The News Minute | January 12, 2014 | 03:13 pm IST
The only two Bollywood actors to have made it to the list of top Indian philanthropist for the year 2014 are Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan. According to the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2014, Shahrukh Khan ranked 33, where as Salman was ranked 47 in a list of 50 such individuals.
Another media veteran who made it to the top of the list is UTV founder Ronnie Screwvala and his wife Zarina.
The report which was released in December 2014 measured the donations by the value of their cash or cash equivalent from 1 April 2013 to 31 October 2014.
IT tycoon Azim Premji topped the list of Indian philanthropists by donating a remarkable Rs 12,316 cr to his Azim Premji Foundation last year, according to the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2014. Premji, for the second consecutive year, has been crowned the “Most Generous Indian”.
Anil Agarwal of Vedanta Resources came in second with a donation of Rs 1,796 cr and Shiv Nadar, Chairman of HCL and founder of SSN Trust, came in third with a donation of Rs 1,316 cr. Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Nandan and Rohini Nilekani, Kavitark Ram Shriram, Ronnie and Zarina Screwvala, S Gopalakrishnan, and Ravi Pillai were the others who made it to the top ten.
The average age of the philanthropists in the list is 56 years.
("I strongly believe that those of us, who are privileged to have wealth, should contribute significantly to try and create a better world for the millions who are far less privileged", said Azim Premji.)
The latest Hurun list comprises of 50 names- 19 more than the 31 found in the previous list.
The most favoured philanthropic cause remains education, accounting for 80% of the donations. This is followed by Social and Rural Development, Healthcare, and Environmental Protection.
The most number of philanthropists in the list hail from Mumbai, followed by Bengaluru and Delhi. The list includes only individuals born and bred in India regardless of the passport they currently hold. Interestingly, 11 of the Top 50 do not live in India.
Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan donated Rs 25 cr and Rs 11 cr respectively.
According to the report, region-wise, South Indians are the most generous, donating ₹13,300cr, five times the donations of North Indians.
Read the report here.