India’s 100+ philanthropists donate $1 billion in a year, half of China’s top donor’s contribution

One Chinese individual’s charity is double of what over 100 Indian philanthropists have donated in a year. China’s 'most generous' person Richard Liu Qiandong of JD contributed a whopping $2.05 billion, as per the Hurun China Philanthropy List 2022. In comparison, the cumulative contribution by India’s 119 philanthropists featured on Hurun India’s latest list stood at a little over $1 billion, a 60% rise from the previous year.

China’s top four philanthropists donated nearly $5.5 billion in a year, while the share of India’s top four was around $540,000. India's highest contributor - HCL Founder Shiv Nadar & family donated over $245,000 in FY23. In 2022, the cut-off to enter China’s philanthropy list was $15 million. This is 25 times that of India's cut-off of around $600,000 (over Rs 5 crore).

Hurun India MD Anas Rahman Junaid is optimistic that the size of donations will increase over the next few years. "India is going through one of the biggest wealth creation stories in its history. We can expect a significant expansion in private donations,” he said.