Information Technology czar and Wipro Chairman Azim Premji has earmarked 34 per cent of Wipro Ltd shares worth market value of Rs 52,750 crore or $7.5 billion for philanthropy, the company said in an exchange filing on Wednesday.
"Azim Premji has increased his commitment to philanthropy, by irrevocably renouncing more of his personal assets and earmarking them to the endowment, which supports Azim Premji Foundation's philanthropic activities," the Bengaluru-based Foundation said in a statement.
With his new commitment, Premji's total contribution to the philanthropic endowment corpus is Rs 145,000 crore ($21 billion), which includes 67 per cent of economic ownership of Wipro Ltd, according to the statement.
However, the economic benefits will be entirely routed through the foundation and towards the stated objectives for which the foundation has been set up.
The Azim Premji Foundation works in the field of education directly. It also supports other not-for-profits working in some specific areas through multi-year financial grants.
“The foundation’s field strategy focuses on creating and scaling up a network of institutions at the District and State levels, to contribute to improvement in the school education system on a continued and sustained basis,” it said.
Shares of Wipro closed at Rs 257.75 on Wednesday, down 1.34 percent on the BSE from its previous closing.
(with inputs from IANS)
