IIM heads meet, discuss ways to raise funds for expansion

IIM heads met today to find ways to raise funds to meet expansion plans and are understood to have decided to go ahead with setting up of development centres and start the process of relation building with philanthropists, industrialists and their alumni.

They were of the view that the process should be set in motion for the development centres which would play the role of catalysts in raising funds to meet the ambitious plan of the B-schools, said one of the directors.

The suggestions were that the process of relation building with philanthropists, industrialists, who in recent times have expressed desire to pitch in with resources, should be done in real earnest, the director said.

"We can identify who are the donors and reach out to people who have a big role to play for the future of the IIMs and the economy as a whole," he said. The meeting will continue tomorrow.

The Hari S Bhartia committee report, set up by the HRD Ministry, had suggested setting of development office among other measures to raise funds. It had further suggested that IIMs follow a model that identifies prospective fund givers.

The director said cited foreign universities like Yale and Harvard and Stanford who raised billions through the support of philanthropists and alumni.

In 2010, Tata Group donated $50 million to the prestigious Harvard Business School to fund a new academic and residential building on its campus, the largest gift ever received by the institute.

The IITs have generated resources successfully to meet their requirements.