An ex-journalist, author and philanthropist, high net worth individual (HNI) Rohini Nilekani, wife of one of Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, raised about Rs 163.58 crore by selling 5.77 lakh of her shares of the IT services company for philanthropic work.
INDIA CSR News Network
“For the past several years, I have taken philanthropic initiatives in multiple sectors such as education, water, environment and governance among others. The proceeds of the sale of shares, post tax, will be deployed towards these and other philanthropic contributions, over time.”– Rohini Nilekani
Infosys Ltd, a global leader in business consulting and technology solutions, has said that wife of one of its co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Rohini Nilekani, has raised about Rs.163.58 crore by selling 577,000 shares of the company for philanthropic work in India.
Ms Nilekani is the wife of Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, who is currently the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Mr Nilekani founded Infosys with NR Narayana Murthy and five others in 1981. He was the chief executive of Infosys from March 2002 to April 2007.
Nandan Nandan holds 1.45% stake or 83,45,870 shares in this Bangalore- based firm.
In a BSE filing, Infosys said Rohini Nilekani, who is also a promoter in the company, sold 577,000 shares between 16-19 July for a total of Rs.1,63,51,83,925. After the sale, her stake in Infosys stood at 1.31% or 7,501,174 shares, it added. For the period ended 30 June, her stake in the firm was 1.41% or 8,078,174 shares.
In the filing, she said: “For the past several years, I have taken philanthropic initiatives in multiple sectors such as education, water, environment and governance among others. The proceeds of the sale of shares, post tax, will be deployed towards these and other philanthropic contributions, over time.”
Rohini, 53, has been an active woman philanthropist for more than a decade. Her organization Arghyam grants funds to organisations, which implement and manage groundwater and sanitation projects in India. Arghyam has made grants to recipients in 22 states of India since 2005, the year of its founding. Arghyam, a foundation she set up with a private endowment, to work on water and sanitation issues in India. She is also Founder-Chairperson of Pratham Books, a charitable trust which seeks to put “A book in every child’s hand.”
Rohini has been deeply involved with development issues and is currently a member of the Audit Advisory Board of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. She sits on the Boards of many non-profits, notably ATREE (the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment) and Sanghamithra Rural Financial Services. Rohini has authored a novel – “Stillborn” – and also a non–fiction account of dialogues she moderated between social and corporate leaders called “Uncommon Ground”. Ms Nilekani is among India’s growing list of “givers” who have pledged a significant portion of their wealth towards philanthropy.
