A group of leading philanthropists and Dasra, a strategic philanthropic organisation, have joined hands to launch GivingPi, India’s first family philanthropy network that aims to provide $1 billion annually by 2030 to fund India’s social development. Set to be launched in August, GivingPi has close to 75 members at present and has been supported by Aditi and Rishad Premji (chairman, Wipro), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rohini Nilekani, Manisha and Ashish Dhawan (co-founder of ChrysCapital), Nikhil Kamath (Zerodha), Nisa Godrej (chairperson, Godrej Consumer Products), Rajan Navani (CEO, JetSynthesis), Skoll Foundation, Tara Singh Vachani (CEO, Antara Living), Vasvi Bharat Ram (vice chairperson, The Shri Ram Schools) and Vivek Jain among others. While families can be part of this network for any causes, they would need to contribute a minimum of Rs 50 lakh annually towards the development sector in the country. Jyotirmoy Chatterji, head of GivingPi, said “We aim to reach 200 members this year, and are already close to reaching our goal of 75 select members by India@75.” Speaking about the network, Dasra co-founder Neera Nundy said, “Family philanthropy has tremendous potential that once unleashed can be transformative for India’s development.” India currently has 113 billionaires, and 6,884 ultra high-net-worth individuals and it is expected to grow to 12,000 in the next 5 years, said a release issued by GivingPi.
