Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani topped the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2018, released on Saturday, with the highest contribution of Rs 437 crore between October 2017 and September 2018.

Ambani was followed by Piramal Group Chairman Ajay Piramal who made Rs 200 crore donations during the period.

The list, compiled by the Hurun Research Institute, ranks individuals from India who donated Rs 10 crore and above between October 1, 2017 and September 30, 2018. 

The total Indian philanthropy amount in the list stands at Rs 1,560 crore. The list included 39 Indians with the average contribution per philanthropist being Rs 40 crore.

It showed that education was the most preferred cause for donations, followed by healthcare and rural development.

Ambani's corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure is channelised through Reliance Foundation. Ambani's philanthropic interests include sectors like education, social, rural development and healthcare. According

He was also named the richest Indian by the Barclays Hurun India Rich List for 2018, released in September last year, with a net worth of Rs 3.71 lakh crore as on July 31, 2018.

The list also included Azim Premji and family who donated Rs 113 crore, Adi Godrej and family (Rs 96 crore), LuLu Group’s Yusuff Ali (Rs 70 crore), HCL’s Shiv Nadar (Rs 56 crore), Savji Dholakia from Hari Krishna Exports (Rs 40 crore), Shapoor Pallonji Mistry (Rs 36 crore) and Cyrus Pallonji Mistry (Rs 36 crore) from Shapoorji Pallonji and Adani Enterprises’ Gautam Adani (Rs 30 crore).

“The philanthropic landscape of India is changing and evolving because of the active participation and contribution of the top Indian entrepreneurs. Some of the most amazing global wealth creation stories of this century will be from India. Consequently, in the next 5-10 years, I expect to see an exponential increase in active philanthropy emanating from India,” A Financial Express report quotes Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun Report India as saying.