Philanthropy by Indian families triples during the pandemic

Mar 17, 2021 Hubbis

The contribution made by wealthy families in social sector grew to Rs12,000 crore in the fiscal year 2020, says India Philanthropy Report 2021.

Mint reports that the covid-19 pandemic seems to have made high net worth individuals and families to allot more funds for philanthropic activities.

The monetary contribution made by family philanthropy grew three times to the tune of Rs12,000 crore in the fiscal year 2020. It also accounted for two-thirds of the incremental growth in the total private-sector funding in 2019-2020, states the India Philanthropy Report 2021. The 11th edition of the report, brought out by Bain & Company and Dasra, was launched today.

Overall, private sector donations saw nearly 23% rise, up to Rs64,000 crore, as compared to the 2019 fiscal year. Of this, family philanthropy comprised about 20%, while the rest was from foreign contributions, domestic donation by corporates or corporate social responsibility (CSR) funding and retail investors.

While the spending on social sector has notably increased, India still holds a poor rank (117) on the Sustainable Development Report, compared to other BRICS countries. In fact, the pandemic’s impact, the report predicts, will have “significant annual funding deficit in the near term” on the sector in meeting its annual demand of Rs21.2 lakh crore until 2025.