Azim Premji retains 'India's Most Generous' title for 2nd straight year; donated Rs 27 cr per day

With an annual donation of Rs 9,713 crore, Azim Premji, 76, has retained the 'India's Most Generous' title for the second year running, the Hurun India and EdelGive report 'EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021' said today. Tech services giant Wipro Ltd's Premji donated Rs 27 crore per day.

Premji is the only living Indian to be featured twice in the Edelgive Hurun India philanthropists of the century list. HCL's Shiv Nadar, 76, retains the second spot with an annual donation of Rs 1,263 crore. With a donation of Rs 577 crore, India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, 64, came third in Edelgive Hurun India philanthropy list 2021.

Huron Report, the London-based research, luxury publishing, and events group, found 11 individuals in India who made an annual donation of over Rs 100 crore, 20 over 50 crore, and 42 over 20 crore. Am Naik, 79, former chairman of L&T, donated Rs 112 crore to enter this year's list and is India's most generous professional manager.

Others in the top generous personalities' list are the Hinduja Family, Bajaj Family, Anil Agarwal, and the Burman family.

B Parthasaradhi Reddy & family (67), of Hetero drugs increased his donation by 300 per cent and donated Rs 67 crore, the report said. With a donation of Rs 50 crore, the big bull Rakesh Jhunjhunwala stormed into the Edelgive Hurun India philanthropy list 2021 and is the most generous new entrant.

Infosyians, including Nandan Nilekani, Rohini Nilekani, Chris Gopalakrishnan, and SD Shibulal donated Rs 183 crore, Rs 69 crore, Rs 50 crore, and Rs 35 crore, respectively and are ranked 5, 14, 19, and 23, respectively.

Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar, 54, who donated Rs 26 crore, also made his debut in the list. Zerodha's founders, Nithin Kamath, 42, and Nikhil Kamath, 35, debuted the list with a donation of Rs 25 crore. Nikhil Kamath, 35, is the youngest philanthropist on list, which saw a total of 17 new additions.

Nine women philanthropists were also featured on the list this time. With a donation of Rs 69 crore, Rohini Nilekani, 62, is the most generous woman philanthropist, followed by Leena Gandhi Tewari and Anu Aga who donated Rs 24 crore and Rs 20 crore, respectively. With a donation of Rs 19 crore, the philanthropy couple, Amit Chandra (52) and Archana Chandra (50), are the only other professional managers in the list.

The number of philanthropists who donated more than Rs 10 crore increased by 100 per cent over the last 3 years -- from 37 to 72 this year.

Anand Mahindra, 66, of Mahindra and Mahindra group donated Rs 63 crore and is ranked 16th; Sanjiv Goenka, 60, of the Kolkata-headquartered RPSG Group, donated Rs 33 crore. He gained 14 ranks to reach 24. Serial entrepreneur and film producer Ronnie Screwvala, 65, donated Rs 23 crore and is ranked 37. Kochouseph Chittilappilly, 70, of V-guard donated Rs 22 crore and is ranked 39.

With a donation of 15 crore, Dilip Shanghvi, 66, also entered the Edelgive Hurun India philanthropy list 2021 for the first time. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, 79, who donated Rs 15 crore, also entered the list this time.

In terms of the place of residence, Mumbai led with 31 per cent of the list, followed by New Delhi at 17 per cent, and Bengaluru at 10 per cent. The largest number of philanthropists belonged to the pharma industry, followed by automobile and auto components, and then software and services.

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