Hurun India in collaboration with EdelGive Foundation has just released the 12th annual EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2025 which records the most generous wealthy people every year. The purpose of the list is to analyse how the rich are spending their money and to discover the achievements of “India’s foremost wealth creators” according to the website.
This year, Rohini Nilekani chairperson of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and director of EkStep, a non-profit educational platform, has topped the list of Most Generous Women of 2025. She donated Rs 204 crores just this year alone on causes driving social innovation and systemic change. Her 5 year cumulative donation amounted to a whopping Rs 763 crores, setting her a league apart from other donors on the list.
A firm supporter of gender equity, education, climate resilience, justice, governance and strengthening of civil society, Nilekani has managed to use her immense wealth for the betterment of society. Let’s take a look into her roots today.
Who is Rohini Nilekani?
Born into a middle-class family in Mumbai, Rohini completed her graduation in French literature from Elphinstone college. After securing her degree, she worked as a journalist for a few years at institutions like the now-defunct Bombay Magazine and then the Sunday Magazine. In the meanwhile, she released books and became a published author. Her first novel was a medical thriller called Stillborn which was acclaimed by readers.
She went on to release several other books: Uncommon Ground, a non-fiction based on her time reporting as an anchor, The Hungry Little Sky Monster, a children’s book and Samaj, Sarkar, Bazar which is a collection of over a decade of articles, interviews, and speeches by herself. Not only is she a keen philanthropist, she is also a distinguished author in her own right.
Her journey as a philanthropist
According to Forbes, her journey into philanthropy began in 2001, when she founded the organization Arghyam with a personal endowment of Rs 150 crores. Arghyam primarily focused on water and sanitation issues but she slowly branched out to other matters plaguing society as well. Her and her husband, Nandan Nilekani, who is the co-founder and non-executive chairman of Infosys have made many generous offerings over the years.
She pledged Rs 50 crores to Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) directly funding developmental research according to a report by the Hindu. In 2013, she and Nandan Nilekani donated Rs 50 crores to the National Council of Applied Economic Research to build a new India center at its New Delhi campus. In the same year, she sold her 5.77 Infosys shares worth Rs 164 crores in the name of philanthropic work. Since then her foundation has worked tirelessly towards development and overall improvement of the general public. More recently, both her and her husband donated Rs 100 crores to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru to “support and accelerate research and treatment in five major areas of mental health,” according to a report by the Indian Express.
It is as clear as day to see that she is extremely generous with her money and hopeful of the future of the society that she lives in. Nilekani is a refreshing example in today’s world where most billionaires are happy to hoard their wealth and widen the wealth gap between the rich and the poor. Her spot on the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2025 is well-earned and rightfully so.
