In search of India's Carnegie

Hurun Report launches inaugural
Hurun India Philanthropy List 2013

·       IT tycoon Premji most generous Indian with a donation of Rs 8,000 cr

·       Shiv Nadar second-most generous Indian with a contribution of Rs 3,000 cr

·       Education most favoured philanthropic cause; receives 80% of cumulative contributions

·       Region-wise, South Indians most generous, donate Rs 10,000 cr

·       North Indians contribute Rs 4,865 cr

·       Mumbai home to most of the Hurun philanthropists with 11 individuals, followed by Bengaluru and Delhi

·       JSPL chairman Naveen Jindal (43) youngest person in the list; oldest is K P Singh (82), Chairman & CEO of DLF Limited

·       17 of the 31 made the donations in their own name with the remaining made donations through their respective companies.

·        21 of the 31 are self made.

·       25 of the 31 are also on the Hurun India Rich List 2013.

Mumbai, Nov. 13: Close on the heels of releasing the second edition of Hurun India Rich List, China-based Hurun Report Inc. launched the inaugural Hurun India Philanthropy List 2013, with IT tycoon Azim Hashim Premji emerging as the most generous Indian with a donation of Rs 8,000 crore in the past year.

Premji (68), who owns 57 % of Wipro, donated 10% stake in the company to Azim Premji Foundation that promotes the cause of education in rural India. To him goes the credit of becoming the first Indian to sign up for the Giving Pledge, a global philanthropic initiative spearheaded by Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. He was ranked 4^th in Hurun India Rich List 2013 having a personal asset of US$ 12 billion.

Shiv Nadar (68), chairman of HCL group, is the second highest contributor in the list with a donation of Rs 3,000 crore. The Shiv Nadar Foundation, which completed 20 years in philanthropy this year, works towards educational initiatives and expansion programmes, directly benefiting 15,000 students acrossIndia. Nadar was ranked 5^th in the Hurun India Rich List with an asset of US$8.4 billion.

Hurun India Philanthropy List is a ranking of 31 Indians who donated more than Rs 10 crore (equivalent to 1.6 million US dollars) in cash or cash equivalent during April 1, 2012-March 31, 2013. In October, Shanghai-based Hurun Report had released the second Hurun India Rich List, a ranking of the 141 richest individuals in India.

Releasing the philanthropy list at a function at the Taj Mahal Palace here yesterday, Mr. Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of Hurun Report, said, “The rich are responsible for leading the way with philanthropy.”

Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish-American and the richest man on the planet some 100 years ago, blazed the trail by donating a substantial part of his stupendous wealth for social causes, triggering wave after wave of philanthropy.  

G M Rao (63), through GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, donated Rs 740 crores for the education of underprivileged children, becoming the third biggest philanthropist in India’s corporate world.

Nandan (58) and Rohini Nilekani (53) stand fourth in the list with a contribution of Rs 530 crores. Recently, Rohini raised Rs 164 crore by selling 5.77 lakh of her shares in Infosys for philanthropic work.

Fifty-year-old Ronnie Screwvala, whose initiatives are housed under the Swadesh Foundation (UTV group), contributed Rs 470 crores for achieving rural empowerment through the best practices and modern technology values. Till date, the Foundation has provided drinking water and developed the infrastructure to provide education and health facilities to more than 169 villages across the country.

Sizeable donations worth Rs 330 crore were made by ‘Biotech Queen’ Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (60), who owns majority shares in Biocon. Bengaluru-based Dr Shaw, who is working to improve cancer care, has pledged 75 per cent of her wealth for philanthropy. Valued at US$700 million, she ranked 85^th in the Hurun India Rich List.

The quiet billionaire Ratan Tata (75) donated Rs 310 crores to various charitable organisations for the underprivileged through the JRD TATA Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust. Through these trusts, he has strived to extend educational support to the underprivileged and hopes to give a brighter future to the country’s youth.

Anil Agarwal (60), chairman of London-based mining major Vedanta Resources, donated Rs 290 crores to support the cause of healthcare. With a mission to impact the lives of over 2.5 million underprivileged, the company has strengthened its CSR programmes through Vedanta Medical Research Foundation in various states, including Rajasthan, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Goa.

PNC Menon (64), of the Sobha Developers fame, and Kushal Pal Singh (82), Chairman, DLF Limited, the two largest real estate companies in India, contributed Rs 270 crores and Rs 200 crores, respectively for programmes like adoption of villages and skill training of the youth. Menon has pledged 50% of his fortune to charity.

As a group, the millionaires donated Rs 15,250 crore to charity and various causes. Out of this contribution, nearly 80% was for furthering the cause of education, and more than half the contribution came from Mr Premji.

Education was the most important area for the Indian philanthropists with a total contribution of Rs 12,200 crore. It was followed by Social Development (Rs 1,210 crore), Healthcare (Rs 1,065 crore), Rural Development (Rs 565 crore), Environmental cause (Rs 170 crore) and Agriculture (Rs 40 crore). 

Bhavarlal Jain (75), founder-chairman of Jain Irrigation Systems, the world's second largest micro-irrigation company, is the sole contributor to support the cause of agriculture. He made a donation of Rs 40 crores.

V S Prasad, the newly appointed Chairman and CEO of Dr. Reddy Labs, supports the cause of eradication of poverty and rural Development and has contributed Rs 72 crores towards the same.

The average age of the philanthropists in the list is 62 years while the average age of the Top 10 donors is 64 years.

Region-wise, South Indians showed the way for making contributions with a cumulative donation of Rs 10,000 crore while North Indians pitched in with contributions of Rs 4,865 crores.

The Companies Bill, 2013 mandates companies, with a net worth of more than Rs 500 crore or revenue of more than Rs 1,000 crore or net profit of more than Rs 5 crore, to earmark at least two per cent of their average net profits of the preceding three years for CSR activities. 

“This amendment to the Companies Bill should provide more transparent reporting of corporate donations,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, Publisher-at-Large of Hurun Report India.

Meanwhile, Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla, Chairman of Poonawalla Group, received the most respected entrepreneur 2013 award instituted by Hurun Report from Mr. Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of Hurun Report at the launch of the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2013 here on Tuesday. 

Dr. Huzaifa Khorakiwala, CEO of Wockhardt Foundation, received the Industry Achievement award (philanthropy and CSR) while Mr. George Alexander Muthoot, Managing Director of Muthoot Finance, received the Industry Achievement award for services to gold financing. 

TABLES & STATS

Hurun India Philanthropy List 2013 - Top 10

Favoured Philanthropic Causes

Geographical Spread

Hurun India Philanthropy List2013

Methodology

To put together a comprehensive list of the largest philanthropists of India is an almost impossible task. However, we believe that the Hurun India Philanthropy List is the most serious and authoritative effort to date, identifying the individuals and highlighting the causes they donate to.

To make this list, the Hurun Report surveyed 300 of India’s most successful entrepreneurs, including the 141 from the Hurun India Rich List 2013 and the 46 Indians from the Hurun Global Rich List 2013, meticulously cross referencing the results with media reports and charitable foundations. In the course of the research, Hurun Report attended non profit-related seminars, as well as meeting with scholars, experts, philanthropists and senior members of charitable foundations.

Hurun Report includes cash and cash equivalents pledged with legally binding commitments for the twelve month period from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013. And after 31^st of March 2013, reviewed the period of significant donations, only adding Shiv Nadar’s November donation of INR 3000 Cr.

Hurun Report included donations made by companies in which an individual had a significant share, by applying the percentage the individual has of the company on the donations. So for example, Reliance in the period made donations of INR 357 Cr, and Mukesh Ambani holds 37% of the shares of the company, so Hurun Report recorded Ambani’s donations as INR 130 Cr, being 37% of Reliance’s INR 357 Cr donations.

The list includes only individuals born and bred in India regardless of the passport they currently hold. Values are rounded, and past figures are subject to exchange rate fluctuations. 1 USD = INR 61.5