Indian industrialists making foray into higher education
Although Vedanta University has not taken off yet, several other industrialists and billionaires have made efforts to establish quality higher education institutions in India. Using the links in http://prayatna.typepad.com/education/2011/11/ashoka-university-at-sonepat-and-the-young-india-fellowship.html we give a short list of the other efforts.
1. Ashoka University: Following is an excerpt from a report in http://www.businessworld.in/businessworld/content/Focus-Art-Learning.html.
To recreate their own experience of learning at US universities, a group of professionals have come together to set up a new university of liberal arts in India. Well known names in Delhi and Mumbai circles — Ashish Dhawan (ChrysCapital), Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Naukri.com), Pramath Sinha (9.9 Mediaworx), NV “Tiger” Tyagarajan and Vineet Gupta (Jamboree), among others, are part of the International Foundation for Research and Education.
To be located in the Rajiv Gandhi Education City in Kundli, Sonepat, across 25 acres, Ashoka University has sought “private university” status from the Haryana government and will be not-for-profit. A total of Rs 50 crore has been paid for the land, and the first phase is expected to cost about Rs 200 crore. The seed capital has been put up by the trustees, apart from donations from individuals.
Dhawan, senior managing director, ChrysCapital — who recently announced he was stepping down — plans to get into school education in a big way. However, with Ashoka University, the “idea is to offer a greater focus on languages, humanities and social sciences and to offer breadth rather than just depth as in the British system. Instead of studying one subject in depth for 3-4 years, the idea is to study many subjects across disciplines,” says Dhawan. He says it will offer courses and areas of study on the lines of universities such as Yale, Princeton and Amherst.
… Pramath Sinha, founder of 9.9 Mediaworx, brings his experience of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, to the new venture. Some of the IFRE founders were keen to set up a quality engineering institute, while others wanted “more holistic” liberal arts courses. “We decided to marry the two and brought everyone together to set up a more ambitious project,” Sinha says.
Says an advisor in the Planning Commission: “Given the paucity of public funds, we need many such initiatives to bridge the demand between quantity and quality in higher education.” The founders, he says, can raise funds through various means. Given the founders’ past experience, raising capital should be the least of their problems.
2. Azim Premji University: The Azim Premji University is up and running in Bangalore. See http://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/.
3. Shiv Nadar University: The Shiv Nadar University is up and running in Delhi area. See http://snu.edu.in/.
4. Reliance University: There have been several news item regarding Nita Ambani heading the establishment of a Reliance University through the Reliance Foundation. See the announcement here.
Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.
The Reliance Group is setting up a ‘world-class’ university as it seeks to promote education and research in sectors ranging from liberal arts to technology .
Reliance Foundation, which will spearhead the project, is expected to start the university either in Mumbai or Delhi. Nita Ambani, the wife of RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani, will head the new project.
India’s largest business conglomerate has started the process of identifying land for the proposed university , according to persons familiar with the development.
The university, modelled on the lines of American universities such as The University of Pennsylvania, will tie up with foreign universities. "It will be international in scale and in best practices, but with an Indian soul," said Mukesh Ambani, chairman, Reliance Group.
Nita Ambani told ET that the proposed university would be located either outside Mumbai or Delhi. "We are looking for sufficient land to set up a world-class university," she said.
Mr Ambani made this announcement while making the acceptance speech at Mumbai’s Tident Hotel after receiving the Dean’s medal from the University of Pennsylvania’s engineering school. His father Dhirubhai Ambani was earlier conferred Dean’s medal from Wharton School of Management.
The university will initially offer undergraduate courses. It will later offer postgraduate and doctoral courses, Ms Ambani said. India’s big business houses are strengthening their focus on education as it is poised to become a $80-billion opportunity by 2012. Indian spend $50 billion on private education annually, according to a research report by IDFC. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16%, said a CLSA Pacific study.
5. Proposed Bharati University: Following are excerpts from an article in http://prayatna.typepad.com/education/2010/07/mittals-speak-about-the-proposed-bharti-university.html that quotes from a CNBC interview.
Q: So could we possibly see a Bharti University being setup anytime soon? And now you can also bring in foreign partners and collaborate with them.
Mittal: For us education will never be a business and therefore whatever we do will have to be done through grants and contribution from the group and friends. And I don’t know whether foreign universities would want to come in for the philanthropy part of it. But we will bring them in at our cost and price but they will not be a foreign university, it should be a Bharti University funded endowed by the contributions that we have made.
November 21st, 2011