For the third time in five years, Shiv Nadar and his family have topped the EdelGive-Hurun India Philanthropy List 2024 with a donation of Rs 2,153 crore. The report also named the top 10 benefactors who made a combined contribution of Rs 4,625 crore in FY24, including Gautam Adani and family, Kumar Mangalam and family, the Bajaj family, and Mukesh Ambani and family.
Shiv Nadar (79), the founder and chairman of HCL Technologies, upped his donations by 5% from FY23 to the list. Founded in 1994, the Shiv Nadar Foundation prioritises culture, education, and the arts. According to the study, Nadar made daily donations of Rs 5.9 crore.
Reliance Industries’ 67-year-old CEO, Mukesh Ambani, came in second with contributions of Rs 407 crore. With Rs 352 crore in donations, the Bajaj family moved up three slots to take third place. Donations from the Bajaj family rose 33% from FY23. The next individual on the list was Kumar Mangalam Birla (57), who contributed Rs 334 crore. According to EdelGive-Hurun India, Birla’s own wealth accounts for about 30% of the total.
Five years ago, the amount required to be included among India’s top ten donors was Rs 83 crore; today, it is Rs 154 crore. Furthermore, there are now 18 people who have donated more than Rs 100 crore, up from only 9 in 2019. Given that China, which has five times the GDP of India and almost twice as many billionaires, has “only” 25 philanthropists contributing more than Rs 100 crore, this number of contributors is remarkable, according to Anas Rahman Junaid, founder and chief researcher of Hurun India.
Billionaire Gautam Adani, age sixty-two, placed fifth on the EdelGive-Hurun India Philanthropy List 2024 with a charitable donation of Rs 330 crore. Compared to the prior year, his contributions have increased by 16%. According to the study, “the Adani Foundation is the primary conduit for their charitable endeavours, with the majority of their donations going towards education, followed by efforts in skill development and community health programs.”
Nandan Nilekani, 69, a co-founder of Infosys, came in sixth place with a gift of Rs 307 crore, a 62% increase over the previous year. With gifts of Rs 154 crore, his wife, 65-year-old Rohini Nilekani, is the most giving woman on the list and ranks 10th among the top 10 philanthropists. The director and co-founder of the nonprofit education platform EkStep is Rohini Nilekani.
The 52-year-old INDO MIM Chairman, Krishna Chivukula, has been included on the EdelGive-Hurun India Philanthropy List 2024 for the first time. With the Rs 228 Cr gift to IIT Madras, Chivukala took seventh place. In the history of the organisation, his contribution is the biggest.
With donations of Rs 181 crore made through the Anil Agarwal Foundation, Vedanta’s charitable and corporate social responsibility arm, Anil Agarwal and his family rank seventh. Susmita and Subroto Bagchi, who have contributed Rs 179 crore, come after him. To transform public health teaching and research in the nation, they founded Ahmedabad University’s Bagchi School of Public Health in 2023. The EdelGive-Hurun India Philanthropy List 2024 is a shining illustration of the sector’s potential for giving, according to Naghma Mulla, CEO of the EdelGive Foundation.
