Azim Premji retains 'India’s most generous' title second time in row

Azim Premji (Image: Moneycontrol)

With an annual donation of Rs 9,713 crore, Azim Premji,76, retains ‘India’s most generous’ title for the second year running.

HCL’s Shiv Nadar retains the second spot with an annual donation of Rs 1,263 crore. With a donation of Rs 577 crore, India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani came third in Edelgive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021.

Donations were measured by the value of their cash or cash equivalents from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. This is the eighth year of the list and it follows on from the Hurun India Rich List, a ranking of 1,007 richest individuals in India, released in September 2021 for the tenth year.

The Azim Premji Trust owns 10.7 percent of the promoter’s shareholding in Wipro and has the right to receive all money earned from promoter shares. In June 2021, The Azim Premji Foundation nearly doubled its allocation towards the pandemic from Rs 1,125 crore to Rs 2,125 crore to expand work on vaccination across ten states, with a commitment to increase this further if the need demands. He donated Rs 27 crore per day.

Zerodha founders Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath also debuted in the list with a docation of Rs 25 crores. Nikhil Kamath, 35, is the youngest person in the list.

“6 times in 5 years. The cumulative donation in EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List has grown from just under Rs 2,500 crore to more than INR 14,750 crore today. Considering the current wealth creation velocity in India, in 5 years, I expect the cumulative donation to grow to at least Rs 30,000 crore,” Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India said.

Investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala donated 25 percent of his annual income towards charitable work.  Jhunjhunjwala’s philanthropic efforts focused on the education sector. He is a trustee of Agastya International Foundation and also supports Ashoka University.

Nine women philanthropists include Rohini Nilekani on the top spot followed by Leena Gandhi Tiwari and Anu Aga and family.