These six women made it to the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2022
Ahead of the Festival of Lights, the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List revealed the country’s most generous billionaires. Meet India’s six most generous women of 2022.
Hurun India and EdelGive recently revealed the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2022, and six women have made it to the list.
With a donation of Rs 120 crore in FY22, Rohini Nilekani of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies is India’s most generous woman, followed by Leena Gandhi Tewari of USV, who donated Rs 21 crore in the same period. Anu Aga & Family of Thermax donated Rs 20 crore in FY22 to come in at the third spot.
Here’s a quick look at all the women who made it to the list.
Rohini Nilekani
Author, social activist, and journalist Rohini Nilekani has worn many hats. The wife of Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Rohini is the chairperson of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, and this year marks 30 years since Rohini started her journey in civic engagement. Her philanthropic work has spanned various causes like the environment, sanitation and education, and most of her donations were made in these fields.
Through Arghyam, a foundation she set up in 2001 for sustainable water and sanitation, Rohini has funded various initiatives across India. In a recent interview with HerStory, Rohini said, “I have always maintained that philanthropy is necessitated by the inequal distribution of wealth. Having said that, the responsibility of that wealth is towards society, eventually.”
Leena Gandhi Tewari
Leena Gandhi Tewari is the chairperson of USV Private Limited, a multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company based in Mumbai. She was recently named the sixth richest woman in India in the third edition of ‘Kotak Private Banking Hurun - Leading Wealthy Women List.’
USV Pharma started off as a small firm founded by her grandfather, Vithal Balkrishna Gandhi, a well-known social reformer and politician. The company used to import medicines and later branched off into manufacturing in a joint venture with an American company in the 1960s.
Leena founded Dr Susheela Gandhi Centre for Social Development, an NGO, to support underprivileged girls through education in Vakola, Mumbai. The centre is named after her grandmother, Dr Susheela, one of India's first woman doctors and gynaecologists.
A little-known fact about Leena is that she is passionate about animals, especially reptiles.
Anu Aga & Family
Anu Aga, ex-Chairperson of Thermax Ltd., was named the seventh wealthiest woman in India by Hurun this year. She donated nearly Rs 20 crore for philanthropic causes and is India’s third most generous woman.
Currently the chairperson of Teach For India, Anu has been known to get deeply involved in the causes she believes in.
The Thermax Social Initiative Foundation (TSIF) runs nine primary government schools in Pune and Mumbai along with the Akanksha Foundation. Besides that, Anu financially supports educational causes like Teach For India and GiveIndia. She won the Padma Shri in 2010 for her contribution to the social sector.
Manju D Gupta & Family
Seventy-nine-year-old Manju D Gupta is the chairperson of Lupin Pharma. Manju has served on the Lupin board for over four decades and also served in its various committees, besides being actively involved with Lupin’s CSR activities. In FY22, Manju donated Rs 16 crore for rural development.
Renu Munjal & Family
Renu Munjal is the Managing Director of Hero FinCorp and serves as a director on the Board of Easy Bill. Renu has been involved in many CSR projects, including setting up and managing a K12 school and a vocational training centre. She also takes an active interest in projects concerning women’s empowerment. Renu Munjal & Family donated Rs 10 crore for disaster relief in FY22.
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
Biocon's Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has been named the sixth most generous woman in the country by EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2022. In FY22, Kiran donated Rs 7 crore towards education and other philanthropic causes. She is also known for the 1,400-bed Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre in Bangalore in collaboration with famed cardiologist Dr Devi Shetty. The hospital was set up with the aim of providing affordable, state-of-the-art healthcare services.
Edited by Teja Lele