Azim Hashim Premji (born 24 July 1945) is an Indian business tycoon and philanthropist who is the chairman of Wipro Limited, guiding the company through four decades of diversification and growth to emerge as one of the Indian leader in the software industry. According to Forbes, he is currently the third wealthiest Indian with a personal wealth of US$16.8 billion in 2011, as well as being the richest Indian Muslim. In 2000, he was voted among the 20 most powerful men in the world by Asiaweek. He was also among the 50 richest people in the world from 1999 to 2005 according to Fobes. In April 2004, he was rated among the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine. He is India’s biggest philanthropist.

Premji says there is no need for a law on mandatory CSR spending. Speaking at a press conference with Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said he felt larger companies had enough social consciousness to take up responsibilities without being told to do so. He also said that the legislation may be abused by companies which is why the government needed to issue certain guidelines. Premji was responding to a question on the government’s plan to make it mandatory for corporates to spend 2 per cent of their average income of three years, as part of the proposed Companies Bill.

Wipro chairman Azim Premji’s opposition to mandatory spending by industry on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities is indeed echoed by others in the IT industry. Infosys Technologies CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan said that this should not be mandated, but it should be voluntary with proper disclosures. Some believe that shareholders ultimately own the company and thus they need to have a say in the matter as well. B Ramaswamy, MD of Sonata Software, said that the process of deciding how much a company must contribute to CSR must be made more democratic.