Azim Premji, the founder of Wipro Limited, is an icon in India famous not only for his business acumen but also for his charitable effort. He is known as the leader of the Indian IT Industry and the growth of Wipro over the years is a testament to his visionary skills. A piece of news currently going viral in media claiming Azim Premji donated 50000 crores for fighting with Coronavirus epidemic has turned out to be fake. Wipro released a statement to put an end to all the floating misinformation, and was quoted by CNBC-TV18, "The announcement was made in March 2019. No such announcement was made today."

They clarified that there had been no such developments on this front. Although he may not have made any announcement yet, there have been many instances when Azim Premji through his foundation have helped alleviate the pain of poor and needy. A look at some of the philanthropic endeavours taken up by the former chairman of Wipro Limited.

  • Education is a crucial area of focus for Azim Premji and through his foundation has contributed to the field of primary education in the country for two decades now. It is estimated he has donated 27,514 crores for education through his foundation that works in eight states.

  • One part of his foundation focusses on teachers training in government schools while the other directly pledge money to NGOs.

  • He was the first Indian to sign 'The Giving Pledge' started by two of the richest men in the world – Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. The signatory pledges half of his fortune to philanthropy.

  • In 2019, he committed 21 billion dollars as part of a charity which is a staggering amount in a country where billionaires do not often go out of the way in terms of giving back to the society.

Azim Premji is amongst top Indian billionaires when it comes to charitable work, and his efforts helped him win Forbes India's inaugural Philanthropy award. Recently, Anand Mahindra announced Mahindra Group would be manufacturing ventilators as well as donate 100% salary to help raise fund for vulnerable amid coronavirus outbreak. Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries too set up India's 1st COVID-19 dedicated facility at Mumbai's Seven Hills Hospital in collaboration with BMC.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 28, 2020 05:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).