Premji hikes allocation to charity to Rs 1.45L cr

Bengaluru’s billionaire businessman Azim Hashim Premji has increased the allocation towards philanthropy at IT Major Wipro Ltd.

Premji, chairman of the Azim Premji Foundation said the value of the current commitment to philanthropy is now approximately Rs 52,750 crore (34% of Wipro). “With this, the total value of commitment to charity is close to Rs 1,45,000 crore,” Azim Premji Foundation said.

As a result, all the dividends and bonuses on 67% of the company’s shareholding will be used for charity.

With this, the total value of the philanthropic endowment corpus contributed by Premji is Rs 1,45,000 crore, up from the existing Rs 52,750 crore.

“Azim Premji’s philanthropic activities have an overarching vision to contribute to developing a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society in India. To enable this vision, the Azim Premji Foundation works directly in education and supports other not-for-profits working in some specific areas through multi-year financial grants,” the statement by the foundation said.

As a part of its overall strategy, the Foundation has also set up the Azim Premji University in Bengaluru.
The initiative to support other not-for-profits by providing multi-year grants was started in 2014 by the Foundation.

Over the next several years, the activities of the foundation in education, which is one of its primary focus areas, are expected to scale up significantly. The team driving the field work in education is expected to grow from the current 1,600 people, while the university will expand to have 5,000 students with 400 faculty members across multiple programmes.