IIT-Bombay has received a secret donation of Rs 160 crore from an alumnus to set up a green energy and sustainability research center on the campus. On this occasion, IIT Bombay Director Subhasis Chowdhary mentioned the temples where people give donations in the donation box. He said that this is one of the rare occasions when we have received an anonymous donation. Although it is common in America. I don’t think any university in India has received such a huge personal gift in recent times, where the donor wants to remain faceless.
More than a decade ago, when Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani gifted Rs 85 crore in installments to IIT-B, that too was anonymous. His contribution to his alma mater later became public. In June 2023, he donated Rs 315 crore, making his total gift to IIT-B Rs 400 crore. This is the largest individual donation received by any institution in India till date.
The donation comes at a time when the institution is hit by budget cuts and is taking a loan from the Higher Education Financing Agency for expansion. The donated funds will go towards establishing a green energy and sustainability research center on campus. A part of it will be used for building new infrastructure. A major part of this amount will be set aside for research.
The GESR Hub will facilitate research in critical areas including battery technologies, solar photovoltaics, biofuels, clean-air science, flood forecasting and carbon capture. IIT-B’s Chowdhary said that donors know that when they give money to IIT-B, it will be used efficiently and for the right purpose.
