Shiv Nadar tops philanthropy list, even as India’s most generous cut back after the pandemic

• Shiv Nadar made donations worth ₹1,161 crore during FY22, which comes up to ₹3 crore per day.
• Wipro’s Azim Premji slips to the second spot with an annual donation of ₹484 crore as his contribution towards philanthropy has fallen by 95% year-on-year.
• Overall, contributions towards philanthropy have fallen in FY22 because of the pandemic impact.
• The top 10 list cumulatively donated ₹3,378 crore in FY22, as against a combined donation of ₹12,785 crore last year.

Shiv Nadar, the founder and chairman of HCL Technologies, is India’s most generous, with donations of ₹3 crore per day, even as contributions towards philanthropy continue to moderate after the pandemic. With an annual contribution of ₹1,161 crore in fiscal 2022, Shiv Nadar has displaced Wipro’s Azim Premji as the most generous Indian, according to the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2022.

The top 10 list cumulatively donated ₹3,378 crore in FY22, as against a combined donation of ₹12,785 crore last year. The good news is that the list has seen 19 new additions, with total donations by these new entrants adding up to ₹832 crore. Also, six women have featured on the list this year. The youngest philanthropist on the list is 36-year-old Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha. Clearly, the young entrepreneurs are beginning their philanthropic journey early on unlike many others from corporate India.

Nadar’s philanthropic efforts have mainly focussed on education. Overall, contributions towards philanthropy have fallen in FY22 because of the pandemic impact. Nadar’s donation too is down 8% in the fiscal year 2021-22, as per the list.

Wipro’s Azim Premji slipped to the second spot with an annual donation of ₹484 crore as his contribution towards philanthropy has fallen by 95% year-on-year due to the exceptional share buy-back in 2021, says the report.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, is third on the list with contributions totalling ₹411 crore. Ambani’s contribution fell 29% compared to last year. Kumar Mangalam Birla was fourth on the list with a contribution of ₹242 crore.

Couples Susmita & Subroto Bagchi and Radha & NS Parthasarathy from Mindtree’s management debuted on the list with a combined donation of ₹426 crore to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and also entered the top 10 and were ranked fifth. Both Subroto and Parthasarathy are co-founders of Mindtree.

With a donation of ₹190 crore, Gautam Adani & family ranks seventh on the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2022. Next in line is Anil Agarwal & family of Vedanta whose contribution increased by 27% from last year to ₹165 crore.

Nandan Nilekani and his wife Rohini Nilekani are ranked ninth and eleventh, respectively, in the list and are active philanthropists.

Larsen & Toubro’s group executive chairman AM Naik is ranked tenth with a donation of ₹142 crore in FY22.

While many billionaires of the past have turned generous later in life, some new-age tech entrepreneurs are giving away much earlier. Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha increased their donation by a whopping 300% to ₹100 crore during the year. At 36 years, Nikhil Kamath is the youngest philanthropist on the Hurun list.

Another surprise entrant this year has been Rakesh Gangwal, the co-promoter of InterGlobe Aviation (company that owns Indigo Airlines). Gangwal debuted this year with a personal contribution of ₹100 crore to the School of Medical Sciences and Technology at IIT, Kanpur.

“EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List aims at chronicling the Indian philanthropy landscape and so far the transformation is encouraging. For instance, over the last 5 years, (the) number of donors who have given more than ₹100 crore have grown from 2 to 15, and over ₹50 crore have grown from 5 to 20. Considering the wealth creation potential of India and assuming that the billionaires keep up with philanthropy, I expect these numbers to at least double over the next 5 years,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and chief researcher at Hurun India.


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