IIT-B receives record USD 3.6 million in donations from US alumni body

The announcement was made during the 62nd Foundation Day Ceremony of the institute. The donations come as a relief to the institute that has been recording a deficit of around ₹100 crore annually for the past four years.

The Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) has received a record donation of USD 3.6 million in 2020-21 from its alumni network in the United States of America (USA).

IIT-B receives record USD 3.6 million in donations from US alumni body

The IIT-Bombay Heritage Foundation, a non-profit organisation in the US, which annually raises funds through the Go IIT-B initiative, raised the funds between March 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021, almost 73% higher than its contribution last year (USD 2.08 million). At the existing conversion rate of ₹72.76 a dollar, this translates to around ₹26.19 crore. Last year, at an average conversion rate of ₹74.13 a dollar, the donation could be roughly translated to ₹15.42 crore.

The announcement was made during the 62nd Foundation Day Ceremony of the institute. The donations come as a relief to the institute that has been recording a deficit of around ₹100 crore annually for the past four years.

Faced with a severe cash crunch, the institute this year launched a new fund-raising initiative called the ‘Cherish IIT-Bombay’ for donors all over India and the world.

As an ‘Institute of Eminence’, IIT-Bombay is set to receive ₹1,000 crore from the central government, but only a small part of it (around ₹43 crore) has been released so far.

Following the tradition of the Foundation Day, the institute thanked all its donors for pitching in for the welfare of the institute. Among other donors were alumni of Hostel 5, who made a donation of ₹5 crore for the renovation of the hostel, said Suhas Joshi, dean, alumni and corporate relations, IIT-Bombay.

Subhashis Chaudhuri, director, IIT-B, said a research park was in the offing that will foster industry-academia collaborations. “The senate of IIT-Bombay has recently passed the proposal for an inter-departmental dual degree programme where engineering students can complete five years of training and be awarded an MBA degree,” he said, adding that a translational research academy that will help students realise their potential business ideas into an actual business model, was also in the pipeline.

Rajesh Gopinathan, chief executive officer and managing director of TCS, who was the chief guest, said, “Our company and IIT-B has been connected for a few decades through its alumni network. I hope that we will hold on to the partnership and look into the future, where the alumni will form the touch point of our relationship. At the institute level, we are aligned for research and development, academic purposes. We look forward to working together in a larger technological ecosystem.”