Azim Premji, the founder-chairman of Wipro, topped the list of philanthropists in India for 2020 by donating ₹7,904 crore. He donated ₹22 crore per day. On 1 April, Azim Premji Foundation, Wipro, and Wipro Enterprises have committed ₹1,125 crore towards tackling the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. These are in addition to the annual CSR activities of Wipro, and the usual philanthropic spending of the Azim Premji Foundation, according to EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2020. “Azim Premji is a role model for Indian philanthropy and is continuing to inspire other entrepreneurs into giving”, said Anas Rahman Junaid, managing director and chief researcher, Hurun India. Hurun India and EdelGive on Tuesday released the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2020. “EdelGive Foundation has partnered with Hurun India towards creating this report to understand philanthropic giving in the country from a data and evidence point of view,” Hurun India said. Donations were measured by the value of their cash or cash equivalents from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020. “The preferred cause of India’s top philanthropists has been education, although poverty alleviation has grown dramatically to become the second most popular cause this year,” managing director, Hurun India mentioned.
Azim Hashim Premji is an Indian business tycoon, investor, engineer, and philanthropist, who was the chairman of Wipro Limited. He is informally known as the Czar of the Indian IT Industry. In 2010, he was voted among the 20 most powerful men in the world by Asiaweek. He has twice been listed among the 100 most influential people by TIME Magazine, once in 2004 and more recently in 2011. For years, he has been regularly listed one among the 500 Most Influential Muslims of the world. He was named the nineteenth richest person in India with an estimated net worth of US$6.5 billion according to the India’s Richest 2019 list by Forbes. In 2013, he agreed to give away at least half of his wealth by signing The Giving Pledge. Premji started with a $2.2 billion donation to the Azim Premji Foundation, focused on education in India.
