Back to resources

Philanthropy in India Is Taking Its Own Route

Strategic Philanthropy | Mar 21, 2013

A debate was going on about a government proposal to make it compulsory for companies to spend 2% of their net pro?ts on corporate social responsibility (CSR). Rohini Nilekani, philanthropist and chairperson of Arghyam, a foundation she set up with a private endowment to work on water and sanitation issues in India, says she has been “against the 2% rule from the beginning” because “I don’t think government should outsource its governance. And, secondly, making it mandatory is going to straightjacket [CSR] in a way that may not necessarily yield the best results. But now that it’s been done, we just have to make the best of it.”

View PDF

More like this

Strategic Philanthropy

Asia's 2018 Heroes Of Philanthropy: Charity Is New To India's New-Economy Titans

Among the newly rich, the idea of social philanthropy is just settling in, says Rohini Nilekani, wife of tech billionaire and Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani and founder of Arghyam, a foundation focusing on water and sanitation. The Nilekanis are among India’s leading philanthropists and one of the seven Indian families to sign the Gates-Buffett Giving […]
Nov 15, 2018 | Personality

Strategic Philanthropy

Nandan Nilekani, wife Rohini join ‘The Giving Pledge’ philanthropy network, donate half their wealth

The Nilekanis are the fourth Indians after Wipro chairman Azim Premji, Biocon chairman Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Sobha Developers Chairman Emeritus P N C Menon to sign up for The Giving Pledge. Infosys co-founder and tech billionaire Nandan Nilekani and his wife Rohini Nilekani have joined ‘The Giving Pledge’, an elite network of the world’s wealthiest […]
Nov 20, 2017 | Personality

Strategic Philanthropy

NILEKANIS TO DONATE HALF OF THEIR WEALTH UNDER ‘THE GIVING PLEDGE’

In a statement, the Nilekanis explained why they joined the Giving Pledge movement, which says,”We see that inequality is increasing sharply in most countries. We see the young and the restless in this interconnected globe, unsure of their future, wanting more but anticipating less. We see a growing politics of polarization, of divisions, of brinksmanship. […]
Nov 20, 2017 | Personality

Strategic Philanthropy

Make philanthropy serious business

Infosys non-executive chairman Nandan Nilekani and his wife Rohini have joined the growing list of billionaires who have committed to give away at least half of their wealth to philanthropic causes through The Giving Pledge campaign, founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. They join Wipro’s Azim Premji, Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and P N C […]
Nov 20, 2017 | Personality