Premji contribution touches Rs.1,45,000 crore (US$21 billion) including 67 per cent of economic ownership of Wipro Limited

Business magnet Azim Premji’s contribution to Azim Premji Foundation has touched Rs 1,45,000 Cr (USD 21 billion), including 67 per cent of economic ownership of Wipro Limited, with additional commitment to philanthropy by irrevocably renouncing more of his personal assets and earmarking them to the endowment supporting the foundation’s philanthropic activities.
Premji has done this by additionally earmarking all economic benefits for philanthropic purposes, approximately 34 per cent of the shares in Wipro Limited held by certain entities controlled by him. This is in addition to his earlier donations to philanthropy, which included Wipro’s shares, as well as other assets owned by him, according to a release here on Wednesday.
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 foundation’s extensive field work in education has been in some of the most disadvantaged parts of India, to help contribute to the improvement of quality and equity of the government schooling system. Currently this field work is spread across Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh, along with some work in the north-eastern states of India. The foundation’s field strategy focuses on creating and scaling up a network of institutions at the District and State levels, to contribute to improvement in the school education system on a continued and sustained basis.
Over the next several years, the activities of the foundation are expected to scale up significantly. The team driving the field work in education is expected to grow significantly from the current 1600 people, while the University will expand to have 5000 students with 400 faculty members across multiple programs. Thereafter, another University in the northern part of India may be set up by the foundation. (UNI)