About
To contribute to a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society, including through education and support for culture and the arts.
The Azim Premji Foundation, established in 2001 by the Wipro founder and philanthropist Azim Premji, is one of the largest philanthropic organisations in India, funded by a substantial endowment of his personal wealth. While its core work is in education and social development, including the Azim Premji University, the wider Premji and Wipro philanthropy has also supported the arts, culture and heritage, and the Wipro group has been among the corporate patrons of significant cultural institutions and initiatives, contributing to India's arts ecosystem alongside its dominant focus on education.
Azim Premji, who pledged the majority of his wealth to philanthropy, built the Azim Premji Foundation into a pillar of Indian education philanthropy from 2001 onward. Within the broader Premji and Wipro giving, support has extended to cultural and heritage initiatives and to institutions across the arts, reflecting the group's engagement with culture as part of its wider social contribution, even as education remains its central mission.
Visit & Access
Founding & Leadership
Azim Premji is one of India's most prominent philanthropists and the founder of Wipro Limited. He has committed the majority of his personal wealth, estimated at over $21 billion, to the Azim Premji Philanthropies through the Giving Pledge. While the Foundation's primary focus is education reform in rural India, its work on oral history, tribal knowledge systems and local cultural practices intersects with cultural heritage documentation.
Endowment-funded through Azim Premji's personal Wipro shareholding donations; direct programme delivery plus grant-making
Founder-led board; Anurag Behar serves as CEO
Leadership & Trustees
Initiatives & Portfolio
Direct work with government schools and communities across 50+ districts in 9 states. Includes documentation of local cultural knowledge and practices.
The academic arm established in 2010 offering programmes in education, development and public policy. Includes courses touching on cultural education and community knowledge systems.
Azim Premji Foundation has played a significant role in building India's philanthropic culture, including advocacy for giving among India's ultra-high net worth individuals.
Cultural Funding
Impact & Metrics
Partnerships & Network
Partner institutions
Partners with multiple state governments on education reform; funds a range of civil society organisations through APPI grants; co-founded the Independent and Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF) with Rohini Nilekani
Credentials & Compliance
Recognition
One of the world's largest philanthropies (education); a deliberate gate-negative in the cultural-funding benchmark.
The Azim Premji Foundation and the wider Wipro philanthropy are among India's most significant, and their support extends to culture and heritage alongside their central work in education.
[Atlas Perspective] Profiled as an Institution with the role of Funder. The Foundation and the wider Wipro philanthropy support education and, alongside it, culture and heritage. Its cultural funding is one dimension of a philanthropy centred primarily on education; specifics should be verified against the Foundation's own communications.