Though HCL co-founder Shiv Nadar is not as worth as Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, he is worth winning millions of hearts across the nation for his unparalleled contributions to the society. Shiv Nadar, who is behind Ambani and Adani in the list of Indian billionaires, is much ahead of the richest duo when it comes to donating money for philanthropic activities.

According to the annual EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List, 78-year-old Shiv Nadar is giving away a stable portion of his wealth to philanthropy. As per the Hurun report, Shiv Nadar has donated Rs 5.6 crore every day in Finanial Year 2023 and the figure of total donation he had made so far this year comes to whopping Rs 2,042 crore. 

Shiv Nadar's philanthropic focus areas include education, art, and culture. Shiv Nadar has become India's biggest philanthropist for second time in a row and retained the country's most generous title for the third time in five years. Hurun India found 119 philanthropists who donated more than Rs 5 crore in the financial year 2023 and there were 25 new entrants and on the top of new entrants who donated more is Infosys co-founder K Dinesh, who had donated Rs 47 crore. 

While Shiv Nadar tops the table of the overall list by donating Rs 2,042 crore, he was followed by Wipro's Azim Premji and family who donated Rs 1,774 crore. Following Azim Premji is Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani who donated Rs 376 crore. While Shiv Nadar's donation was 76% higher than a year ago, Mukesh Ambani's donation scale had a fall of 8% from a year ago. 

Following Mukesh Ambani is Kumar Mangalam Birla & family with a total of Rs 287 crore donation, Gautam Adani with Rs 285 crore donation, Bajaj family with Rs 264 crore, Vedanta's Anil Agarwal with Rs 241 crore, Nandan Nilekeni with Rs 189 crore, Serum Institute of India's Cyrus Poonawalla family with Rs 179 crore, and Rohini Nilekani with Rs 170 crore as donation. 

Cumulatively, the top ten philanthropists had donated Rs 5,806 crore in financial year 2023 as compared to a combined donation of Rs 3,034 crore in financial year 2022. Most of the primary cause for which donations were made include education, healthcare, ecosystem building, arts, and culture. 

Speaking about the report, Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India said, "This year is a record year for big philanthropy. In the past five years, the number of donors contributing over INR 100 crore has surged from 2 to 14 and those donating over INR 50 crore has risen from 5 to 24. Given India's potential for wealth creation and assuming a continued commitment to philanthropy by billionaires, I anticipate these figures to potentially double over the next five years." 

He further said, "Wealth creation is important for economic development, while philanthropy is equally important for economic prosperity. I am incredibly enthusiastic about the surge in personal philanthropy in India. Cumulative personal donations have increased by 60% to reach Rs 4,958 crore, constituting 70 per cent of the total donations in the list."