Indian Software Executive Donates $2 Billion for Education

Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro Company speaks at Wipro campus in the southern Indian city of Bangalore (file photo)

One of India's richest men says he is donating nearly $2 billion to help fund education initiatives in India.

Azim Premji, the chairman of software company Wipro, said Wednesday he is giving 213 million of his shares in the company to a charitable trust.

The Azim Premji Foundation, as the trust is called, will fund rural education initiatives and teacher training programs. The foundation is also working to build a new university in the southern city of Bangalore.

Premji said good education is "crucial to building a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society."

He has a net worth of about $17 billion, and will transfer the donated shares to the foundation by December 7.