Family-Led Donations, Corporates Boost Charity But India's 'Giving Gap' Remains

A charge often repeated in the media is that India's richest are not generous enough to donate their wealth and a deep dive into the numbers shows an increase over the last few years but still short of other major countries.

According to the India Philanthropy Report 2022, philanthropy as a percentage of total wealth among India's super-rich is just 0.1 per cent to 0.15 per cent.

That figure is comparatively lower than the US, UK, and China, where the minimum share is at least 0.5 per cent.

However, another set of data on philanthropy forecasts a more positive outlook.  
 
The latest 'EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List' shows that over Rs 100 crore in donations grew from just two in 2017 to 15 in 2022.

The number of Indians who contributed over Rs 50 crore rose from five in 2017 to 20 this year. This year also saw the addition of 19 individuals to the list, with their total donation amounting to over Rs 800 crore.

Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India, believes that the number may double in the next five years if "billionaires keep up with philanthropy".  

Philanthropy in India is getting a much-needed boost from family-driven philanthropy. This year's list shows that seven of the top 10 donors are wealthy families than individuals.  

"As wealth grows, family philanthropy is becoming more visible and slowly shifting away from random acts of giving food, clothes and scholarships to new and marginalised areas," observes Junaid.

Suggesting that wealthy families have the potential to create social impact, Jyotirmoy Chatterji, Head of GivingPi, says, "Family philanthropy can be extremely catalytic and can complement CSR giving, because it can take greater risks, provide long-term and unrestricted funding and support under-funded causes, regions and communities, beyond education and healthcare." 

India's CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility rule – a company with a minimum net worth of Rs 500 crore, or turnover of at least Rs 1,000 crore, or a net profit of Rs five crore or more, needs to contribute two per cent of its average net profits of the preceding three years on social causes – is another catalyst for philanthropy, especially for major companies.  

The CSR spending of the top 200 companies on the Bombay Stock Exchange grew by 15 per cent CAGR in the last six years – from Rs 5,561 in 2014-15 to Rs 12,122 crore in 2021-22.

This year, Vedanta, the multinational conglomerate, was the top company in spending more than its prescribed two per cent CSR limit - Rs 38 crore, by a margin of Rs 100 crore.  

"I believe that CSR will play a key role in India meeting sustainable development goals (SDG) by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2070," adds Hurun India's Mr Junaid, pointing to the 46 per cent rise in a donation towards Environment and Sustainability in the last year.  

Nevertheless, the huge 'giving gap' in India, which refers to the difference in personal wealth and the proportion given back to society, cannot be ignored. As noted earlier in the article, this gap is very high but provides more scope for philanthropy in India.

One largely unnoticed statistic this year is the decline in overall donations. The ten biggest donors in the list cumulatively donated Rs 3,378 crore in 2021-22, significantly down from Rs 12,785 crore last year. The 2021 rise has been attributed to spending on various Covid-19 efforts. 

India has 221 billionaires, as per media reports. "However, less than half of India's billionaires feature on the latest list," Mr Chatterji notes.