Reliance Industries Limited will set up a new state-of-the-art varsity

Years after the Dhirubhai Ambani International School was started by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), the group has now decided to set up a “new age” world-class university in India. The Reliance Foundation, which is the new philanthropic initiative of the Reliance Group, will establish the university, said Reliance Industries chairman, Mukesh Ambani, on Friday.

He made the announcement during his acceptance speech after he was awarded the Dean’s Medal by the University of Pennyslvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.

The award, which was given to Ambani by Eduardo Glandt, Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, was in recognition of his leadership in the application of engineering and technology.

“Access to world-class education is not only a necessity but a strong pre-requisite to building a strong India. It is by far the strongest aspiration of young Indians,” said Ambani in his acceptance speech.

The world-class university will be modelled on US universities like the University of Pennsylvania and will promote research and education across various disciplines, including science and technology and the liberal arts. The multi-disciplinary university will forge partnerships with reputed universities around the world. It will be international in scale and best practices. The university may start either in Mumbai or Delhi. Nita Ambani will chair the new project.

Speaking on his vision for education in India, Ambani said in his speech that there is a need for overhauling the methodology of education. “Education is all about problem-solving and change management. It’s about igniting curiosity and creativity. It is about doing things with one’s own hands. It is about encouraging lateral thinking with a multi-disciplinary approach,” he said.

He further emphasised the need to become “silo-breakers” in our thinking, policies and strategies of development. “Every single challenge that the world is facing demands a creative response from scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and policy-makers. Will we rise to the occasion? We can. We must,” Ambani said in his speech.