Hurun Report launches the fourth edition of Hurun India Philanthropy List

India CSR News Network

MUMBAI: The Hurun Research Institute has released the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2016, a ranking of the most generous individuals from India. Donations were measured by the value of their cash or cash equivalent from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016. This is the fourth year of the list and it follows on from the Hurun India Rich List, a ranking of 339 richest individuals in India, released in September 2016 for the fourth year.

With the same cut-off as last year of Rs 10 Cr, the Hurun India Philanthropy List has 27 individuals, down by 9 from last year.

• HCL founder Shiv Nadar (71) tops the Hurun India Philanthropy list with INR 630 Crores donation towards education.            

• Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan (61) and wife, Sudha Gopalakrishnan came in second with a donation of INR 313 Crores primarily towards healthcare, social development and education.

• Mukesh Ambani (59) of Reliance-The Business Mogul, came in third with a donation of INR 303 Crores made towards causes such as education, rural development, sports , health and has also contributed to Swach Bharat.

• Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (63) of CMD Biocon and the only self-made woman entrepreneur in the list, donated INR 45 Crores to healthcare, education and social development.

• Ajay Piramal (61), donated INR 111 Crores towards education, healthcare rural development and women empowerment.

• Accounting for 35% of the donations, education remains the most favored philanthropic cause.

• With 10 individuals, Mumbai is home to most of the Hurun philanthropists, followed by Bengaluru and Delhi.

• The average age is 65 years, four years older than the average age of the Hurun India Rich List 2016.

• With a donation of Rs 21 crores, Kumar M Birla (49) of Aditya Birla Group is the youngest philanthropist on the list; eldest being Pallonji Mistry (87) of Shapoorji Pallonji Group who contributed INR 68 crores.

• With 9 dropouts from the list, Indian philanthropy is at Rs 2,334 Crores, with an average donation per philanthropist being Rs 86 Crores.

• 18 Self-made and 8 Inherited in the Hurun Philanthropy List 2017

• Only 2 women philanthropists compared to 4 last year.

Table 1: Top 10 Philanthropist of 2016:

Source: Hurun Research Institute & Hurun India Rich List 2016

Shiv Nadar (71): The founder and Chairman of HCL donated Rs 630 Crores to various charitable activities through the Shiv Nadar Foundation out of which Rs 458 Crores was spent on infrastructure projects i.e. building for additional capacity creation for Shiv Nadar University.

Kris Gopalakrishnan (61): Infosys co-founder, Kris Gopalakrishnan and his wife, Sudha secure second position in the Hurun India philanthropy List and has donated Rs 313 Crores through his trust, The Pratiksha Trust, which includes projects in education, healthcare, research and entrepreneurship. They also provide scholarships to medical and engineering students and monthly pensions to senior citizens.

Mukesh Ambani (59): Indian business magnate and the richest Indian is third in Hurun India Philanthropy list. Mukesh Ambani, donated Rs 303 Cr towards healthcare. He channelizes his philanthropic initiative through Reliance foundation, his philanthropic arm. The primary aim of the foundation is to promote sustainable growth in India. Besides healthcare, his philanthropic interests include social & rural development and education.

Cyrus S Poonawalla (71): Vaccine billionaire, Cyrus S Poonawalla, who set up Serum Institute has donated Rs 250 Crores. The funds raised are used for his philanthropic work, including setting up educational institutes and hospitals. His vision “Health for all with affordable vaccines” is revolutionizing the world saving millions of children around the world.

Rahul Bajaj & family (78): The  Indian businessman, politician and philanthropist billionaire has contributed Rs 244 Crores  through his CSR spending towards Education, Healthcare and Social development.

Ronnie Screwvala (54): The founder of the Swades Foundation and Unilazer Ventures donated INR 160 Crores. The sole purpose of the foundation is to provide livelihood, water and sanitation, education and health.

Ajay Piramal (61): Ajay Piramal donated Rs 111 Crores through his philanthropic initiative through Piramal Foundation. It includes activities for education (PFEL), health care (Swasthya), water purification (Sarvajal), rural development (Udgam) and Women Empowerment (Piramal Udgam). Piramal Foundation develops innovative solutions to resolve issues that are critical roadblocks towards unlocking India’s economic potential.

Godrej Family (76): Industrialist, Adi Godrej has contributed Rs 74.5 Crores out of which Rs 44.60 Crores have been donated through Pirojsha Godrej Foundation and Soonabai Godrej Foundation for causes such as education and medical aid. He has also contributed INR 4.5 Crore in his personal capacity.

Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry (87): Construction Magnate and chairman of Pallonji Group, Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry has made donations for social development, livelihood enhancement, healthcare, education and environment sustainability. His contribution is mainly attributable to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spending of Tata group companies on account of his 18.40% stake.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (63): The only self-made Indian women entrepreneur, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw’s personal philanthropy spending is spread across healthcare and education, promoting science, encouraging startups, supporting civic and social issues , encouraging art and artists and other relative areas. She has contributed Rs 40 Crores in her personal capacity for the same. Her total philanthropic contribution is Rs 45 Crores.

Anas Rahman Junaid, Managing Director and Chief Researcher, Hurun Report India, said “India being a young country would take a few more years before consistent philanthropic donations from the entrepreneurs. We would have missed some of the major donors, however, based on the information received 2016 has been a dull year for Indian philanthropy. If we were to consider the international CSR and philanthropic donations, the list would be much longer”

Other interesting donations:

• Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has pledged Rs 5,000 Crore for the welfare of the society. He is often referred to as the India’s Warren Buffet. A big supporter of various Non-Profit organizations and education trusts including Agastya and Ashoka University.

• An Indian diamantaire and philanthropic social activist, Laljibhai Patel, has pledged a donation of INR 200 Crore for the welfare of 10,000 girls of the Patidar community. He said an amount of INR 2 Lakh would be transferred to the second daughter born in the Patidar community when they would attain 21 years of age.

• Most preferred Philanthropic Cause – 2016:

Education remains the most favored philanthropic cause followed by Healthcare and Social Development. Shiv Nadar is the highest Individual contributor for education and his primary objective is to create a measureable impact in the lives of the children and youth.

With initatives such as Digital India, rural electrification, Modi government has been pushing the need for overall societal development. Taking advantage of such schemes, the Indian entrepreuers are investing more into rural areas as part of long term business goals.

Cyrus S Poonawalla’s Clean City vision for Pune has made him contribute INR 130 Crores towards social responsibility and he aspires to make Indian Urban Cities more livable.

“My philanthropic efforts are directed towards building a society, where everyone has equal access to quality healthcare irrespective of person’s economic and social status.” – Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD Biocon to Hurun Report India

Table 2: Favored Philanthropic Causes of 2016:

Source: Hurun Research Institute

In 2016, there has been a rise of philanthropic contribution towards social and rural development, livelihood enhancement and sanitation; this is led by Mukesh Ambani contributing INR 49.74 Crores towards Social and Rural Development, Cyrus Poonawalla donating INR 130 crores towards sanitation and Anil Agarwal contributing INR 8.7 crores towards livelihood enhancement.

Table 3: Comparison of last year and this year’s primary cause of donation

Source: Hurun Research Institute

Mumbai Top again

With 27 individuals, Mumbai is the capital for India’s Philanthropist, followed by New Delhi and Bengaluru

Table 4: Geographical Spread:

Source: Hurun Research Institute

Comparison of China and India Philanthropy List

The key philanthropists in China are Pony Ma and Chen Yidan from the Tencent Group who contributed $2150m and $615m respectively towards social welfare and education. He Qiaonv, a self-made female billionaire, donated $450m for social development has secured third position in the China Rich List. Despite the difference in number of philanthropists, the primary cause of philanthropy of China and India remains the same.

Table 5: Hurun India and China comparison:

Source: Hurun Research Institute

Table 6: Hurun India Philanthropy list 2016:

Source: Hurun Research Institute & Hurun India Rich List 2016