IT major Wipro’s Azim Premji donated Rs 22 crore a day or Rs 7,904 crore in a year to emerge as the most generous Indian in FY20 and top a list of philanthropy. Premji pipped HCL Technologies’ Shiv Nadar, who had earlier topped the list collated by Hurun Report India and Edelgive Foundation, by a wide margin. Nadar’s donations stood at Rs 795 crore for FY20 as against Rs 826 crore in the year-ago period. Premji had donated Rs 426 crore in the previous fiscal.
Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries retained the third spot among the list of givers by donating Rs 458 crore as against Rs 402 crore a year ago, it said. The raging pandemic had the corporate honchos repurposing their donations to fight the COVID infections, and the top giver on this turned out to be Tata Sons with a Rs 1,500- crore commitment, followed by Premji at Rs 1,125 crore and Ambani’s Rs 510 crore.
A bulk of the corporate commitments seemed to be given to the PM-CARES Fund, with Reliance Industries committing Rs 500 crore, and Aditya Birla Group donating Rs 400 crore, the report said. It can be noted that Tatas’ commitment also includes a Rs 500 crore donation to the newly created fund. Premji’s generosity pulled the total donations up by 175 percent to Rs 12,050 crore in FY20, the list said.
Azim Premji Endowment Fund owns 13.6 percent of the promoter’s shareholding in Wipro and has the right to receive all money earned from promoter shares, the report said. The number of individuals who have donated more than Rs 10 crore increased marginally to 78 from the year-ago period’s 72, the report said.
With a donation of Rs 27 crore, Amit Chandra and Archana Chandra of ATE Chandra foundation are the first and only professional managers to ever enter the list. The list has three of Infosys’ co-founders with Nandan Nilekani (Rs 159 crore), S Gopalkrishnan (Rs 50 crore) and SD Shibulal (Rs 32 crore).
The list of 109 individuals who have donated over Rs 5 crore has seven women, led by Rohini Nilekani’s Rs 47 crore. Education is the highest beneficiary sector with 90 philanthropists, led by Premji and Nadar, donating Rs 9,324 crore, the report said, adding healthcare came second with 84 donors and was followed by disaster relief and rehabilitation with 41 donors.
The financial capital led by donor count at 36, followed by New Delhi at 20 and Bengaluru at 10. E-commerce firm Flipkart’s co-founder Binny Bansal was the youngest donor at 37 with a commitment of Rs 5.3 crore and the average age of the donors on the list was 66 years, it said.
Disclosure:
RIL Disclosure: Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com, is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.
First Published: Nov 10, 2020 2:20 PM IST
Check out our in-depth Market Coverage, Business News & get real-time Stock Market Updates on CNBC-TV18. Also, Watch our channels CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and CNBC Bajar Live on-the-go!
Lok Sabha Election 2024 — how regional parties are challenging national giants in Phase-4
May 15, 2024 6:17 AM
Supreme Court refuses plea seeking 6-year poll ban on PM
May 14, 2024 7:14 PM
Punjab Lok Sabha elections 2024: A look at BJP candidates
May 14, 2024 7:06 PM
Lok Sabha polls: EC disposes of 90% complaints related to MCC violations
May 14, 2024 4:45 PM