The Forbes Asia’s 2023 Heroes of Philanthropy list, the 17th edition of the annual unranked list, features 3 Indians: Kushal Pal Singh (K.P. Singh), Chairman Emeritus of DLF Limited; Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and Chairman of Infosys; and Nikhil Kamath, Co-founder and Chief Financial Officer, Zerodha.
- The list features a total of 15 philanthropists from the Asia-Pacific region.
Note: The list includes names from lifelong philanthropists to newcomers from the Asia-Pacific region.
Heroes of Philanthropy List:
i.The unranked list includes several business leaders, who generously contribute capital from their own money and demonstrate commitment to their select causes in the past year.
ii.The list does not include corporate philanthropy except for privately held companies where the individual is a majority owner and demonstrates a commitment to their select causes.
Key Highlights:
i.K.P. Singh demonstrated a profound commitment to philanthropy in August 2023 by selling his remaining 0.59% stake in the Delhi-based property developer DLF, raising Rs. 7.3 billion (USD 89 million).
- He launched the KP Singh Foundation in 2020. He has previously established the K.P. Singh Foundation Trust and the K.P. Singh Charitable Foundation Trust.
ii.Nandan Nilekani donated Rs 3.2 billion (USD 38 million) to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay (Maharashtra) in June 2023.
- In acknowledgement, IIT Bombay named the administrative staff building the “Nandan Nilekani Main Building.”
- His total donations to IIT Bombay amounted to Rs. 4 billion since 1999. In 2022, he donated Rs.1.6 billion to educational causes.
- Nilekani and his wife, Rohini, signed the Giving Pledge in 2017.
iii.Nikhil Kamath, India’s youngest billionaire joined the Giving Pledge in June 2023, becoming India’s 4th signatory. He pledged to address crucial issues such as climate change, energy, education, and health.
- Other Indian signatories of the Giving Pledge: Wipro founder Azim Premji (2013); Biocon Founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (2016), and Nandan Nilekani and his wife (2017).
- He engages in philanthropy through his YouTube podcast series, “WTF is,” contributing up to Rs 10 million per episode.
Recent related News:
Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman and Managing Director (MD) of Reliance Industries Ltd. topped Forbes India’s 100 Rischest 2023 List with USD 92 billion. He regains the ‘Richest Indian’ title after he slipped to 2nd spot in 2022.
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