Philanthropy should not be made a rule for cos: Infy CEO

BANGALORE: Software major Infosys' CEO S Gopalakrishnan today said philanthropy should not be made mandatory for Indian corporates, and instead called for great examples to encourage people to follow this path.

"I don't think it should be made mandatory. I think we should encourage people to do it (philanthropy)," added Gopalakrishnan, who was one of the guests at the lunch of legendary investor Warren Buffett.

The India IT bellwether CEO also attended an interactive session with Buffett, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

"We should talk about examples, we should talk about stories (about philanthropic activities)", he said, adding, Buffett and Bill Gates are "great examples" in this context.

"There are great examples in India also. So, I think we need to talk about these examples and people will follow (with philanthropic activities). I don't think it should be made mandatory (for companies)" Gopalakrishnan said.

Buffett has pledged 99 per cent of his wealth in conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, of which he is the Chairman and CEO, to philanthropy.