Fund Donates $1-Billion to Create Research University in India
July 21, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Anil Agarwal Foundation, created by the chairman of Vedanta Resources, has pledged $1-billion to establish a large university in the Indian state of Orissa, the largest donation ever given to a single higher-education institution, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Mr. Agarwal, who made his money from a metal and mining company, hopes that the research university will open in 2008 and ultimately enroll 100,000 students. He said he hopes the institution will do for India what Stanford University did for California’s Silicon Valley.
The Indian government has allocated 8,000 acres for the institution and plans to grant it complete administrative authority, unlike the other, state-run universities in that country.
