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Azim Premji had donated Rs 50,000 crore in 2019, Wipro clarifies

Updated : March 28, 2020 04:07 PM IST

The 74-year-old has donated money for charitable causes wholeheartedly that include Wipro shares and other assets owned by him.

Tech giant Wipro has clarified that news reports and social media posts of Founder Azim Premji donating Rs 50,000 crore are misleading as the charitable contribution was made in March 2019. Yes, Premji, the then chairman of Wipro had earmarked 34 percent of his shares worth Rs 52,750 crore to an endowment under the Azim Premji Foundation.

The donation was made by the philanthropist in mid-March 2019, making him one of the biggest philanthropists in India’s history. The 74-year-old earlier has donated money for charitable causes wholeheartedly that include Wipro shares and other assets owned by him.

News of Premji’s donation was reported by CNBC-TV.com on March 14, 2019.

The total value of Premji’s endowment corpus stood at 1.45 lakh crore at the time, which included 67 percent of economic ownership of Wipro, the Premji Foundation said last year.

In a statement, Wipro told CNBC-TV18, “The announcement was made in March 2019. No such announcement was made today.”

New reports were doing the rounds on social media after one person tweeted about the donation, however, many thought that the charitable move was following the coronavirus outbreak.