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Aiming to give back to the society from where he has got it all, NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal and his family have decided to give away 75 per cent of their wealth for the good of the society.
The 61-year old Chairman of the diversified conglomerate Vedanta Resources has a net worth of $3.5 billion, according to the US magazine Forbes. He is ranked 24th among India’s richest persons by the magazine this year.
“My family supports my decision that 75 per cent of our wealth, which we gain as economic benefit, should be returned to society,” Agarwal said at a function to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Vedanta’s listing on the London Stock Exchange last evening.
The pledge comes to an absorbing figure of $2.6 billion or about Rs 15,900 crore.
“It is important to give back what we earn for the greater good of the society, community programmes that work towards eradication of poverty, child welfare and women empowerment will be our focus for communities at large in our country,” Agarwal, who started off as a scrap dealer in India, said.
“I am keen to invest and create a world class…not for profit…university in India that can bring in the best in class education in liberal arts and humanities,” he added.
While doing public good through corporate social responsibility, has recently been mandated by law, prominent Indian businessmen like Azim Premji, Narayana Murthy, Anand Mahindra and Nadnan Nilekeni have already spent aplenty for the public good.
Apart from its welfare measures for local area development and the community at large, Tata Group has also donated €23 million to Harvard Business School, the largest single donation ever received by the institution from overseas.
In an interview to PTI, Agarwal said during these 10 years Vedanta has raised almost $30 billion and most of the money has been invested in India.
“We have to eradicate our poverty and create jobs, which all other countries have done by exploring their natural resources,” Agarwal said.
“India’s policy today will invite lot many more major companies to come and invest in India because there are opportunities and the new government is creating a very conducive environment for them to work,” he added.
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