PHILANTHROPIC PIONEER

The Infosys co-founder and UIDAI founding chairperson cuts an inspiring figure, not merely for his towering professional achievements but also his consistent philanthropic endeavours

- Vinita Bhatia

NANDAN NILEKANI

On a sweltering July day, 21-year-old Shishir Pandey, a computer science and engineering student, jostled for space at the IIT, Bombay, campus to catch a glimpse of one of the institute’s famous alumni, Nandan Nilekani, at its 65th anniversary celebrations. The excitement around Nilekani’s visit was more apparent because just a month earlier, the Infosys cofounder had announced his decision to donate Rs 315 crore to the institute to mark his 50-year association with it—Nilekani is from the 1973 batch of the institute. Considering his previous grants of Rs 85 crore, his is amongst the most charitable donations to the institution as an alumnus.

The EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2023, released on November 2, 2023, features Nilekani, the co-founder and chairman of Infosys Limited and founding chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India, and his wife, Rohini, at Number 8 and Number 10 respectively after they donated Rs 189 crore and Rs 170 crore in FY23. Rohini is the founder of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and leads the list of women givers. The couple bagged a spot among the top 10 philanthropists in terms of overall giving as well as those donating entirely out of their personal wealth.

Focused Attention

When it comes to philanthropy, Nilekani has stuck to a couple of causes, focusing on education, where tech can play a multiplier effect, and infrastructure. EkStep Foundation, a not-for-profit initiative the couple founded in 2015 along with Shankar Maruwada, provides children access to learning opportunities through its open-source, SunBird digital infrastructure, which supports multiple languages and can disseminate digital educational content at scale.