Uttar Pradesh
In one of the biggest donations to any IIT so far, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur has received one of the biggest personal donations from Rakesh Gangwal, Co-Founder of IndiGo airlines and an alumnus of the institute. A donation of Rs 100 crore has been made towards IIT-K’s School of Medical Sciences and Technology.
The announcement was made by IIT Kanpur’s Director, Abhay Karandikar, who announced this on social media platform Twitter. “Here is big news from @IITKanpur. In an extraordinary gesture, our alumnus Mr Rakesh Gangwal, Co-Founder of IndiGo airlines has made one of the largest personal donations with a 100 crore contribution focused on supporting the School of Medical Sciences & Technology at IIT Kanpur,” he tweeted.
The full 100 crore will be received over a period of two years, and Rs 7 crore has already been transferred. IIT Kanpur’s School of Medical Sciences and Technology is being defined as “first of its kind” by the Director as he claims that no other IIT branch has such a setup in India.
The School of Medical Sciences and Technology involves 450 budget super-speciality hospitals, 50 beds-cancer care hospital and about eight centres of excellence that will work at the intersection of engineering and medicine, the Director told.
He also informed that the entire construction of the project is about Rs 600 crores, out of which the institute has already received nearly Rs 300-350 crore in donations from alumni, including the recent donation of Rs 100 crore. So, now the construction of the building and other infrastructure will begin in the next couple of months. The entire project will take two more years to be completed. “So, by 2025 or 2024, it will become fully operational,” Abhay Karandikar said. As for the donation amount, the entirety of the Rs 100 crore will be allotted to the construction of the centre and getting resources for the same.
Born in Kolkata, Rakesh Gangwal earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in 1975, after which he completed his MBA degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has also been conferred with the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the IIT-K. He is now the co-founder and owner of IndiGo airlines.
