Hurun India Philanthropy List 2023: Shiv Nadar 'most generous' for 2nd year in a row

IT major HCL Technologies' founder Shiv Nadar has retained his position as the 'most generous Indian' in 2023 as well, with a 76 per cent jump in his donations at Rs 2,042 crore, according to the Edelgive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2023 released on Thursday (November 2).

Wipro's Azim Premji's donations zoomed by 267 per cent to Rs 1,774 crore during the same year, according to the list.

There were 4 individuals who made an annual donation of Rs 100 crore and above, and the list has a total of 119 (25 new entrants) philanthropists, who cumulatively donated Rs 8,445 crore - up by 59 per cent compared to last year and 200 per cent compared to three years ago.

Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani donated Rs 376 crore in the year, which is an 8 per cent decline. The Reliance Industries chairman and managing director, who witnessed a 2 per cent rise in fortune to Rs 8.08 lakh crore, continued to be the third most generous on the list.

Second richest Indian Gautam Adani climbed two spots to be the fifth generous Indian on the list, with a 50 per cent rise in donations to Rs 285 crore.

Adani's wealth was pegged at Rs 4.74 lakh crore in a recent report by Hurun.

As per the Hurun report published in October, Nadar's wealth was pegged at Rs 2.28 lakh crore and the software industry honcho was the fourth richest Indian. Wipro's Premji was ranked 58th with a fortune of Rs 30,000 crore.

Kumar Mangalam Birla of the Aditya Birla Group retained his position as the fourth most generous Indian with donations of Rs 287 crore.

Some individuals and families made big strides to break into the top-10 in the list of givers, including the Bajaj family, along with Cyrus S Poonawalla and Adar Poonawalla, and Rohini Nilekani, as per the report.

“This year is a record year for big philanthropy. In the past 5 years, the number of donors contributing over INR 100 crore has surged from 2 to 14, and those donating over INR 50 crore has risen from 5 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 5 years,” Hurun India's chief researcher and managing director Anas Rahman Junaid said.

"As wealth expands, family philanthropy is gaining prominence, evolving from ad-hoc acts of providing essentials like food, clothes, and scholarships to focusing on new and marginalised areas," Rahman added.

The primary goal of the list is to acknowledge the charitable endeavours, ensuring their influence reaches every stratum of society, he added.

Nilekani was the most generous woman, and others including Thermax's Anu Aga and Leena Gandhi Tewari also featured on the list of givers.

Discount brokerage firm Zerodha's 37-year-old co-founder Nikhil Kamath was the youngest in the list, which pegged the overall donation by the Kamath brothers at Rs 110 crore.

L&T's AM Naik was the biggest giver among professionals with a donation of Rs 150 crore, which earned him 11th place in the overall list of givers.

According to the list, Infosys co-founder K Dinesh, who donated Rs 47 crore, is the 'most generous' among the new entrants.

(With agency inputs)