The success stories of famous personalities result in individuals getting awestruck. The ways in which these visionary personalities have had their journeys in taking their companies to great heights encourage the general public and keep them motivated. Top visionaries who have started from scratch or aimed to live up to their family’s legends are a personal favorite of many. But what actually is most inspiring is the change they are making through the various social initiatives run by them via their philanthropic arms. Some of the best changemakers in India value their privilege and want to give back to society.
Personalities like Azim Premji, Sanjiv Bajaj, and Ratan Tata can be termed as social changemakers of India as their contributions are making a significant social impact that can lead the path to a sustainable and bright future. When you distribute your wealth to secure the future of others, you know the future will be much brighter and who does it better than these best indian entrepreneur. Let’s know more about them:
Azim Premji
Azim Premji, popularly known as the Indian IT Czar, dons so many hats – he is a business legend, a strategic investor, an engineer, and one of the most well-known philanthropists globally. He was the torchbearer for Wipro, guiding them for over 40 years to ensure it became one of the global leaders of the software industry. Wipro’s growth and diversification can be attributed to the direct efforts of Azim Premji. The efforts of this legendary social changemaker started to get noticed with a $2.2 billion contribution to the Azim Premji Foundation that focused on education in India. This was the largest donation of its kind in India. His contributions to society are in more ways than one can imagine. In 2020, he was at the number one position in the ‘EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List. In the year 2013, Azim Premji pledged half of his wealth via the Giving Pledge. After Richard Branson and David Sainsbury, Azim Premji is the first Indian and third non-American to commit his wealth for the cause of philanthropy via the Giving Pledge. He believes in the mantra of sharing one’s privilege with the far less privileged to create a better world and inspires others to do so as well.
Ratan Tata
The legend who always wins everyone’s hearts with his amazing gestures and words, Ratan Tata, needs no introduction as one of the top changemakers of India. He was born into a well-established industrial family with visionaries and philanthropists, and he only kept setting the bar higher for himself. This famous changemaker has made dreams come true through various initiatives such as the Tata Trust and introducing ‘the people’s car’ Tata Nano. Tata Trust has partnered with over 450 NGOs that are doing exemplary work at the grass-root levels to make a difference across fields such as rural development, education, medicine, and more. Among his many acts of philanthropy and support, the one that brought a tear to everyone’s eyes was when he visited the families of the 80 employees who were adversely affected by the 26/11 attacks. He further sponsored the complete education of their children and gave financial and medical support to their families. One of the best changemakers in India, Rata Tata inspires all of us to be better humans.
Sanjiv Bajaj
Sanjiv Bajaj is the Chairman and Managing Director of Bajaj Finserv Limited, the holding company of the financial services businesses of the Bajaj Group, one of India’s oldest and largest conglomerates, with 9M consolidated revenue of over ₹ 58,447 crore ($ 7.14 billion)* and consolidated profit after tax of over ₹ 4,648 crore ($ 568 million)* for FY2022-23.
Under his leadership, Bajaj Finserv Limited has emerged as one of India’s leading diversified financial services companies with solutions across lending, life insurance, general insurance, and wealth advisory categories. A famous financial leader, he has reshaped digital consumer financing in India with a consumer-first, digital approach and a culture focused on excellence through innovative disruption.
Sanjiv is on the board of his group operating companies as the Chairman of Bajaj Finance Limited, Maharashtra Scooters Limited, Bajaj Finserv Asset Management, Bajaj Housing Finance Limited and the two insurance subsidiaries, i.e., Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited. He is also the Managing Director of Bajaj Holdings & Investment Limited (since 2012) and serves as a non-executive director at Bajaj Auto Limited.
He was the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2022-23. He is a member of the Steering Committee appointed by the Government of India for B20 as part of India’s G20 Presidency FY 2022-23.
Sanjiv is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, USA. He is a member of the Board of the Indian School of Business (ISB), a Member of the International Advisory Board (IAB), Allianz SE and the International Technology Advisory Panel (ITAP) of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Regional Stewardship Board for India and South Asia 2019-2020 of the World Economic Forum. Over the years, he has been lauded with several prestigious honours for his contribution to the financial services space, including:AIMA’s Transformational Business Leader 2023
AIMA’s Entrepreneur of the Year 2019
Economic Times Business Leader of the Year 2018
Financial Express Best Banker of the Year 2017
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017
Transformational Leader Award at the 5th Asia Business Responsibility Summit in 2017
Business World’s Most Valuable CEOs in India for 2015 and 2016
He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering (first class with distinction) from the University of Pune, a master’s degree in manufacturing systems engineering (with distinction) from the University of Warwick, UK and a master’s degree in business administration (with distinction) from the Harvard Business School, USA. He lives in Pune, Maharashtra, with his wife, Shefali and their two children.
Nita Ambani
The Reliance Foundation set up in 2010 to provide a push to multiple philanthropic initiatives of Reliance Industries Limited is led by Nita Ambani. One of the most revolutionary leaders of India, Nita Ambani is known for her efforts towards women empowerment and philanthropic initiatives across mandates. In line with her mission to empower women across the country, this Women’s Day she launched ‘Her Circle’, a social media platform for networking and goal fulfillment. The Reliance Group under her stewardship has touched the lives of millions of people across rural and urban India. A flagship project under her guidance was the Jamnagar Township Project in 1997, where she ideated building a company township for the Jamnagar Reliance refinery’s employees. The project was concerned with establishing an environmentally friendly and tree-lined colony for over 17,000 residents. Today, the Jamnagar complex boasts of one of the largest orchards and is home to various exquisite birds.
Kumar Mangalam Birla
Popularly known as the commodities’ king, Kumar Mangalam Birla is the head of the versatile Aditya Birla Group. This multi-billion dollar Group has its interests across sectors like financial services, cement, telecom, and aluminium. The Group is known to bring about social change via their purposeful welfare-centered activities that are transforming the lives of the weaker sections of the society. Under the guidance of Kumar Mangalam Birla, the Group is involved in 5,000 villages making a difference to the lives of 7.5 million people annually through methodically conceived projects that focus on multiple mandates such as education, health care, infrastructure, sustainable livelihood, and other pressing social causes.
