by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Markets, News
Azim Premji
Bengaluru:(IANS) There was a strong demand for IT services in Europe and the US where the economy gained a lot of strength, Wipro chairman and IT czar Azim Premji said on Wednesday.
“With the US economy gaining lot of strength, we are seeing strong demand for IT services globally, particularly in continental Europe,” Premji told reporters on the margins of the software major’s 69th annual general meeting here.
Noting that digital technology has emerged as a major trend in IT services, Premji said the company was investing substantially in digital domain in a big way to capitalise on the opportunities unfolding in the sector worldwide.
“We have a venture fund to invest in early stage tech start-ups. We also have enough strength (funds) in the balance sheet for strategic acquisitions,” Premji said.
Admitting that sharp fall in crude oil prices helped the country in reducing its import bill and the trade deficit, the Wipro chairman said the growth was still not felt on the ground.
“Fall in oil prices has helped country but the jury is still out on the growth of the GDP (gross domestic product). We need to, however, give the government more time,” Premji said.
Earlier, in his address at the AGM, Premji told the shareholders that he gave away nearly 40 percent of his equity holding in the company to philanthropy in two transactions, including 21 percent earlier to the Azim Premji Foundation and Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiative.
“I have given up an additional 18 percent of my equity stake in the company for charity to earmark 39 percent of my holding (valued at Rs.53,284 crore) to the charitable trust,” Premji said, drawing applause from the investors.
The 69-year-old IT czar is the first Indian to sign the Giving Pledge, sponsored by billionaires Warren Buffet and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to invite the world’s richest to donate majority of their wealth to charity.
“Over the last 15 years, I have tried to put this belief into action through my personal philanthropic work,” Premji told the shareholders.
The Premji-led promoter group, including his family members, holds around 73.40 percent of the equity stake in the IT outsourcing major.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | C S R, Corporate, Ethical Fund, News
Azim Premji
Bengaluru: IT czar Azim Premji has given away almost half of his shareholding in Wipro, India’s third largest exporter of software services, towards philanthropy.
Wipro’s billionaire founder has given away an additional 18 per cent of his stake in the IT company for charity, thus earmarking a 39 per cent of stake (worth Rs 53,284 crore) for a charitable trust.
The latest philanthropic initiative by Mr Premji would pump in an additional Rs 530 crore by way of dividends into the Azim Premji Trust’s corpus this year.
Mr Premji, 69, is the first Indian to sign the Giving Pledge, sponsored by billionaires Warren Buffett and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to invite the world’s wealthiest to donate a majority of their wealth to charity.
“Over the past fifteen years, I have tried to put this belief into action through my personal philanthropic work…,” Mr Premji said in a letter to shareholders published in the company’s annual report for the year ended March 2015.
Mr Premji said, “Over these years I have irrevocably transferred a significant part of the shareholding in Wipro, amounting to 39 per cent of the shares of Wipro, to a Trust (of which ownership in 21.14 per cent was transferred and for the balance the Trust is entitled to beneficial interest of dividends and sale proceeds).”
The previously transferred 21 per cent stake was estimated at $4.3 billion. The promoter group led by Mr Premji holds a 73.39 per cent stake in Wipro.
Mr Premji was considered the ‘most generous Indian’ of 2014, according to the Hurun India Philanthropy List.
He said the trust supports the work of The Azim Premji Foundation and Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiative, and thus a very significant part of the value created by Wipro goes towards social causes.
Mr Premji also stated in the report that economic value is sustainable only if created on a foundation of ethics and responsibility.
“For us, this is the driving force in the form of our values and is something that we will continue to remain completely committed to,” he added.
The company’s Social and Sustainability initiatives are driven by the conviction that corporations should play a significant role in contributing to building a better society, Mr Premji said.
“The owners – individuals or other entities – of such corporations can do a lot more for society, because they can choose to exercise the right of their ownership, and invest their wealth in any social cause, to their utmost,” he said.
