India has no shortage of billionaires. We added 17 new ones in 2017 alone, taking the count up to 101. During the same year, the wealth of this elite group increased by INR 20,91,300 crore—an amount equal to total budget of Central Government in 2017-18.
There is another list that tracks how the rich have fared in India year after year—the Hurun India Rich List which looks at people with a wealth of over INR 1,000 crore. In 2018, 831 individuals made it to this list 1—a 35 percent increase from last year and a jump of 100 percent since 2016. The average wealth on the 2018 list was around INR 5,900 crores.
When it came to philanthropy though, only 38 men and one woman made it to their annual Hurun Indian Philanthropy List 2018 2, which looks at Indians who have donated INR 10 crore or more in a 12-month period.
Mukesh Ambani who topped the India Rich List with a net worth of INR 3,71,000 crore was ranked number one on the Philanthropy List as well, having donated INR 437 crore towards education, healthcare, and rural development; the amount donated equals 0.1 percent of his wealth.
This is also the first year Mr Ambani has made it to the top of the Philanthropy List despite having topped the Rich List for the seventh year running.
While the number of Indians giving more than INR 10 crore during the year rose from 27 in 2016 to 39 in 2018, the average donation size actually reduced from INR 86 crore to INR 40 crore.
Mr Azim Premji to the rescue
Over the years, Azim Premji has single-handedly shored up these numbers: He gave INR 8,000 crore in 2013, INR 12,316 crore in 2014 and INR 27,514 crore in 2015.
The data is eye-opening. Despite its limitations 3—it uses CSR data as a proxy for giving and only captures giving over INR 10 crore—it paints a picture that runs contrary to the general perception in the country—that as our people get wealthier, they are likely to become more generous.
To drive home the point: in 2018, while we had 831 men and women whose average wealth was INR 5,900 crore, only 39 of them gave an average of INR 40 crore (or 0.68 percent of their wealth), and most of them did it via their companies.