Private philanthropy is on the rise in India, mostly powered by family-backed philanthropy, and is predicted to expand by 10 to 15 per cent year-on-year over the next five years, according to a new report released by Dasra, a strategic foundation, and consultancy firm Bain & Co. 

In its ‘India Philanthropy Report 2024’, findings show that private philanthropy saw a 10 per cent growth, reaching $15 billion (INR 1.2 lakh crore). This growth was primarily driven by growth in family philanthropy and retail donations. Meanwhile, corporate social responsibility and high-net-worth individual donations grew by 7 per cent. 

Family philanthropy, which accounts for 28 per cent of private donations inside India, amounted to $3.9 million. Within family philanthropy, ultra-high-net-worth individual giving grew by 60 per cent in FY 2023 to $826,205 – driven by wealthy philanthropists such as Azim Premji and Shiv Nadar. 

‘Growing private philanthropy is critical to bridging the funding gap. At the same time, by virtue of its relatively long horizon and flexibility of funding, it also has an important role to play in capacity building in the social sector, and addressing challenges at the intersection of government, businesses, foundations, and communities,’ said Radhika Sridharan, a co-author of the report, from Bain & Company consultancy.  

It marks a change from findings released in April last year, which showed how philanthropic giving from India’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals has fallen by almost a third thanks to significantly reduced grantmaking by the Azim Premji Foundation.  

Shafi Musaddique is news editor at Alliance magazine.