Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has committed a whopping $7.7 billion (600 billion rupees) for various social causes, breaking ranks with the Asian mega rich who rarely make charity contributions of such scale.
Adani, currently the richest person in Asia, is earmarking the fortune for a variety of social causes to mark his 60th birthday.
According to Bloomberg, the donation from Adani and his family will be managed by the Adani Foundation. The funds will be used to support health care, education and skill development.
"This is one the largest transfers made to a foundation in the Indian corporate history," Adani told Bloomberg in an exclusive interview.
Adani Group is a sprawling conglomerate that controls huge companies engaged in varied businesses ranging from energy to ports and from utilities, transport and logistics to airports. The Group is a diversified organisation with market cap of over $166.5 billion comprising seven publicly listed companies.
The Group is headquartered in Ahmedabad in the industrialized western Indian state of Gujarat. The Group's website says it employs 23,000 people.
Gautam Adani is a first-generation businessman and has a net worth of $92 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
While US business magnates like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, among many others like him, have donated huge sums from their personal fortune, Asian tycoons have so far lagged behind in charity give-away.
"We will invite three expert committees in coming months to formalize strategy and decide allocation of funds in these three areas," says Adani, adding that the Adani family members will be in the committees in supporting roles.
According to the Economic Times, the Adani Foundation has been engaged in the creation of sustainable livelihoods, handling projects in health and nutrition, as well as education and the empowerment of women. The group's philanthropic network now covers 3.7 million people in 2,409 villages across 16 states in India, the report adds.
