Adani commits to give away Rs 60,000 crore in charity

June 24,2022

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani has committed to donate Rs 60,000 crore ($7.7 billion) to social causes. Adani's corpus will be administered by the Adani Foundation, making it one of the biggest transfers to a philanthropic trust in India.

"In addition to being the 100th birth anniversary of my inspiring father, this year also happens to be the year of my 60th birthday and, therefore, the family decided to contribute Rs 60,000 crore towards charitable activities," said Adani. The family has shown a strong philanthropic interest in healthcare, education and skill development, especially in India's rural regions.

Adani, who turns 60 this Friday, has an estimated net worth of $96 billion and is one of the top 15 wealthiest people in the world, according to Forbes. A first-generation entrepreneur, Adani's interests span ports, power, commodities and cement. He owns Mundra Port, India's biggest, in his home state of Gujarat, and is the newly anointed cement king, having announced the acquisition of Holcim India for $10.5 billion. In fiscal 2021, Adani donated Rs 130 crore towards disaster relief, ranking him eighth in the EdelGive Hurun India philanthropy list. While Adani Foundation donated Rs 122 crore to fight the coronavirus pandemic across the country.

With the latest move, Adani joins notable pledgers like Meta (Facebook parent) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett and Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman who have committed to give a significant part of their wealth to philanthropy.

Wipro chairman Azim Premji, who is also India's top philanthropist, said, "Gautam Adani and his family's commitment towards philanthropy should set an example that we can all try to live Mahatma Gandhi's principle of Trusteeship of Wealth at the peak of our business success and need not wait for our sunset years." In fiscal 2021, Premji donated Rs 9,713 crore, mainly for education, the EdelGive Hurun India philanthropy report said.