Shiv Nadar.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengaluru: HCL Technologies founder Shiv Nadar, 79, topped the EdelGive-Hurun India Philanthropy List 2024 released on Thursday, for the third time in five years. He donated Rs 2,153 crore in the financial year ended March 2024.
Mukesh Ambani, 67, came second on the list with an annual donation of Rs 407 crore. Reliance Industries, which he and his family lead, contributed Rs 900 crore overall to CSR which surpasses their mandated amount by Rs 60 crore.
In the top ten, Infosys co-founders Nandan Nilekani and Rohini Nilekani are some prominent names from those based in Bengaluru.
Based on place of residence, Mumbai led with 30% of the list, followed by New Delhi which accounts for 19%, and then Bengaluru at 9%.
Nandan Nilekani ranked six, donated Rs 307 crore in 2024. By contributing an additional Rs 118 crore this year as compared to last year, he topped the list of incremental donations, followed by Shiv Nadar who increased his donation by Rs 111 crore from the previous year.
Rohini Nilekani ranked ten with a Rs 154 crore annual donation. She topped the women’s list of philanthropists. A total of 21 women feature in the list.
The EdelGive-Hurun India Philanthropy List this year found 203 philanthropists with 96 new entrants, who cumulatively donated Rs 8,783 crore, up by 55% compared to two years ago.
Anas Rahman Junaid, Founder and Chief Researcher, Hurun India, said, “The threshold to enter India’s top 10 philanthropists has doubled, now reaching Rs 154 crore, up from Rs 83 crore five years ago. Additionally, the number of individuals donating over Rs 100 crore has increased to 18, compared to just 9 in 2019. This number of Rs 100 crore donors is impressive, considering that China, with nearly twice as many billionaires and a GDP five times larger than India’s, has ‘only’ twenty five philanthropists donating over Rs 100 crore.”
Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, 38, is the youngest on the list.
In the list, 91 of the entrants carry out their CSR spending through associations with NGOs, while 113 have established their foundations to manage their philanthropic contributions.
If only personal philanthropy is considered, Shiv Nadar still ranks first with a donation of Rs 1,992 crore, followed by Nandan Nilekani and Krishna Chivukula.
Amongst the companies whose founders were featured in the list, 28 directed the highest portion of their CSR funds towards Maharashtra, followed by significant contributions in Gujarat.