IIT alumni body to raise Rs 50,000 cr for revitalising domestic research

IITs sceptical of funds benefitting campuses

The relatively new Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Alumni Council has announced an “India Empowerment Fund” with an aim to raise Rs 50,000 crore in a decade, with a promise to rekindle domestic research.

It follows the council setting up a fund earlier this year for social initiatives and investment projects.

Launched on the eve of the IIT2020 “Future is Now” Virtual Summit being organised by the PanIIT USA, the alumni body’s fund is banking on a plea urging every former IITian to repay a sum that matched the subsidy he or she earned as a student.

“Every IIT alumnus, whether in India or overseas, owes a large unpaid debt to the Indian government for the subsidised education they received in India. The IIT Alumni Council will motivate every alumnus to contribute, in cash or technology, a sum equal to the subsidy on his or her education to the India Empowerment Fund. This uniquely structured fund will be used to revitalise domestic research through talent and infrastructure as well as to import key technologies,” said Ravi Sharma, president and chief volunteer of the council.

According to Sharma, with an initial response from the top 10-15 per cent of the over 500,000 IIT alumni, a corpus of Rs 50,000 crore can be created for the India Empowerment Fund over 10 years. “The IIT Alumni Council believes it is only technology that can transform India into a leader in the emerging world order and the India Empowerment initiative could play a key role in this.”

There are 50,000 IIT alumni in the US, according to Sanjiv Goyal, chairman of the IIT 2020 Virtual Summit, board member of PanIIT USA and city chapter chair of IIT Alumni Council. “The IIT Alumni Council has over 35,000 members and over 350 venture funds. We collectively today have what it takes to make a difference for a better tomorrow.”

The fund will operate under the angel fund regulatory framework in India as the IIT Angel Fund and will be the fourth leg of the MegaFund initiative. The other three were a social fund, a co-investment platform and a Fund of Funds. Launched this June, the social fund aimed to raise Rs 21,000 crore over the next decade.

The IITs, however, are sceptical of how much of the fund will eventually trickle down to the campuses for research and development of infrastructure.

Pooling in

• IT Alumni Council has planned four phases of its MegaFund initiative
• In June 2020, it launched a fund for social initiatives of Rs 21,000 cr
• t began the fourth leg on the eve of PanIIT USA’s IIT2020 Virtual Summit; titled India Empowerment Fund, the fourth leg expects a corpus of Rs 50,000 cr
• It is relying on the top 10-15% of the 500,000+ IIT alumni for raising Rs 50,000 cr
• It is aiming at a 10-year window to build corpus for funds

“Firstly, these are voluntary organisations and not set up by the IITs. Secondly, using the IIT tag might make fund-raising easier, but the IITs themselves aren’t involved in this. Thirdly, if IIT as a name is being used, ideally the fund should flow to the campuses. As such, IITs are struggling hard to become top-class,” said the director of an IIT.

There are three major organisations set up by IIT alumni including an India-based PanIIT and a PanIIT USA that have been in existence for many years. The IIT Alumni Council was formed over a year ago.

According to IIT Ropar director S K Das, the institutes themselves run an alumni centre from Bengaluru. “The alumni centre owned and run by IITs will soon have its building so that IITs can host alumni and have collaborations. We are ready to collaborate with any alumni body on a project-by-project basis in which the institute can develop its research capabilities,” Das told Business Standard.

However, Sharma emphasised that the new council is the only alumni organisation that is not working for alumni or their alma mater. “We will work to create social and research infrastructure in India to complement the government. The time has come to go beyond alumni and alma mater. We should start looking at a bigger canvas than IITs.”