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| Edited By: DNA |Source: DNA |Updated: Mar 15, 2019, 07:05 AM IST
In a world where leading businessmen consider philanthropy as one of their passions, India’s top honchos, too, are coming of age. While Warren Buffett and Bill Gates in the US have contributed over $46 billion and $18 billion respectively to social causes since 2000, according to 2016 figures, Indian businessmen are close on their heels.
The country’s leading philanthropist is IT czar Azim Premji. On Wednesday, Premji announced an increase in his philanthropic commitment by $7.5 billion, taking the overall contribution to his endowment to $21 billion. In sheer size, this makes it one of the biggest foundations in the world.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, jointly, has investment assets of $40 billion, and the Ford Foundation about $12 billion. Premji’s largesse comes at a time when the ultra-rich in India is giving away less and less of their wealth to social causes. His large heart has always been in evidence. He was the first Indian to sign the Giving Pledge initiative started by Bill Gates under which billionaires commit at least 50 per cent of their wealth to philanthropy.
India’s other leading contributors include HCL Chairman Shiv Nadar, entrepreneur Nandan Nilekani, GM Rao of GMR group, Ratan Tata, Anil Agrawal of Vedanta, DLF’s KP Singh and Mukesh Ambani, among others. The important thing is that these super rich in India have contributed generously even when corporate earnings have dropped and the economy has slowed down. Those who track philanthropists in India also admit that a significant portion of money, which is given to religious endowments, is difficult to chronicle. If those figures are taken into account, donations could go up manifold.
