Azim Premji earmarks 34 pc of his Wipro shares for philanthropy

New Delhi: IT czar Azim Premji has earmarked economic benefits of about 34 per cent of his shares in Wipro, worth Rs 52,750 crore, for his foundation involved in philanthropy, according to a statement.

With this, the total value of the endowment corpus, which supports Azim Premji Foundation's philanthropic activities, contributed by Premji has swelled to a staggering Rs 1.45 lakh crore, which includes 67 per cent of economic ownership of Wipro Ltd, it said. Wipro Chairman Premji, who is also the chairman of Azim Premji Foundation, announced on Wednesday that he has increased his commitment to philanthropy, by irrevocably renouncing more of his personal assets and earmarking them to the endowment corpus.

"He has done this (contribution) by additionally earmarking all economic benefits for philanthropic purposes, in approximately 34 per cent of the shares in Wipro Limited (current market value Rs 52,750 crore), held by certain entities controlled by him," according to the statement by the Azim Premji Foundation. This is in addition to his earlier donations to philanthropy, which included Wipro's shares, as well as other assets owned by him.

The promoter holding in Bengaluru-based IT services giant Wipro Ltd stood at 74.3 per cent as on December 2018. The Azim Premji Foundation works in education in the country and supports other not-for-profit organisations working in some specific areas through multi-year financial grants.

"The Foundation's extensive fieldwork in education has been in some of the most disadvantaged parts of India, to help contribute to the improvement of quality and equity of the public (government) schooling system," it added. The Foundation works closely with various state governments. It currently works in Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and the northeast region.

Its field strategy focuses on creating and scaling up a network of institutions at district and state levels, to help in overall improvement in the school education system on a continued and sustained basis. The Azim Premji Foundation has also established the Azim Premji University in Bengaluru.

Over the next few years, the activities of the Foundation are expected to ramp up significantly, the statement said adding that a university in the northern part of India may be set up by the Foundation at some point.