The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) on Tuesday announced the launch of ‘IIM Ahmedabad Endowment Fund’, with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore from 10 founding alumni of the institute.
Claiming that it is a "first-of-its-kind fund" set up by an educational institute in the country, IIMA said that it is aiming to increase the corpus to Rs 1,000 crore in the next five years.
“Endowment funds help ensure the financial health of any institute, thereby encouraging growth and self-sufficiency... These funds will play a significant role in realising the long-term goals of the Institute and retain its autonomy,” Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairperson, IIMA Board of Governors, has been quoted as saying in a press release.
With 33,000 alumni since its inception in 1961, IIM-A boasts of having "one in seven CEOs with a management degree from IIM-A" and "highest number of alumni in CEO/CXO-level roles in India’s top 500 companies." The institute has named some of the major contributors from the batch as old as 1974 to 2004.
The setting up of endowment fund holds significance considering that a majority of institutes in the country are heavily dependent on government funds. While most of the top institutes abroad have such funds that help them in research, offering a scholarship to needy students, among others.
“Alumni are a source of pride and strength for the Institute. While they have contributed in many ways to support the institute’s priorities; the endowment corpus will be very impactful as we expect it to emerge as an important source to support key strategic initiatives and innovative projects. Such critical funding support has been missing for most Indian educational institutions and we are happy to create a benchmark,” Prof Errol D’Souza, Director, IIMA, has been quoted as saying.