With Rs 164 crore in kitty, Rohini Nilekani to chart a new course in philanthropy
Rohini Nilekani, who sold a portion of her shares in Infosys last week for Rs 164 crore, will use the money to chart a new course in philanthropy.
RohiniNilekani, who sold a portion of her shares in Infosys last week forRs 164 crore, will use the money to chart a new course in philanthropy by backing select social ventures.
Rohini, 53, whose husband Nandan co-founded Infosys, said she will provide grant capital to individuals and organisations in the areas of governance, legal services, environment protection and new media.
The money will be kept aside in a separate portfolio to be managed by the family office of the Nilekanis. "This way, I am not bound to the limitations of putting it in a corpus and can give away just the income or larger chunks as I see fit,' she told ET.
At least three entities have already been chosen to receive the grants, which will typically be below Rs 5 crore each. Among the first are online media portal IndiaSpend, PRS Legislative Research and the Association for Democratic Reforms.
This marks the second innings in philanthropy for the former journalist, who founded Arghyam - an organisation that works in the area of water and sanitation - in 2005, committing about 150 crore. She also founded Pratham Books, which promotes literacy.
The model that Rohini has chosen is close to the approach taken by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, whose family office has provided a mix of grants and equity money of around $125 million (roughly Rs 760 crore) in India so far.
Omidyar's family office has provided a mix of grants and equity money of around $125 million (roughly Rs 760 crore) in India so far.
"It is the Silicon Valley approach to philanthropy: bottom-up and entrepreneurial rather than thematic," said JayantSinha, managing director of Omidyar Network in India.
The Nilekanis are clear that for now they will earmark the money purely for grant-making. "These are not investments but philanthropic grants that Rohini will give from this money," said NandanNilekani, who is the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India.
Rohini, 53, whose husband Nandan co-founded Infosys, said she will provide grant capital to individuals and organisations in the areas of governance, legal services, environment protection and new media.
The money will be kept aside in a separate portfolio to be managed by the family office of the Nilekanis. "This way, I am not bound to the limitations of putting it in a corpus and can give away just the income or larger chunks as I see fit,' she told ET.
At least three entities have already been chosen to receive the grants, which will typically be below Rs 5 crore each. Among the first are online media portal IndiaSpend, PRS Legislative Research and the Association for Democratic Reforms.
This marks the second innings in philanthropy for the former journalist, who founded Arghyam - an organisation that works in the area of water and sanitation - in 2005, committing about 150 crore. She also founded Pratham Books, which promotes literacy.
The model that Rohini has chosen is close to the approach taken by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, whose family office has provided a mix of grants and equity money of around $125 million (roughly Rs 760 crore) in India so far.
Omidyar's family office has provided a mix of grants and equity money of around $125 million (roughly Rs 760 crore) in India so far.
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"It is the Silicon Valley approach to philanthropy: bottom-up and entrepreneurial rather than thematic," said JayantSinha, managing director of Omidyar Network in India.
The Nilekanis are clear that for now they will earmark the money purely for grant-making. "These are not investments but philanthropic grants that Rohini will give from this money," said NandanNilekani, who is the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India.
Nandan, who has gifted Rs 50 crore to establish the Indian Institute of Human Settlements in Bangalore, owns around 1.45% of Infosys. Rohini'sshareholding is 1.31%. TrilochanSastry, a trustee at theAssociation for Democratic Reforms and a professor at Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, said, "Grant money is very important in areas such as transparency and governance where there is no business model."
Despite an economic slowdown, India's pool of philanthropic capital is growing, according to a report by consulting firm Bain. The country's wealthy individuals increased their contributions to philanthropy from 2.3% of household income in 2010 to 3.1% in 2011.
But donors are focusing more on understanding the impact of their giving before they commit to causes. "At first I thought of food and nutrition-related work as a continuum from water (Arghyam), but it seemed to me that with the limited resources, I might not be able to make a dent in the scale of the problem," said Rohini, who worked for over a year with her advisors to identify the right initiatives.
The organisations she is considering backing include legal policy research outfit Vidhi, theCentre for Law and Policy Research, and Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment. She expects to fund around half-a-dozen initiatives every year. To ensure she can create a "network effect" that draws more capital, Rohini is talking to prospective co-investors who can support these ventures. She declined to identify them, saying the discussions were still on.
Source : By Archana Rai, ET Bureau
Despite an economic slowdown, India's pool of philanthropic capital is growing, according to a report by consulting firm Bain. The country's wealthy individuals increased their contributions to philanthropy from 2.3% of household income in 2010 to 3.1% in 2011.
But donors are focusing more on understanding the impact of their giving before they commit to causes. "At first I thought of food and nutrition-related work as a continuum from water (Arghyam), but it seemed to me that with the limited resources, I might not be able to make a dent in the scale of the problem," said Rohini, who worked for over a year with her advisors to identify the right initiatives.
The organisations she is considering backing include legal policy research outfit Vidhi, theCentre for Law and Policy Research, and Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment. She expects to fund around half-a-dozen initiatives every year. To ensure she can create a "network effect" that draws more capital, Rohini is talking to prospective co-investors who can support these ventures. She declined to identify them, saying the discussions were still on.
Source : By Archana Rai, ET Bureau
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Nandan Nilekani’s wife sells 5.77 lakh Infosys stocks
Rohini Nilekani has sold 5.77 lakh Infosys shares worth Rs 163.51 crore and plans to use the money in philanthropic activities.
Rohini Nilekani has sold 5.77 lakh InfosysBSE 0.19 % shares worth Rs 163.51 crore and plans to use the money in philanthropic activities.
"For the past several years, I have undertaken philanthropic initiatives in multiple sectors such as education, water, environment and governance, among others. The proceeds of the sale of share, post tax, will be deployed towards these and other philanthropic contributions, over time," Rohini, wife of Infosys founderNandan Nilekani, said in a Bombay Stock Exchange ( BSE) filing on Friday.
The share sale has marginally reduced her stake in Infosys, from 1.41% (80,78,174 shares) to 1.31% (75,01,174 shares).
Rohini is the founder of Arghyam, a public charitable foundation that supports sustainable water management towards meeting the basic water needs of all citizens, especially those from vulnerable communities. It also grants funds to organizations that implement and manage groundwater and sanitation projects in India. Arghyam has made grants to recipients in 22 states since 2005.
Rohini is also the founder member and chairperson of Pratham Books, a not-for-profit publisher that has published over 215 titles in English and other Indian languages. It has printed 8.5 million books and over 10 million story cards and has a readership of nearly 25 million. Pratham's vision is to put a book in every child's hand.
"For the past several years, I have undertaken philanthropic initiatives in multiple sectors such as education, water, environment and governance, among others. The proceeds of the sale of share, post tax, will be deployed towards these and other philanthropic contributions, over time," Rohini, wife of Infosys founderNandan Nilekani, said in a Bombay Stock Exchange ( BSE) filing on Friday.
The share sale has marginally reduced her stake in Infosys, from 1.41% (80,78,174 shares) to 1.31% (75,01,174 shares).
Rohini is the founder of Arghyam, a public charitable foundation that supports sustainable water management towards meeting the basic water needs of all citizens, especially those from vulnerable communities. It also grants funds to organizations that implement and manage groundwater and sanitation projects in India. Arghyam has made grants to recipients in 22 states since 2005.
Rohini is also the founder member and chairperson of Pratham Books, a not-for-profit publisher that has published over 215 titles in English and other Indian languages. It has printed 8.5 million books and over 10 million story cards and has a readership of nearly 25 million. Pratham's vision is to put a book in every child's hand.
Source : By Shilpa Phadnis, TNN
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