About
To build enduring institutions in education and the arts, guided by the philosophy of 'creative philanthropy': the creation of institutions designed to last and generate impact across generations, rather than project-based or corrective interventions. In education, the Foundation works to bridge the socio-economic divide through transformational access for students from rural and under-resourced backgrounds. In the arts, its mission is realised through the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), which it operates as India's first private philanthropic museum of modern and contemporary art, bringing the modern and contemporary visual heritage of the Indian subcontinent to public audiences and advancing it onto a global platform through international partnerships and scholarly programming.
The Shiv Nadar Foundation (SNF) is a privately endowed Indian philanthropic foundation established in 1994 by Shiv Nadar, the founder and chairman of HCL Technologies. It operates seven landmark institutions spanning education and the arts, with a total investment exceeding US$1.85 billion. The Foundation's approach is framed as 'creative philanthropy': institution-building designed for long-term, generational impact rather than time-bound project grants. Five of its seven institutions are educational: SSN College of Engineering (Chennai, 1996), VidyaGyan (two campuses in Uttar Pradesh, meritorious rural scholarship programme), Shiv Nadar School (five campuses across Delhi-NCR and Chennai), and Shiv Nadar University (Noida, 2011; Chennai). The sixth and seventh are the arts: KNMA and a major new museum campus under construction near Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, designed by Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye in collaboration with S. Ghosh and Associates, scheduled to open in 2026 as what is described as India's largest art and cultural centre (approximately 100,000 sq m). SNF does not award grants to third-party organisations; its cultural engagement is entirely delivered through KNMA, which it operates directly. As of 2024, the Foundation's community spans more than 56,000 alumni and current students, over 3,600 faculty and staff, and a constituency of more than 100,000 including families and corporate alumni.
The Shiv Nadar Foundation (est. 1994) is education-dominant — five of its seven institutions are educational — but it is also the operator of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, India's first private philanthropic museum of modern and contemporary art. That single, deep cultural institution is what carries its funds_culture gate (intensity 7): the Foundation concentrates all of its cultural commitment into KNMA rather than spreading across many forms. The realistic way to engage it on culture is institutional partnership with KNMA — loans, co-exhibitions, biennale pavilions — not a grant application.
Visit & Access
The Shiv Nadar Foundation does not operate a public-facing administrative venue. Its cultural institution, the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), is the sole public touchpoint. KNMA currently operates across two locations: KNMA Saket (Select CITYWALK Mall, Saket, New Delhi) and KNMA Noida (Sector 3, Noida, co-located with the Foundation's offices). Both are open to the public free of charge. A major new purpose-built KNMA campus, designed by Sir David Adjaye and S. Ghosh and Associates, is under construction on a 100,000 sq m site near the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, and is scheduled to open in 2026. The new building will house 11 galleries, two auditoriums (seating 700 and 200 respectively), studios, and spaces for visual arts, music, dance and theatre. SNF's administrative office is at A-9, Sector 3, Noida. The Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant applications.
Founding & Leadership
Shiv Nadar was born on 14 July 1945 in Moolaipozhi, Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu, into a Tamil Hindu family. After studying at several schools in Tamil Nadu and completing a pre-university degree from American College, Madurai, he graduated in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore. He began his career in 1967 at Walchand Group's Cooper Engineering Ltd in Pune, before co-founding Microcomp in the early 1970s to sell calculators. In 1976, he co-founded HCL (then Hindustan Computers Limited) with an initial investment of Rs 1.87 lakh, building it over four decades into a global technology enterprise. HCL Technologies, the primary listed entity, is now led by his daughter Roshni Nadar Malhotra, who serves as its Chairperson; Nadar stepped down as managing director in 2021 and holds the title of Chairman Emeritus. He established the Shiv Nadar Foundation in 1994 as a vehicle for structured, institutionalised philanthropy. In 2024 alone, he donated Rs 2,153 crore to the Foundation, equivalent to approximately Rs 5.9 crore per day. He has joined the Giving Pledge, committing to give away a majority of his wealth in his lifetime. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2008 for services to the IT industry. He is married to Kiran Nadar, an art collector and philanthropist, and is the founder-trustee of KNMA.
Founder-led / family-trustee board (Shiv Nadar, Kiran Nadar, Roshni Nadar Malhotra).
Leadership & Trustees
Initiatives & Portfolio
India's first private philanthropic museum of modern & contemporary art (15,000+ works).
A David Adjaye-designed ~1,000,000 sq ft museum near IGI Airport, in development.
'Our Time for a Future Caring' - with the Ministry of Culture, CII and NGMA.
Cultural Funding
Cultural verticals
Impact & Metrics
Partnerships & Network
Partner institutions
Funders & patrons
New KNMA campus (under construction, opening 2026): designed by Adjaye Associates (Sir David Adjaye) in collaboration with S. Ghosh and Associates; architectural model exhibited at 18th Venice Architecture Biennale (2023). International museum partnerships: Reina Sofía (Madrid), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Tate Modern (London), Sharjah Art Foundation. India Pavilion at Venice Biennale 2019 curated with Ministry of Culture.
Credentials & Compliance
CSR-eligible · Schedule VII(v) - art & culture
Founder philanthropy (not statutory company CSR).
Recognition
Operates KNMA - India's first private philanthropic museum of modern & contemporary art; drove the India Pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale.
[Atlas Assessment] SNF's cultural weight is entirely KNMA, and KNMA is heavyweight: a 15,000-work collection, global museum collaborations, the 2019 Venice India Pavilion, and a forthcoming Adjaye-designed landmark. The honest framing is that SNF 'operates, doesn't grant' — a partnership prospect, not a funding applicant's target, and deep-but-narrow (visual arts only).
SNF is the set's clearest 'operates, doesn't grant' funder. Its cultural commitment is real and deep but routed entirely through one institution (KNMA), so the right engagement is museum-to-museum partnership, not an application. Keep it strictly separate from HCL Foundation — a different Nadar-family entity.