In November 2025, the 12th edition of the Hurun India Philanthropy list has been released by the EdelGive Foundation in partnership with Hurun India, in which Shiv Nadar (80) and his family retained the title of India’s Most Generous donors for the fourth time in five years.
- As per the report, Shiv Nadar, founder-chairman of HCL Technologies, donated Rs 2,708 crore (cr) during Financial Year 2024-25 (FY25), averaging over Rs 7.4 cr every day, a 26% increase from the previous year.
- Mukesh Ambani and family ranked second with Rs.626 crore in donations, up 54% year-on-year, followed by the Bajaj family at Rs.446 crore, marking a 27% increase.
Exam Hints:
- List Released: Hurun India Philanthropy 2025
- Released by: EdelGive Foundation with Hurun India
- Top 3: Shiv Nadar & Family(Rs 2,708 cr), Mukesh Ambani & Family(Rs 626 cr), Bajaj Family(Rs 446 cr)
- Threshold: Top 10 – Rs 173 cr, Top 25 – Rs 70 cr,
- Total Philanthropists: 191
- New Entrants: 12
- CSR: Mukesh Ambani(Rs 1,309 cr), Rungta Sons(Rs 181 cr)
- City Leader: Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru
- Generous Women: Total – 24, Top – Rohini Nilekani – Rs 204 cr
- Youngest: 1st – Nikhil and Nitin Kamath, 2nd- Binny Bansal, 3rd- Adar Poonawalla
- Personal Capacity: 1st – Shiv Nadar & Family – Rs 2,537 cr; Nandan Nilekani & Rohini Nilekani – Rs 356 cr & Rs 199 cr
About Hurun India Philanthropy List 2025:
Donation FY25: The Hurun India Philanthropy list 2025 measures the donations by the value of their cash or cash equivalents from 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025.
Data source: The report derived its data from the Hurun India Rich List, a ranking of 1687 wealthiest individuals in India, released in September 2025 for the 14th year,
Threshold: The threshold for entering the top 10 philanthropists has more than doubled to Rs 173 cr from Rs 74 cr in 2020, while the bar for the top 25 has tripled since 2014 to Rs 70 cr.
Top 5 on Hurun India Philanthropy List 2025:
| Rank | Name | Donation (Rs Cr) | Primary Cause | Company/Foundation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shiv Nadar & Family | 2,708 | Education | Shiv Nadar Foundation |
| 2 | Mukesh Ambani & Family | 626 | Education | Reliance Foundation |
| 3 | Bajaj Family | 446 | Education | Bajaj Group Trust |
| 4 | Kumar Mangalam Birla & Family | 440 | Healthcare | Aditya Birla Capital Foundation |
| 5 | Gautam Adani & Family | 386 | Education | Adani Foundation |
Key Highlights:
Total Philanthropists: The 2025 list features 191 philanthropists, who cumulatively donated Rs 10,380 cr, up by 85% compared to three years ago.
- The top 10 philanthropists together contributed Rs 5,834 cr, accounting for 56% of total giving and top 25 alone contributed Rs 50,000 cr in the same period.
- The number of donors giving over Rs.100 crore annually rose from 2 in 2018 to 18, those giving over Rs.50 crore increased by 125% to 30, and 61 donors gave over Rs.20 crore, a 128% rise from five years ago.
Other Top 10 Corporate Donors: Kumar Mangalam Birla and family ranked fourth with Rs.440 crore, followed by Gautam Adani and family in fifth place with Rs.386 crore.
- The top 10 also includes Nandan Nilekani (Rs.365 crore), Hinduja family (Rs.298 crore), Rohini Nilekani (Rs.204 crore), Sudhir & Samir Mehta (Rs.189 crore), and Cyrus & Adar Poonawalla (Rs.173 crore).
New Entrants: 12 new philanthropists joined the 2025 list, led by Venu Srinivasan of TVS Motor as the most generous debutant at Rs 20 cr.
- Ranjan Pai of Manipal Group donated Rs.160 crore, joining the Rs.100-crore club and ranking among India’s top individual philanthropists.
Trend: Education remains the most favoured cause, attracting Rs 4,166 cr from 107 philanthropists, followed by healthcare with a total amount of Rs 971 cr as donation.
- Pharmaceuticals account for 16% of donors, followed by software, automobile, and petrochemicals, showing broad sector participation in philanthropy.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Reliance Industries Limited(RIL), led by Mukesh Ambani, topped CSR contributions with a total donation of Rs 1,309 crore.
- Rungta Sons ranked second, with a CSR outlay of Rs 181 cr.
City Leaders: Mumbai (Maharashtra) continues to lead as the city with the highest concentration of philanthropists, accounting for 28% of the list, followed by New Delhi (Delhi) with 17% and Bengaluru (Karnataka) with 8%.
Self-Made: Self-made philanthropists have also surged this year, with 109 new individuals – a 43% increase from last year.
Personal Capacity: In terms of personal philanthropy, Shiv Nadar & family still rank first with a donation of Rs 2,537 cr.
- He is followed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani and his wife Rohini Nilekani, who donated Rs 356 cr and Rs 199 cr, respectively, through their respective foundations.
Generous Women:This year, a total of 24 women featured on the list this year, with Rohini Nilekani of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies being the most generous women having contributed Rs 204 cr towards ecosystem building.
- Rohini Nilekani followed by Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw with Rs.83 crore for Research and Development (R&D), and Bina Shah with Rs.69 crore supporting education through Harish and Bina Shah Foundation.
Youngest Philanthropists:Zerodha founders Nikhil Kamath (39) and Nithin Kamath (46) were among the youngest philanthropists having donated Rs 147 cr through Rainmatter Foundation.
- They were placed at the 15th position on the list of people who donated over Rs 100 cr.
- The second youngest was Binny Bansal, co-founder of flipkart (42) who donated Rs 18 crores this year.
- Followed by Adar Poonawalla (43), who donated Rs 173 cr through Villloo Poonawalla Charitable Foundation.
About Hurun India :
Founder and Chief Researcher – Anas Rahman Junaid
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Founded– 2012
