Indian business tycoon Azim Premji has retained his spot as the top billionaire philanthropist of India for the second time in a row. According to the Edelgive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021, the former Wipro Chairman donated Rs 9,713 crore or Rs 27 crore a day in FY 2021 making him the top giver in the country. As per the list, Premji increased his donation by nearly a fourth during the pandemic year.
Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, India’s richest man by a distance , came third on the list with Rs 577 crore contribution and was succeeded Kumar Mangalam Birla with Rs 377 crore . The second richest Gautam Adani is eighth on the giver’s list with a donation of Rs 130 crore towards disaster relief .
Nandan Nilekani of Infosys has been placed fifth with a contribution of Rs 183 crore with societal thinking being identified as the primary cause. He is followed by the Hinduja Family who have contributed Rs 166 crore. The Bajaj Family has been placed at the seventh spot with contributions amounting to Rs 136 crore.
Anil Aggarwal, Chairman of the Vedanta Group is on the eighth spot on the givers’ list as he contributed Rs 130 crore. On the tenth place of the givers’ list is the Burman Family of Dabur India with a contribution of Rs 114 crore.
Nine women philanthropists were also featured on the list this time. With a donation of Rs 69 crore, Rohini Nilekani, 62, is the most generous woman philanthropist, followed by Leena Gandhi Tewari and Anu Aga who donated Rs 24 crore and Rs 20 crore, respectively. With a donation of Rs 19 crore, the philanthropy couple, Amit Chandra (52) and Archana Chandra (50), are the only other professional managers in the list.
In terms of the place of residence, Mumbai led with 31 per cent of the list, followed by New Delhi at 17 per cent, and Bengaluru at 10 per cent. The largest number of philanthropists belonged to the pharma industry, followed by automobile and auto components, and then software and services.
