Shiv Nadar donated Rs5.6 crore every day in FY23, Rohini Nilekani set new benchmark for philanthropic giving

Clockwise: Nithin Kamant, AM Naik, Shiv Nadar, Rohini Nilekani, Prashant Prakash

The annual EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2023, which released on November 2, shows that HCL co-founder Shiv Nadar retained his top spot as India’s most generous philanthropist, donating Rs2,042 crore in FY23, which is roughly Rs5.6 crore every day. His focus areas are education, art and culture. He is followed by Azim Premji, Wipro’s founder-chairman, who donated Rs1,774 crore.

The list features 119 philanthropists who cumulatively donated Rs8,445 crore in FY23, up by 59 percent compared to last year, and 200 percent compared to three years ago.

“India is witnessing a lot of wealth creation. The four arcs driving Indian wealth-creation forward will be inter-generational wealth creators, young and new startups, professional managers and venture capitalists,” Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and chief researcher, Hurun India, tells Forbes India. “This year’s list gives a perspective on how these four sectors of people are contributing to philanthropy.” Junaid expects more philanthropic contributions from these four stakeholders as wealth-creation accelerates.

This year, the list also specifically categorises the top people who have donated entirely out of their personal wealth, which means private donation outside of corporate social responsibility (CSR), plus any donation over and above the mandatory 2 percent CSR contributions.

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There are 24 such people on the list this year, the top 10 of whom include Nadar, Premji, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Rohini Nilekani, Zerodha co-founder Nithin and Nikhil Kamath, Mindtree co-founder Subroto Bagchi and his spouse Susmita, and Larsen & Toubro Chairman AM Naik.

The others on the list are people who have made considerable CSR donations proportional to their ownership in the company. This is why, for example, even though Reliance Industries Chairperson Mukesh Ambani features among the top 10 philanthropists in terms of overall giving, he does not feature on the list of top philanthropists who have donated entirely from their personal wealth. [Disclosure: Reliance is the owner of Network18, which publishes Forbes India.]

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There are 25 new entrants on the list this year, including Infosys co-founder K Dinesh, Rameshchandra T Jain & family of Bhilosa Industries, Prashanth Prakash of Accel and Vembu Radha of Zoho Corporation. Nikhil Kamath, who signed The Giving Pledge this year to donate half his wealth, continues to be the youngest philanthropist on the list.

There are seven women on the list, led by Rohini Nilekani, founder of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies. She donated Rs170 crore in FY23, finding a place both in the top 10 philanthropists in terms of overall giving, as well as the top 10 philanthropists donating entirely out of their personal wealth.

“The women giver group, which is largely silent, gets a huge role model in Rohini. There was a time when she was the only woman on the list. Now, there are seven women,” Naghma Mulla, CEO, EdelGive Foundation, tells Forbes India. Rohini is followed by Anu Aga & family of Thermax, who donated Rs23 crore, and Leena Gandhi Tewari of USV, who also donated Rs23 crore.