HCL’s Shiv Nadar donates Rs 580 cr for education charity

[Dr.Evil]

In one of the biggest philanthropic initiatives, HCL founder Shiv Nadar on Thursday donated over Rs 580 crore he earned by selling his 2.5 per cent stake in the company owned by him and his family.

The amount was raised through the sale of a stake of about 2.5 per cent in software firm HCL Technologies in block deals through HCL Corporation and will be used for education initiatives of the Shiv Nadar Foundation.

The amount donated by Nadar is by far bigger than the standards set by larger firms. Charitable giving in India probably totaled about $7.5 billion (Rs 3,487.12 crore at an exchange rate of Rs 46.49 per dollar) in 2009, according to a study by Bain & Co.

Earlier this year, IT services firm Tech Mahindra Managing Director Vineet Nayyar donated a third of his shares in the company, worth over Rs 30 crore, to a Delhi-based charitable organisation run by his wife.

Software czar Azim Premji has also set up his own charitable foundation, which works in the area of elementary education.

One of the godfathers of the Indian IT industry, Narayana Murthy of Infosys, also pours millions into charitable causes.

And it is not only the IT czars, but their wives who are also dedicated to the cause.

Sudha Murty, the wife of Murthy, has also been contributing to the society very actively through the Infosys Foundation.

The Forbes' list of Asia Pacific's most generous business personalities this year included Kiran Nadar, Shiv Nadar's wife, and Rohini Nilekani, the wife of IT major Infosys' co-founder Nandan Nilekani.

Rohini has donated $40 million over the years to support causes such as education, microfinance, health care and environment.

Read more at: HCL?s Shiv Nadar donates Rs 580 cr for education charity - NDTV Profit


A very Good and Generous decision by Mr.Nadar

 

[Justin Joseph]

HCL chairman Shiv Nadar is spending big money on rural education

It is not just Premji who is giving it back to society by trying to improve primary education in the country. HCL boss Shiv Nadar is on the same track.

Shiv Nadar started HCL in a Delhi barsaati in 1976, when India had a total sum of 250 computers.

The $ 5 billion-company now ranks among top 5 Indian IT firms and employs over 60,000 people. As HCL chairman, Nadar is among India's richest men.

HCL no longer engages him fully as he has found an able successor in Vineet Nayar, one of the best CEOs in the industry. Nadar spoke to Money Control recently about his effort to improve quality of rural education in the country.

Nadar says the education data from rural India is depressing. He has setup Shiv Nadar Foundation to fund three large scale education initiatives.

First is VidyaGyan, a Rs 1,000-crore project to set up 4 schools in Bulandshahr a backward part of Uttar Pradesh.

The school spots 10-year-old rural, poor, meritorious students from UP villages and gives them world class education free of cost. The first school will enroll 600 students this year and three more are on track and will educate 1400 students each. Infrastructure worth Rs 500 crore is under construction.

The second initiative, project Shiksha, seeks to improve teaching quality in UP primary schools by deploying 'accurate' technology-based solutions. VidyaGyan works with the brightest of the rural minds, while Shiksha targets the majority of students in class rooms.

At present Shikha is bringing satellite-based interactive education telecasts to class rooms.

The third initiative is also the oldest. Shiv Nadar Foundation runs SSN Institutions in Chennai, which is rated among top ten private engineering collages in India. SSN Institutions were set up to promote world class scientific research. It gives direct admissions to toppers from rural government higher secondary schools with full scholarship.

HCL chairman Shiv Nadar is spending big money on rural education