BITS Pilani alumni pledges $1 million for endowment fund

In the four batch reunions that were held at the Pilani campus between November and December 2023, all batches have contributed and pledged generously over $1.4 million (Rs 11.5 crore).

Pratul Shroff of the 1971 batch of BITS Pilani and founder and former CEO of Einfochips, has pledged  $1 million for the endowment fund of the institute.

An additional Rs 4.5 crore will be contributed over five years towards establishing 10 full percent fellowships to support cutting-edge research at BITS Pilani and another 10 for meritorious students from economically disadvantaged households, BITS Pilani said in a statement.

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“In my opinion, very strong educational institutions of the USA are one of the critical success factors for the USA’s dominant position in the world today. Their industrialists of the 19th century created world-class institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, etc. by very generous endowments. With these world-class educational institutions, the USA has been able to attract top-notch talent, maintain its cutting edge in research and stay ahead of the curve in almost every arena. I wish that successful entrepreneurs and industrialists can create very strong and robust endowments for educational institutions such as Pilani and build a brighter future for India,” said Pratul Shroff.

In the four batch reunions that were held at the Pilani campus between November and December 2023, all batches have contributed and pledged generously over $1.4 million (Rs 11.5 crore). The total funds raised from Alumni and CSR funding in the last financial year 2022-23 had crossed Rs 32 crore for different initiatives.

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BITS Pilani said the achievements of alumni are remarkable with more than 7,400 CEOs and MDs, over 6,400 company founders with 14 of them Unicorns today, around 3,300 faculty members at prestigious international universities and about 600 professionals in civil services & Indian defence services.