President Ram Nath Kovind launched the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi global alumni endowment fund on Thursday that will have an initial commitment of more than Rs 250 crore, nearly half of which will come from Flipkart co-founders.
For the fund with an initial seed capital of Rs 255 crore, IIT Delhi has set an aggressive target of raising Rs 1,000 crore by 2020 and Rs 7,000 crore by 2025, according to IIT officials.
“Endowments globally have become integral to the financial health of educational institutions over time. While we are still far from the size and importance of endowment funds of institutions such as Harvard, Yale or Columbia, it is the right first step in this direction. By giving through endowments, alumni are not just giving to their institution but also supporting and nurturing future generations of learners,” Kovind said while launching the fund at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
CNBC-TV18’s Shereen Bhan spoke with Jayant Sinha, Member of Lok Sabha and former MoS of finance and aviation; V Ramgopal Rao, director of IIT-Delhi; Sandeep Singhal, co-founder and managing director of WestBridge Capital India Advisors; Arun Duggal, director of ICRA; Amar Sawhney, president and CEO of I-Therapeutix Inc; Ranu Vohra, co-founder of Avendus; Vikram Gupta, founder and managing partner of IvyCap Ventures; Kavita Iyer, managing trustee of SIFF; Jassi Chadha, founder of Axtria and MarketRx; Sashi Reddi, managing partner of SRI Capital; Sujeet Kumar, co-founder of Udaan; Sanjeev Sanghi, professor at IIT Delhi and SK Jain, founder of RatnaTraya to know more about the fund.