Lodha Group Owner, Abhishek Lodha, gives his substantial shareholding in Macrotech Developers for national and social service

Pune : The owners / promoters of one of India’s largest real estate companies – Lodha Group, Abhishek Lodha and family, have announced that on the auspicious occasion of Diwali, they will be transferring a significant part of their shareholding in the listed company, Macrotech Developers Ltd. (Lodha / MDL), to Lodha Philanthropy Foundation (LPF).

LPF is a non-profit organization that uses all its income and assets solely for national and social upliftment causes. LPF will have an initial corpus of ~Rs. 20,000 crores (US$2.5 billion). LPF’s current initiatives include:

1. Lodha Unnati – Focussed on increasing female participation in India’s workforce driven by the belief that women’s economic empowerment is both economically and socially critical. The program works with a large number of corporates to make conditions conducive for female employees. Simultaneously, it works with female workers to upskill them and give them the tools to do justice to both work and family commitments.

2. Institute of Applied Mathematics (IAM) – Modelled after the Fields Institute in Toronto (Canada), IAM is focussed on encouraging top mathematical minds – of Indian as well as non-Indian origin – to do high-quality research and enable India to become a leading force in mathematical research. Driven by the belief that technological superiority is key to national security and economic success in the 21st century, IAM seeks to establish India as a pre-eminent source of mathematical innovation.

3. Lodha Genius Programme – The Genius programme focuses on helping the brightest children from across India, irrespective of income background, achieve their fullest potential by fulfilling their key requirements – including financial, mentoring, infrastructure, as well as advanced learning. The program identifies and supports children from middle school upto their 1st job and while doing so, seeks to imbibe a spirit of giving back to nation and society in these bright minds. The program works with eminent academics including Nobel Laureates, as well as leading institutions such as Ashoka University.

4. Justice Gumanmal Lodha Scholars Program – Inspired by the legacy of Late Chief Justice Guman Mal Lodha who rose to prominence in Judiciary and Politics from extremely humble beginnings, our Scholars Program supports meritorious Indian students study at the top global institutions for their undergraduate and post-graduate programs. While not being a requirement, it encourages these bright minds to come back to India after completing their education and support India’s development. The program offers scholarships of upto US$100,000 per year to a qualifying scholar covering tuition as well as incidental expenses. The program has been initiated at Harvard University, and further plans to partner with 10 top global institutions over the next few years.

5. Lodha-RMI Net Zero Accelerator – Lodha seeks to transition the built environment (buildings and infrastructure) in India to become net zero on carbon (and other GHG) emissions at the earliest. Lodha has partnered with the Rocky Mountain Institute, USA (RMI) to get the best global practices and innovate to implement them in India. As a result, of this partnership, Lodha has already achieved net zero emissions on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions and is actively working on a significant reduction in Scope 3 emissions. In addition, Lodha now carries out ~99% of its construction activities using renewable power and recycles ~99% of waste water at its developments. Lodha is now rated amongst the top 10 real estate developers globally for its sustainability practices.

6. Chandresh Lodha Memorial Schools – The Foundation provides high-quality education to almost 10,000 students with a special focus on character development. Almost 50% of students are provided scholarships or charged nominal fees.

7. Sitaben Shah Temples – The Foundation believes that India’s rich heritage, scriptures, and traditions, are at the root of India’s strength and progress. The Foundation has opened numerous temples and supports initiatives to improve knowledge of our heritage in the younger generation.

Commenting on the family’s decision to allocate a significant portion of their wealth to national and social causes, Abhishek Lodha, MD & CEO of Lodha Group, said “About 100 years ago, the Tata family gave a major part of their shareholding in their enterprise to the Tata Trusts. The huge impact of this gift on India and the good work by the Tata Trusts has been a major inspiration for me. With the blessings of my parents, Shri Mangal Prabhat Lodha and Smt. Manju Lodha, and the support of my wife, Smt. Vinti Lodha, and our children, Lodha Philanthropy Foundation (LPF) will now own ~1/5th of one of India’s largest real estate companies, Macrotech Developers Ltd. (Lodha / MDL). As Lodha grows further in the years to come, LPF will have ever-increasing resources to fulfil our commitment of ‘Do Good, Do Well’.

LPF has 4 key focus areas – women, children, environment, and Indian culture. We have been scaling up the activities of the Foundation in the past few years and believe that we now have the right programs, leadership, and team, to enable the Foundation to make a meaningful difference to the Hon’ble Prime Minister vision of India becoming a developed nation by 2047. The Lodha Philanthropy Foundation represents the dreams of all 1.5 billion Indians and from today onwards, all of India will be a partner in, and benefit from, the growth and success of Lodha Group and Macrotech Developers. In the spirit of jan bhaagidari, this is our humble contribution to nation building.”