Azim Premji, Former Chairman of IT giant Wipro Ltd, retained his status as “India’s most generous” person for the second consecutive year in 2021. His total donations for the period of 2020-2021 stood at Rs 9,713 crores as per the EdelGive Huran Philanthropy List 2021. Azim Premji donated Rs 27 crore a day to retain his top rank among Indian philanthropists in 2021.
Premji was first named the country’s most generous person in 2020 for his donations made during the year 2019-2020, which amounted to a total of Rs 7,904 crores, elevating him to the top of the Huran Philanthropy List released last year.
The eighth edition of the list released this year also mentions HCL’s Shiv Nadar, who retained his spot at the second position with an annual donation of Rs 1,263 crores. Meanwhile, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries and India’s richest man, placed third on the list with total annual donations of Rs 577 crores.
Ambani was succeeded by Kumar Mangalam Birla with donations worth Rs 377 crore. Moreover, the second richest Indian Gautam Adani placed eighth on the givers’ list with a donation of Rs 130 crore towards disaster relief.
The donations were measured by the value of each featured person’s cash or cash equivalents from April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021. This year’s list also saw some first-time appearances from notable personalities.
India’s largest stocks investor Rakesh Jhunjunwala placed on the list for the first time following donations amounting to 25 per cent of his overall earnings or Rs 50 crore in FY21 with efforts on education.
Brothers Nithin and Nikhil Kamath donated Rs 25 caress in 2021, placing 35th on the ranking. The Zerodha founders also committed $100 million or Rs 750 crore over the next few years to assist individuals, organisations and firms working on solving the climate crisis. Nikhil Kamath, aged 35, is also the youngest person on the list.
Nine women philanthropists made it onto the list, led by a Rs 69 crore donation by Rohini Nilekani, followed by Leena Gandhi Tewari of USV who donated Rs 24 crore, and Anu Aga of Thermax who donated Rs 20 crore.
