Billionaire Gautam Adani is one of India’s most generous philanthropists. According to the 16th edition of Forbes Asia’s Heroes of Philanthropy list released on Tuesday, Adani was listed for having pledged ₹60,000 crores (USD 7.7 billion) when he turned 60 in June. The money will go towards healthcare, education, and skill development and will be channelled through the family’s Adani Foundation, founded in 1996, the Forbes list said.
The unranked list – which ‘highlights leading altruists in the Asia-Pacific region’ – also counted self-made billionaire and HCL Technologies co-founder Shiv Nadar among the top donors in India for having channelled close to USD 1 billion of his wealth in the past few decades via the Shiv Nadar Foundation. This year he donated ₹11,600 crore (USD 142 million) to the foundation he established in 1994.
Nadar, who stepped down from the executive roles at the IT services company in 2021, has helped set up educational institutions such as schools and universities via his foundation.
Billionaire Ashok Soota and Malaysian-Indian businessman Brahmal Vasudevan and his lawyer wife Shanthi Kandiah were also featured on the list that highlights ‘philanthropists who are donating from their own fortunes and giving personal time and attention to their select causes’.
Tech tycoon Ashok Soota has pledged ₹600 crore (USD 75 million) to the medical research trust he founded in April 2021 for the study of ageing and neurological illnesses.
Brahmal Vasudevan, founder and CEO of Kuala Lumpur-based private equity firm Creador, and his lawyer wife, Shanthi Kandiah, support local communities in Malaysia and India through the Creador Foundation, a non-profit they co-founded in 2018. In May this year, they pledged to donate 50 million Malaysian Ringgit (USD 11 million) to help build a teaching hospital at the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) Kampar campus in Perak state.