Premji again tops India philanthropy list

Azim Premji, 69, chief of the Bengaluru-based multinational Wipro, donated as much as Rs 12,316 crore of his personal wealth in the period between April 2013 to October 2014.

There are 50 people who donated a minimum of Rs 10 crore in this period but Premji gave away six times as much as the person who comes second on the list, Anil Agarwal of London-based Vedanta Resources, who gave away Rs 1,796 crore. The list has been compiled by the Shanghai-based The Hurun Research Institute, the second year it has done this ranking, of an 'India philanthropy list'.

Premji had topped the list a year before, too. In the institute's measure, issued three months earlier, of the 'India rich list', he was ranked at number four in personal wealth, with an own fortune of Rs 86,100 crore. His donation in the 2013-14 list was to the Azim Premji Foundation, which mainly gives to bodies engaged in education.

Education was, in fact, the most favoured cause for Indian philanthropists, accounting for four-fifths of the donations.

Shiv Nadar, Ratan Tata, Mukesh AMbani and Nandan & Rohini Nilekani rank next on the list after Agarwal of Vedanta.

Hurun said it included cash and cash equivalents pledged, with legally binding commitments for the period in question. It included donations made by companies in which an individual had a significant share, by applying the percentage the individual has of the company on the donations. "The list is a good representation of responsible entrepreneurship in India. It's interesting to note that many entrepreneurs in India consider religious donations as philanthropy. In this context, we would have missed many more in India." said Anas Rahman Junaid, publisher-at-large of Hurun Report India.

Other nuggets from the list:

• The number donating at least Rs 10 crore has risen to 50 this time from 31 a year before
• South Indians donated Rs 13,300 crore, five times that given away by North Indians
• Mumbai is home to as many as 15 of those on Hurun's list, followed by Bengaluru and Delhi
• 11 of the top 50 don't live in India; of these, five made their donations entirely in India
• 42 of the top 50 are also in the latest Hurun India Rich List
• 73 per cent of them are self-made, not having had inherited wealth
• Ashish Dhawan of Central Square Foundation is the youngest on the list, at age 45; the boldest is Pallonji Mistry, 85 (father of Tata Group chief Cyrus Mistry)
• This year's list has 27 new faces.