Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal has been ranked among the top philanthropists in the
country, according to the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2020.
The Hurun Report says that Mr Agarwal’s contribution this year has risen by 90 per cent
compared to the previous year and has ranked him among the top five philanthropists in
India.
The Hurun report says that Vedanta has contributed more than the governmentmandated 2 per cent towards corporate social responsibility. The report includes cash
and cash equivalents pledged with legally binding commitments for the twelve months
from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 and the latest available CSR data filed with the
Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
Vedanta has been at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19 and contributed Rs 101
crore to the PM-CARES Fund. The company also created a special corpus of Rs 100
crore for Covid-related initiatives to support daily wage earners and local communities.
In line with his philosophy of Giving Back, Mr Agarwal has pledged 75 per cent of his
wealth for social good. He has created the philanthropic arm of the Group – The Vedanta
Foundation – with a deep-seated belief that businesses must give back to the society and
help people prosper.
“The foundation works towards education and computer literacy, vocational training,
women & child empowerment, and community welfare,” the Hurun report has said.
Under the aegis of Vedanta Cares, Mr. Agarwal has created the Nand Ghar – a network
of model anganwadis which are focused on eradicating child malnutrition, providing
education, healthcare, and empowering women. Vedanta has rolled out more than 1700
Nand Ghars in India, enhancing the lives of numerous women and children at the
grassroot level. The Group CSR initiative comprises of seven key verticals – Education,
Healthcare, Water and Sanitation, Sustainable Livelihood, Skilling, Sports & Culture and
Employee Volunteering. Vedanta Foundation, a philanthropic initiative of Vedanta Group
is focused on skill development and vocational training programmes for the
underprivileged to make them employable. A key healthcare speciality CSR project is the
Balco Medical Center, a 200-bed state-of-the-art Cancer care hospital located in New
Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The company supports grassroots level sports through their
Football academies in Goa and Udaipur.
EdelGive Foundation has partnered with Hurun India towards creating this report to
understand philanthropic giving in the country
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