An endowment fund has been launched by the IIT Delhi (Indian Institute of Technology) with an initial fund raising from Flipkart founders Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, including other potential investors, reported Mint. The endowment fund by IIT was formally unveiled by President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday, which plans to create capital to the tune of $1 billion by 2025.
The endowment fund has already secured INR 250 crore from Flipkart founder, Udaan co-founder Sujeet Kumar, and many other investors.
What is an endowment fund?
It is a huge way of income for top global universities that uses it for developmental activities and student scholarships.
Prof Sanjeev Sanghi, Dean, Alumni Affairs and International Programmes, said, “The beauty of this initiative is that it is being spearheaded by the IIT-D alumni themselves. Instead of the institute administration reaching out to the alumni for contributions, it is the alumni who are making it into a movement.”
The IIT Delhi said that the initial major contributors, who are founders of this Endowment and have committed to contribute more than INR 10 crore, each have come from across the batches of IIT starting from Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal of Flipkart, Sandeep Singhal and many others.
Furthermore, according to IIT Delhi, its alumni manage and run companies with a cumulative value of over $100 billion. The direct and indirect employment created by IIT Delhi graduates is over 30 million.