MUMBAI: The University of Mumbai has received its largest private donation from an old boy in the city. A commerce graduate from Podar College, Asit Koticha (52), chairman and founder-promoter of the ASK Group -- a financial services and investment company -- gifted his alma mater a purse of Rs 32 crore, to set up an international convention centre and a school of philosophy. But the plans drawn up for the project require roughly Rs 100 crore for execution, and Koticha says he is talking to some of his friends to chip in too.
Probably the largest gift that a conventional Indian university has received in recent times has enthused the university heads, who have drawn up mega plans for its utilization.
"There is a need for a convention centre on campus. In fact, I have plans of setting up such a self-sufficient facility that hold conventions, conferences, as well as hosts visiting scholars. Apart from a large conference hall, the centre will have accommodation facilities and many halls to hold parallel sessions," says MU vice-chancellor Rajan Welukar.
Echoing his view, Koticha feels that the financial capital does not have a centre to hold large conventions, and "where better than in Kalina, in the heart of the city, should it come up".
But after the initial plans were shared with the 52-year-old donor, he realised that the bill was likely to escalate. "For the kind of plans that have been designed...200 rooms, tech-savvy convention halls...now all that is going to require a good sum, say about Rs 100 crore. So I am speaking to some of my friends to come forward and chip in too," he says.
For the 154-year-old varsity, which has seen help coming from its old boys in vario us forms, this gift has come at an appropriate hour. This year, the state government's budget for all the universities of Maharshtra put together is Rs 7 crore, and academicians say a lot of it will be diverted towards salaries, which have risen thanks to the Sixth Pay Commission.
Large purse, larger heart
** 1999: Nandan Nilekani gifted close to $5 million. Funds were used for setting up hostels, the Kanwal Rekhi School of IT and a faculty chair
** 2003: Vinod Khosla, general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, announced a $5 million donation to his alma mater, IIT Delhi
** 2007: Victor Menezes, ex-senior vice chairman of Citigroup, gave $3 mn to IIT-B for setting up a convention centre
* 2008: Romesh Wadhwani, founder of Symphony Group, gifted IIT-B close to Rs 22 crore to set up a research centre in the area of bio sciences
* 2010: Prabha Kant Sinha, an alumnus of IIT-Kharagpur who runs a marketing and sales consulting firm in the US recently announced a $2 million contribution to his alma mater for conducting research in bio-fuels
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