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BITS Pilani receives $1 million endowment from US alumnus for female scholarships, merit-cum-need financial support

The fund will be used to support meritorious students from low-income backgrounds, with a focus on women, and to back innovation projects that involve structured guidance from faculty members.

2 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Dec 18, 2025 09:14 AM IST

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The campus was in news in May when, after three cases of suicides were reported since December last year, the institute initiated an internal inquiry.

BITS Pilani has announced a $1 million endowment from its alumnus to support female scholarships and faculty-guided innovation initiatives. According to an official statement from BITS, the endowment is aimed at expanding financial assistance for women students and encouraging student-led solutions to real-world problems under faculty mentorship.

The fund will be used to support meritorious students from low-income backgrounds, with a focus on women, and to back innovation projects that involve structured guidance from faculty members. The initiative is intended to strengthen access to education and promote problem-solving approaches within the academic ecosystem at BITS Pilani, according to the institute.

The alumnus, Brij Bhushan, is part of BITS Pilani’s inaugural 1960 batch and is the founder of Reston Consulting Group (RCG), a US-based firm that provides services in network operations and maintenance, cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, IT support, and telecommunications. After a career spanning over two decades in the US telecommunications sector, he founded RCG in 1987, which serves government and commercial clients in the United States.

Acknowledging the contribution, BITS Pilani officials noted that the endowment aligns with the institute’s efforts to strengthen student welfare and encourage alumni participation in academic development. Faculty representatives also highlighted the role of alumni-led initiatives in fostering a culture of sustained giving and engagement.

In their statement, the institute also highlighted a long association between the Bhushan family and BITS Pilani. Brij Bhushan and his wife Champa Bhushan, a BITS alumna with a master’s degree in electrical engineering completed in 1966, have been active in the Washington DC alumni community since 1980. Following his retirement, the couple returned to India and taught for a semester at the Pilani campus in 2006. Earlier in 2009, they also established two merit-cum-need (MCN) scholarships at BITS Pilani, which continue to support students.

BITS Pilani also noted the setting-up of a larger endowment framework to support long-term institutional initiatives.