Gautam Adani to donate ₹ 60000 crores to mark his 60th birthday

First-generation entrepreneur Mr Gautam Adani has pledged to donate Rs 60,000 crore to a slew of social causes, to mark his 60th birthday.

The donation will be managed by the Adani Foundation for providing health care, education and skill development, Adani told Bloomberg in an interview Thursday.

“This is one the largest transfers made to a foundation in the Indian corporate history,” he said, adding that this commitment also honours the birth centenary year of his father, Shantilal Adani.

“To utilise the potential of India’s demographic advantage, there is an ever growing need to focus on the areas of healthcare, education, and skill development. The shortfalls in each of these areas are roadblocks for an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat.’ The Adani Foundation has gained rich experience in working with communities focused on integrated development efforts across all these areas. Addressing these challenges can significantly enhance the competence and competitiveness of our future workforce,” said Adani Group in a statement.

“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 crores towards charitable activities related to healthcare, education, and skill development, 

especially in the rural regions of our nation”. said Gautam Adani.

The Indian tycoon is in a constant race with Mr Mukesh Ambani over the title of the richest man in Asia. With an approx net worth of $98 billion. During the pandemic, his net worth nearly doubled. 

“We will invite three expert committees in coming months to formalise strategy and decide allocation of funds in these three areas,” he said. The committees will have members from the Adani family in supporting roles, he added.

“At a very fundamental level, programs related to all these three areas should be seen holistically and they collectively form the drivers to build an equitable and future-ready India. Our experience in large project planning and execution and the learnings from the work done by the Adani Foundation will help us uniquely accelerate these programs,” added Adani.

​​https://twitter.com/gautam_adani/status/1539947148199964673?s=20&t=AdOgd4LbtPDvoLGuzBkNKA

On this occasion, Azim Premji, Chairman of Azim Premji Foundation and Founder Chairman of Wipro Limited and widely recognised as one of the greatest philanthropists of our times 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”. He further added “the challenges and possibilities of our country demand that we work together as one, cutting across all divides of wealth, region, religion, caste, and more”.