When the new National Democratic Alliance government came in with its message of economic change, stock markets skyrocketed, propelling the wealth of India’s richest. In 2014, for the first time, the Forbes list of India’s 100 richest people consisted only of billionaires.
This week, another list of the rich in India came out. China-based Hurun Institute of Research named the Indians who donated the most in the period from April 2013 to October 2014. Between those two lists, specifically in the top 10, there were few names in common.
“As compared to global trends, our richest people are certainly not giving enough to charity,” said Gayatri Divecha, manager of funding at Dasra, a strategic philanthropy organisation.
Generous donors
Globally, most leading philanthropists commit 2% to 5% of their net worth to charity nearly every year. In 2012, for instance, Bill Gates gave away 2.6% of his $74 billion wealth, according to Forbes.
In India too, there are those who donate generously. Wipro chairman Azim Premji gave Rs 12,316 crore (or more than 12% of his wealth) to charity, making the third richest man in the country also the “most generous” man, according to the Hurun Institute list.
During the same period, HCL Technologies chairman Shiv Nadar, the eighth richest Indian, donated Rs 1,316 crore to become the third biggest philanthropist in India. Meanwhile, the wealthiest Indian, Mukesh Ambani, gave away Rs 603 crore, or about 0.4% of his wealth.
But these three are the only names that repeat in the top 10 of both the Forbes and Hurun Institute lists. As seen in the chart above, two of the names in Forbes’ list do not appear in Hurun Institute’s at all.
“This does not imply that the rich are not giving away anything,” said Divecha. “There are lots of givers in the Indian corporate who have been doing philanthropy for years without making a noise about it. Many transactions towards social organisations are done in secrecy and, hence, limelight and data gatherers may not always spot them.”
Another reason for the absence of rich Indians from the list on philanthropists could do with religious donations, which are sizeable but excluded from most reports on Corporate Social Responsibility.
“It’s quite interesting to note that many entrepreneurs in India consider religious donations as philanthropy,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, publisher-at-large of Hurun Report India. “In this context, we would have missed many more philanthropists in India.”
Corporate Social Responsibility
While the government has enacted a law directing corporates to donate 2% of their net profits to Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, Divecha clarified that it is not mandatory for organisations to do charity.
“The law only states that it is desirable to promote Corporate Social Responsibility, but its language is interpreted to make it seem like this is mandatory,” she said. “All that companies are required to do is report their actions to the government, even if they did not do any charity.”
This prescription, Divecha added, is good for the country and seems to be motivating corporates to contribute to causes they care about.
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This week, another list of the rich in India came out. China-based Hurun Institute of Research named the Indians who donated the most in the period from April 2013 to October 2014. Between those two lists, specifically in the top 10, there were few names in common.
“As compared to global trends, our richest people are certainly not giving enough to charity,” said Gayatri Divecha, manager of funding at Dasra, a strategic philanthropy organisation.
Generous donors
Globally, most leading philanthropists commit 2% to 5% of their net worth to charity nearly every year. In 2012, for instance, Bill Gates gave away 2.6% of his $74 billion wealth, according to Forbes.
In India too, there are those who donate generously. Wipro chairman Azim Premji gave Rs 12,316 crore (or more than 12% of his wealth) to charity, making the third richest man in the country also the “most generous” man, according to the Hurun Institute list.
During the same period, HCL Technologies chairman Shiv Nadar, the eighth richest Indian, donated Rs 1,316 crore to become the third biggest philanthropist in India. Meanwhile, the wealthiest Indian, Mukesh Ambani, gave away Rs 603 crore, or about 0.4% of his wealth.
Richest Indians and their rank in philanthropy lists in India and the world
But these three are the only names that repeat in the top 10 of both the Forbes and Hurun Institute lists. As seen in the chart above, two of the names in Forbes’ list do not appear in Hurun Institute’s at all.
“This does not imply that the rich are not giving away anything,” said Divecha. “There are lots of givers in the Indian corporate who have been doing philanthropy for years without making a noise about it. Many transactions towards social organisations are done in secrecy and, hence, limelight and data gatherers may not always spot them.”
Another reason for the absence of rich Indians from the list on philanthropists could do with religious donations, which are sizeable but excluded from most reports on Corporate Social Responsibility.
“It’s quite interesting to note that many entrepreneurs in India consider religious donations as philanthropy,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, publisher-at-large of Hurun Report India. “In this context, we would have missed many more philanthropists in India.”
Corporate Social Responsibility
While the government has enacted a law directing corporates to donate 2% of their net profits to Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, Divecha clarified that it is not mandatory for organisations to do charity.
“The law only states that it is desirable to promote Corporate Social Responsibility, but its language is interpreted to make it seem like this is mandatory,” she said. “All that companies are required to do is report their actions to the government, even if they did not do any charity.”
This prescription, Divecha added, is good for the country and seems to be motivating corporates to contribute to causes they care about.