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IITs fear dip in endowment funds as global economy slows
By siliconindia
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Thursday, 23 October 2008, 16:44 IST |
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Bangalore: Global economy slowdown is likely to affect the functioning of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) also as there would be a decline in the flow of endowment funds from companies and alumnus of IITs who are working abroad especially in U.S., reported Business Standard.
IITs use these funds mostly for new projects, student scholarships, infrastructure and technology upgrades, research chairs and sponsoring students and faculty for conferences abroad.
T K Ghosal, Deputy Registrar (finance), Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur said, "Funds received from alumni and companies are usually meant for specific projects. These funds pour in between October and December every year. Current projects will not be affected despite the economic slowdown, but new projects might take a hit."
About 5000 of 23,000 alumni of IIT Kanpur are working abroad mostly in U.S. The institute which receives five crore to six crore every year through endowment funds expects a decline in the fund this year. IIT Kanpur uses such funds to run around 1,000 projects. "While funds from alumni based in India will continue to flow for some time, funds from alumni and corporations, especially those from software and finance companies abroad, might have second thoughts," said, Mohammad Shakeel, Assistant Registrar, IIT, Kanpur.
Apart from the funds come from HRD ministry, institutes have recently begun canvassing corporate houses and alumni aggressively. Such funds help IITs and IIMs not only for the purpose of expansion but also help them to maintain financial autonomy.
An official of IIT Guwahati said the institute had utilized funds from corporate houses to sponsor faculty for presentation of research papers in conferences abroad. In the absence of corporate support, the institutes will now have to dip into their corpus.
IIT Madras has already utilized around 
60 crore as endowment fund to set up various technology centers. However, Bhaskar Ramamurthi, dean of planning, IIT Madras opined, "With the government funds far outnumbering those from private sources, IITs would not face a cash crunch like that in universities in the U.S." "Indian institutes are likely see a fall in endowment funding for the next year or two," he added.
However, IIMs are expected to have a minimal effect of endowment fund decline. "Since the IIMs function through government grants, corpus funds and fees from their programs, the institutes do not depend on endowment funds," said, Samir Barua, Director of IIM Ahmedabad.
60 crore as endowment fund to set up various technology centers. However, Bhaskar Ramamurthi, dean of planning, IIT Madras opined, "With the government funds far outnumbering those from private sources, IITs would not face a cash crunch like that in universities in the U.S." "Indian institutes are likely see a fall in endowment funding for the next year or two," he added.
However, IIMs are expected to have a minimal effect of endowment fund decline. "Since the IIMs function through government grants, corpus funds and fees from their programs, the institutes do not depend on endowment funds," said, Samir Barua, Director of IIM Ahmedabad.