₹7.4 Crore a Day: What Shiv Nadar’s Giving Teaches India

Every day last year, one Indian family gave away about ₹7.4 crore. Shiv Nadar and family gave ₹2,708 crore, up 26% from the year before, mostly through the Shiv Nadar Foundation. It was the fourth time in five years they topped the list.

The man and the money

Nadar is 81. He started HCL in a garage in 1976 with five friends and $2,300. Forbes put his net worth at about US$30.5 billion in October 2026. That figure moves with the HCL share price. In one April 2026 snapshot, Business Today showed a single-day fall of more than ₹25,000 crore.

Where the money goes

The answer is education. The Nadar family gave ₹2,392 crore to this cause. The Foundation was set up in 1994. It later opened the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in 2010, Shiv Nadar University in Greater Noida in 2011 and Shiv Nadar University Chennai in 2020. It also runs VidyaGyan schools for talented rural children in Uttar Pradesh. Over five years, the family has given ₹10,120 crore.

Is he still at HCL?

In 2021, he became Chairman Emeritus and Strategic Advisor to the board. He no longer runs the company day to day. In July 2020, he handed the chair to his daughter.

His daughter

Roshni Nadar Malhotra is his only child. His wife is Kiran Nadar, an art patron. Roshni became chairperson of HCL Technologies in July 2020, and she also oversees the Foundation’s work. She was the first Indian woman to lead a listed IT company. She is married to Shikhar Malhotra, and they have two sons.

Her wealth rose sharply after a family transfer. In March 2025, her father gifted her 47% of his stake in HCL Corporation and Vama Delhi. The Hurun India Rich List 2025 placed her third in India with ₹2.84 lakh crore, the richest woman in the country. This is a family figure, and it overlaps with her father’s wealth, so do not add the two numbers together.

The harder question

A big number can hide a small share. Nadar’s yearly giving is roughly 1% of his wealth. That is large in rupees, but it is not a sacrifice. Wealth held in HCL shares also keeps growing, often faster than the amount given away.

The way he gives matters more than the amount. He built universities and schools that will last for decades. He did not just write cheques. Hurun also found that education received 40% of all donations on the list. That is a good sign for a young country.

India has more than 350 billionaires. If the rest gave even 2% of their wealth a year, the nation’s schools, hospitals and villages would look very different. Giving is not only for people at the top of the list. The habit matters more than the size of the cheque.

Succession has a lesson too. Nadar did not wait until he was gone to hand over control. He moved his daughter into the chair years ago, and let the family and the Foundation grow together.

The last word

Wealth is how much you earn. Legacy is how much you leave behind. At ₹7.4 crore a day, Shiv Nadar is building the second kind. The question for every Indian with money is simple: what are you building?

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