grants.
“Currently the field work in education is spread across Kar-
WITH HIS NEW COMMITMENT, PREMJI’S TOTAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE PHILANTHROPIC ENDOWMENT CORPUS IS ₹1.45 LAKH CRORE
nataka, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh, along with some work in the northeastern states,” the statement said.
As many as 150 not-for-profit organizations working for the marginalized sections across the country have received the grants from the foundation over the past five years.
“Over the coming years, the foundation’s activities are expected to scale up signifi- cantly. The team driving the field work in education is expected to grow significantly from the current 1,600 people,” it added.
The foundation, which also runs the Azim Premji University in Bengaluru which offers undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate courses in education and human development, will also expand, it said in the statement.
“The university will expand to have 5,000 students with 400 faculty members across multiple programmes. Thereafter, another university in the northern part of India may be set up,” it said.
The expansion aims to contribute to developing a more just, equitable, humane and sustainable society in India, it added.