New Delhi: Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal has been listed among the top 10 philanthropists in the country, according to the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021.
The Philanthropy List ranks Agarwal among India’s most generous philanthropists for the second consecutive year. The Vedanta Chairman has been lauded for the disaster relief measures undertaken by the Anil Agarwal Foundation to support communities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have a deep-seated belief that businesses must give back to the society and help people prosper and we strongly believe in growing with the communities. We aim to take this mission ahead and achieve the dream of creating strong & resilient communities in India”, Mr. Anil Agarwal has said.
The Anil Agarwal Foundation (AAF) – an umbrella entity for Vedanta’s Giving Back initiatives – has rolled out a Rs 5,000 crore social impact programme with a focus on nutrition, women and child development, healthcare, animal welfare and grass root level sports. The Foundation has launched the ‘Swasth Gaon Abhiyaan’ to provide end-to-end healthcare services to 1000 villages across 12 states.
Under the aegis of AAF, Agarwal has created Nand Ghar – a network of model anganwadis – which is focused on eradicating child malnutrition, providing education, healthcare, and empowering women. The project aims to impact the lives of 7 crore children and 2 crore women at the grassroots level.
Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal has already pledged to give 75 percent of his wealth towards philanthropy and social good. He has joined The Giving Pledge, a movement of global philanthropists who commit to giving the majority of their wealth to philanthropy and charitable causes.
Vedanta has contributed more than the government-mandated 2 per cent towards corporate social responsibility. As per the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List, contributions were measured by the value of their cash or cash equivalents from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021.
According to Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India: “Indian wealth creators have the potency to enable philanthropic structures, systems and processes for overall nation building. It is important to speak about these inspiring philanthropic stories and incite motivational action auguring India’s pace of ‘giving back’ to the society. We need to create forums to celebrate such efforts so that it percolates down to every level of the community and encourages us to embrace the spirit of altruism and humane-living,”
