Social For Action believes that the year 2022 will be marked as the recovery year after the pandemic. It is expected that during this year, the innovative startups and social enterprises that were established during the last two years will get a major boost, allowing the growth of the number of young wealthy people. This will, in turn, also lead to the growth in philanthropy. To this end, let us look at the top philanthropic donors who donated to nonprofits in the year 2021
India saw 11 individuals making an annual donation of over Rs 100 crore in the financial year 2020-21. Wipro’s Azim Premji retained the top spot among philanthropist billionaires of India for a second time. Premji hiked his donations 23 per cent on-year last fiscal, according to the recent EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021. Hurun India and EdelGive released the eighth edition of the list, ranking the most generous people in India based on the value of their donations between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. Among the philanthropists, education was the most favored cause receiving a total of Rs 9,659 crore from 72 donors. While the ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala topped the list of new entrants, donating a fourth of his annual income or Rs 50 crore towards charitable work in FY21.
1. Azim Premji
The founder chairman of Wipro, Azim Premji & family, donated Rs 9,713 crore or Rs 27 crore a day in FY21, topping the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021. The Azim Premji Foundation nearly doubled its allocation towards the pandemic from Rs 1,125 crore to Rs 2,125 crore this year in June, to expand work on vaccination across ten states, with a commitment to increase this further if the need demands.
2. Shiv Nadar
HCL Technologies founder-chairman Shiv Nadar & family retained the second spot on the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021, donating Rs 1,263 crore. As of 2021, Nadar has invested almost a billion dollars through the foundation to impact over 30,000 students directly. In 2021 alone, the Shiv Nadar foundation donated Rs 70 core towards COVID pandemic relief.
3. Mukesh Ambani
Reliance Industries Ltd’s Mukesh Ambani & family donated Rs 557 crore in the last fiscal, and occupied the third spot in EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021. RIL produced over 1000 MT of medical-grade liquid oxygen per day or 11% of India’s total production and supplied over 55,000 MT of medical-grade liquid oxygen across the country free of cost.
4. Kumar Mangalam Birla
Kumar Mangalam Birla and family donated Rs 377 crore and stood at fourth spot on the Philanthropy List. The Aditya Birla Group donated Rs 400 crore to the PM CARES Fund and Rs 50 crore to FICCI-Aditya Birla CSR Centre for Excellence. Birla has also allocated Rs 50 crore for supplying N95 Masks, PPE’s and ventilators in India.
5. Nandan Nilekani:
Infosys’ Nandan Nilekani donated Rs 183 crore, and was ranked 5th on the list. Nandan Nilekani donated Rs 138 crore for Societal Thinking in FY2021. Moreover, Nandan Nilekani and Rohini Nilekani signed the Giving Pledge in 2017 and committed to donating half of their wealth towards philanthropy.
6. Hinduja Family
The Hinduja family donated Rs 166 crore in FY 21 and stood at sixth position on the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List. The Hinduja Foundation, established in 1968, focuses on Water Stewardship, Healthcare, Education, Rural Development, and Arts & Culture.
7. Bajaj Family:
The Bajaj family stood at seventh rank as the group donated Rs 136 crore in FY21. The Bajaj family has always been known for their philanthropy deeds. This year in May, they pledged to donate Rs 200 crore to build capability and resources to tackle the pandemic. This amount was in addition to Rs 100 crore donated by the Bajaj Group in FY 21.
8. Gautam Adani
Gautam Adani and family donated Rs 130 crore in FY21, and was ranked eighth on the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021. Adani Foundation works in education, community health, sustainable livelihood, and community infrastructure development in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals. The Foundation donated Rs 122 crore to support COVID-19 related relief efforts across the country.
9. Anil Agarwal
Anil Agarwal and family made a donation of Rs 130 crore in the previous fiscal, and shared the 8th rank with Gautam Adani on the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021. In July this year, the Anil Agarwal Foundation announced the Rs 5,000 crore ‘Swasth Gaon Abhiyaan’ to provide end-to-end healthcare solutions across the rural landscape covering 1,000 villages across 24 districts and 12 states in the country.
10. Burman family
The Burman family made a Rs 114 crore donation, and made it to the 10th spot on the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021. The Dabur Group established the ‘Dabur Care Fund for COVID-19’, to protect lives and livelihood, and support those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
To put together a comprehensive list of the largest philanthropists of India is an almost impossible task. However, the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List is the most serious and authoritative effort to date, identifying the individuals and highlighting the causes they donate to.
To make this list, the Hurun Report surveyed India’s most successful entrepreneurs, including those from the Hurun India Rich List 2021, meticulously cross-referencing the results with media reports and charitable foundations. In the course of the research, Hurun Report attended non-profit related seminars, as well as meeting with scholars, experts, philanthropists, and senior members of charitable foundations.
Hurun Report includes cash and cash equivalents pledged with legally binding commitments for the twelve months from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 and the latest available CSR data filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
Since most of the PM Care Fund donations were announced after the cutoff date, the same is not considered for arriving at the total donation unless it is mentioned in FY 20 CSR spend in the annual report of the respective companies.
Average age of India’s top philanthropists
The average age is 66, three years older than entrepreneurs on the Hurun India Rich List and two years older than philanthropists on last year’s EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List.
“Binny Bansal is the first philanthropist under the age of 40 to enter the philanthropy list. This is possibly one of the best news from the list. I hope this will inspire more young wealth creators to not only donate but also to speak more about their donations,” said Mr. Junaid.
Personal philanthropy gaining traction
21 individuals on the list donated Rs. 5 crore or more in their personal capacity. “One of the core objectives of this report is to tell more stories about philanthropists who have donated on their personal capacity. If we were to add the taxes paid on the dividend payout, which was allocated towards philanthropy, the value of private donations would be even higher,” said Mr. Junaid.
Top 15 Personal Philanthropists
India’s top philanthropists in a personal capacity. Source: Hurun Research Institute; EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021 *dividend details based on annual reports/ availability
Azim Premji has committed 67% of economic interest in Wipro towards philanthropic activities. In 2020, the promoter holdings in Wipro earned a dividend of Rs. 422 crore and the 2019 share buyback program fetched another Rs. 7,347 crore – all of these would be donated towards philanthropy based on his endowment pledge.
Shiv Nadar runs the Shiv Nadar Foundation that supports rural education and provides scholarships for underprivileged students to study abroad. In FY20, Shiv Nadar donated Rs. 689 crore through Shiv Nadar Foundation.
Nandan Nilekani and Rohini Nilekani individually donated Rs. 159 crore and Rs. 47 crore respectively. In FY 20, they donated more than Rs. 100 core towards Societal Platform, aimed at creating a shared space to solve problems, at scale, speed, and sustainably.
Anu Aga & family of Thermax have committed 30% of their dividend income towards philanthropic causes.
The husband-wife duo, Amit and Archana Chandra of A.T.E. Chandra Foundation are the only individuals not featured in the Hurun rich lists to enter the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2020.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the first woman to sign The Giving Pledge. She has committed to giving away half of her income towards philanthropy on an annual basis.
New Entrants In 2021
Source: Hurun Research Institute; EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021
28 philanthropists entered the list for the first time. The top new additions in the list are SD Shibulal of Infosys with a donation of Rs. 32 crore, followed by Amit and Archana Chandra of A.T.E. Chandra Foundation who donated Rs. 27 crore, and Ram Beriwala & Shyam Sunder Beriwala of Shyam Steels who donated Rs. 19 crore.
“This rising new additions to the list is very inspiring. Based on the commitment towards COVID-19, we believe the list of new additions would go even higher in the next year’s list,” said Mr. Junaid.
Which Women Are Top Philanthropists In India?
Source: Hurun Research Institute; EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021
7 women are on this year’s list of top philanthropists in India. With a donation of Rs. 47 crore, Rohini Nilekani of Infosys is India’s most generous woman, followed by Anu Aga & family of Thermax who donated Rs. 36 crore, and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw of Biocon who donated Rs. 34 crore.
“In addition to 7 women in the list, it is also important to highlight the role played by women in running the family’s charitable trusts. For instance, in most of the family-run businesses that are featured in the list, the spouses of the entrepreneurs lead the charitable trusts,” said Mr. Junaid.
India Inc’s COVID-19 response
Indian wealth creators were the first to step up to support the COVID-19 response. Since mid of March 2020, many corporates have come forward in support by donating towards the relief funds. Film stars such as Akshay Kumar have donated Rs. 25 Crore towards the cause.
“CSR and philanthropy play an important role in reducing the gap with government funding. The COVID-19 response was a case in point to understand the swiftness in which India’s super wealth creators responded to this funding support call by PM Modi,” said Mr. Junaid.
Biggest COVID-19 Donations By Companies
Most Favored Philanthropic Causes in 2021
With 79% of donations, Education remains the most favoured philanthropic cause followed by Healthcare (5%) and Disaster Relief & Management (3%).
“Education has been the biggest cause supported by the donors not only in India but also in Hurun’s Global Philanthropy List. Healthcare and water conversation witnessed a spike in donations compared to last year. In 2022, we expect much of the donations could be towards healthcare,” reports Social For Action.
Sectors Donating Most Towards CSR
With Rs. 3,743 crore CSR Spend Energy leads followed by Financial with Rs. 2,335 crore Technology with Rs. 1,575 crore. Also, CSR spending by Indian companies is skewed towards education and healthcare.
Mumbai is the philanthropy capital
With 36 individuals, Mumbai is the philanthropy capital of India, followed by New Delhi and Bengaluru. Indian corporates prefer to donate on a pan India basis than limiting their focus to HQ locations.
Growth in number
Since the inception of the Hurun India Philanthropy List in 2013, the number of entrants in the EdelGive Hurun Philanthropy List has grown 3 times during the same period. Interestingly, Hurun India Rich List has also registered a similar growth. “With more wealth being created, personal philanthropy is booming in India. Cut off to enter Top 10 has increased by 130% since 2018 and the top 25 has increased by almost 173% since 2016,” said Mr. Junaid.
Social For Action says..
Azim Premji is known to fly economy class, even taking rickshaw rides on his way to the airport. Nandan and Rohini Nilekani unwind by taking long walks in the morning sun. The immense wealth of these rich entrepreneurs has not corrupted them; rather it has made them humbler and more generous. Take a leaf out of their mindset and be a philanthropist in your own right. You don’t need to donate vast sums of money to be one. Giving food to the hungry is philanthropy. So is donating your time to a worthy cause.
Disclaimer: The above report is extracted from the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021 prepared by Hurun Report India and EdelGive Foundation. Any third party brands, names, or trademarks contained in the report belong to the relevant third parties.
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