India Inc steps up spend on education, healthcare

Mumbai: More and more Indian corporates have started contributing towards philanthropy, clocking an increase of almost 90 per cent in contributions made in 2019 at Rs 4,391 crore against Rs 2,310 crore in 2018, according to a report.

The number of people who contributed upwards of Rs 10 crore per year towards philanthropic activities went up in 2019 to 72 from 38 in 2018, said the report by Edelgive Found-ation and Hurun Report India.

Shiv Nadar (Rs 826 crore), Azim Premji (Rs 453 crore) and Mukesh Ambani (Rs 402 crore) topped the India philanthropy list 2019 of top 100 Indian corporate contributor prepared by Edelgive Hurun in terms their donation amount.

Mumbai with 31 individuals among the top 100 Indian philanthropists topped the list, followed by New Delhi with 16 individuals and Bengaluru with 11 individuals, the report said.

Vidya Shah, CEO, Edelgive Foundation, said, "We now need to ensure that this 'giving' is resulting in a positive change in social indicators and being optimally utilised towards programmatic and organisational growth of our NGOs on ground."

Education and healthcare remained the most popular philanthropic cause among the top corporate Indian philanthropists.

"With 35.6 per cent of contributions, education remains the most favoured philanthropic cause followed by healthcare (6.6 per cent) and arts, culture & heritage (6.3 per cent)," the report said.

"Corporate India is banking and investing on education much more than any other cause. The focus of philanthropy in the country is shifting from donating to empowering. It is indeed a long term play, but would surely lead to lasting change in the years to come," said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun Report India.