119 Indians donated Rs 5 cr-plus in FY23, Shiv Nadar gave Rs 5.6 cr a day

Philanthropy report card: Indian billionaires donated 59% more

Shiv Nadar, founder-chairman of HCL Technologies, has emerged as India’s most generous businessman, donating Rs 2,042 crore in the last financial year. That’s an average of Rs 5.6 crore per day and 76 per cent more than the amount he donated in FY22, when he gave away upwards of Rs 3 crore per day on average.

Overall, 119 Indian business tycoons donated Rs 5 crore or more in FY23, together contributing Rs 8,445 crore for philanthropic activities. That was more than 59 per cent of what they donated in FY22, according to the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2023,

Azim Premji of Wipro followed Nadar, having donated Rs 1,774 crore during the year. That was 267 per cent more than FY22.

 

Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries occupied the third position, having given Rs 376 crore in philanthropy, largely channelled through the Reliance Foundation, where the focus is predominantly on education and health care.

Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha emerged as the youngest philanthropist on the list. At 12th place, the Kamath brothers donated Rs 110 crore in the year.

The list further showed that Rohini Nilekani of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies led among women, donating Rs 170 crore. She ranked 10th on the list. She was followed by Anu Aga (40th rank) and Leena Gandhi (41st) with donations worth Rs 23 crore each. Seven women philanthropists were featured in the list.

A total of 14 Indians, up from six last year, donated over Rs 100 crore. The list further showed that 24 Indians, up from 12 last year, donated over Rs 50 crore, and 47 donated over Rs 20 crore.

Education emerged as the most favoured cause for donation, with 62 philanthropists cumulatively donating Rs 1,547 crore towards it. This was followed by Rs 1,345 crore in the arts, culture and heritage, and Rs 633 crore in health care.

With 39 individuals, Mumbai proved to be the philanthropy capital of India, followed by New Delhi (19) and Bengaluru (13).

Other philanthropists featured in the top 10 included Kumar Mangalam Birla, Gautam Adani, the Bajaj family, Anil Agarwal, Nandan Nilekani, and Cyrus and Adar Poonawalla of Serum Institute of India.

Around Rs 75 crore of the contribution by Kumar Mangalam and family came from their personal funds. For the Bajaj family, this marks their first appearance on the list. Anil Agarwal and family’s donations, meanwhile, increased 46 per cent over FY22.

The total donations in India, however, were lower than Rs 11,984 crore in FY20 and Rs 14,755 crore in FY21.

"This is a record year for big philanthropy,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, managing director and chief researcher, Hurun India. “In the past five years, the number of donors contributing over Rs 100 crore has surged from two to 14, and those donating over Rs 50 crore has risen from five to 24. Given India's potential for wealth creation and assuming a continued commitment to philanthropy by billionaires, I anticipate these figures to potentially double over the next five years."

The cumulative corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending of BSE 200 companies has grown from Rs 5,561 crore in FY15 to Rs 12,271 crore in FY23.