From housing to Olympic size pool: IITB gets a facelift at 50, courtesy alumni

Three million dollars for a new convention centre to be designed by Hafeez Contractor; 1.8 million dollars for a planned computer centre and engineering building...

Three million dollars for a new convention centre to be designed by Hafeez Contractor; 1.8 million dollars for a planned computer centre and engineering building; 2.5 million dollars for an upcoming gymkhana with an indoor stadium, squash courts and Olympic-size pool.

These million-dollar alumni cheques and pledges to pay, are on the way from US, to finance ambitious rebuilding of the nearly half-century-old campus of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay IITB with a new look and a new academic, research vision for the next 50 years.

This is no ordinary fundraising movement, being planned by a large committee including IITB faculty, alumni and ex-directors. The current goal based on tentative budgets is 60 million dollars about Rs 270 crore. But some in the loop prefer to term the target as 8220;a few dozen million dollars.8221;

The plan is to give the alma mater a modern makeover8212;from classrooms, housing, labs and lecture halls to academics, faculty development and governance8212;for the IITB8217;s golden jubilee year 2007-2008.

8220;The goal is to raise 60 million dollars for the golden jubilee year. Infrastructure development is one aspect,8221; confirms Pradipta Banerji, Dean, Alumni and International Relations.

8220;I think it is doable, we have had several alumni meetings,8221; says IITB Director Ashok Misra. 8220;Some alumni have recently pledged seven to eight million dollars8230; it8217;s a start. The golden jubilee year is 2007-08, so we8217;re looking at a three-year period to raise the amount.8221;

8220;We want to take IIT to the next level by upgrading campus and academic programmes,8221; Misra emphasises, adding that he will also attract funds from big corporate houses.A long and expensive list of 8220;priority projects8221; is overdue for repairs and renovation at the IIT8217;s wooded Powai campus.

Story continues below this ad

8220;A lack of funding for maintenance and ordinary renovation has added to the rate of deterioration,8221; says Misra8217;s note on the IIT Bombay Heritage Fund website, on the need for a revamp. 8220;Virtually all structures built in the early days of IITB, along with the supporting road and service facilities, are rapidly deteriorating, with many already in a poor state.8221;

New housing for faculty and students, a new library building, a new nanotechnology centre, new department buildings and an alumni centre are on the wishlist. Budgets are also being considered for new academic programmes, faculty recruitment, travel and research.

8220;Alumni is supporting the IITB in helping shape the vision for its next 50 years, and by contributing in whichever way the IIT finds appropriate,8221; says Anil Kshirsagar, president of the IIT Bombay Heritage Fund in the US. The IITB alumni family includes about 30,000 students who graduated since its first batch8212;about 7,500 alumni are in the US, from where the recent new contributions have come.

The convention centre will be financed with three million dollars pledged by Citigroup8217;s Victor Menezes. Raj Mashruwala of Tibco Software has pledged 1.8 million dollars for the computer centre and Syntel co-founder Bharat Desai is main sponsor for the gymkhana, along with the IITB batch of 1975. The 1977 batch has partially sponsored new faculty housing being built.