India is marking its 75th year of Independence. From a GDP of over Rs 2 lakh crore in 1947 to more than $3 trillion today, the growth story has been staggering, but the growth has not been balanced.
The wealthiest 10 percent hold 74 percent of the national wealth. More worryingly, the wealthiest 1 percent hold more than 42 percent of the national wealth. The bottom 50 percent hold only 6 percent of the national wealth.
As the inequality in wealth widens, charity by the ultra-rich has seen a drop. According to the annual report on Philanthropy by Bain and Company in partnership with Dasra, charity by high networth individuals has dropped from 1.4 percent of their wealth donated in FY19 to just 0.1 percent in FY21.
Amidst all this, India is lagging in meeting the 17 targets for sustainable development by the United Nations. The targets are meant to be achieved by 2030 but at India’s current pace it needs 64 more years to meet them.
A report by the NITI Aayog shows India is currently spending 7 percent of its GDP on social spending. This needs to go up to 13 percent of GDP to achieve sustainable development goals like ending hunger, providing clean water and sanitation to all citizens.
So India needs to reinvigorate philanthropy and is hoping to do just that by putting the spotlight on Indian families which are a crucial part of the country’s DNA.
CNBC-TV18 spoke to Rohini Nilekani, Indian writer, author and philanthropist — she is the founder of Arghyam Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on water and sanitation issues; Amit Chandra, managing director of Bain Capital, and philanthropist; and Neera Nundy, Co-Founder of Dasra, to talk about the role and relevance of philanthropic capital.
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