Philanthropy by India’s super rich falls by a third in FY22, says report

Source: The post is based on the article “Philanthropy by India’s super rich falls by a third in FY22, says report” published in Business Standard on 2nd March 2023.

What is the News?

Dasra and Bain & Co have released the India Philanthropy Report 2023.

What are the key findings of the report?

Philanthropic contributions made by India’s Ultra High Networth Individuals or UHNIs (net wealth of over Rs 1,000 crore): It has fallen sharply to Rs 4,230 crore in FY22, from Rs 11,821 crore the previous financial year.

– This dramatic fall in philanthropic contributions by almost a third, was due to the fact that contributions by the Azim Premji Foundation dropped by Rs 9,000 crore due to a share buyback of Wipro.

– However, this fall in the quantum of philanthropic contributions has taken place despite the fact that UHNI net wealth in India went up by 9.2% in FY22.

– This clearly shows that Indian UHNIs are not giving away as much of their wealth as their counterparts do in the US, UK and China.The average contribution of UNHIs in India was only 0.06% of their net worth, compared to 1.37% in the US, 0.33% in the UK and 0.38% in China in FY22.

Corporate social responsibility(CSR) spending: CSR spending grew at 13% since 2017, reaching ₹27,000 crore in 2021-2022 with healthcare and education cornering the lion’s share of total funding. 

– However, despite the buoyant numbers, CSR activity has not been evenly distributed in India.About 50% of state-specific CSR spending is directed towards just a few states, namely Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.