Ex-student donates $2L as aid for poor IIT-Bombay students

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) Bombay on Friday announced that its alumni association has partnered with the Foundation for Excel (FFE) to support financially disadvantaged students studying in the institute by disbursing Rs 1.27 crore over next four years.

The donation comes from former student Ruyintan Mehta to support and foster meritorious undergraduate students from financially-constrained backgrounds. The scholarships will form a part of the scholarship programme called 'Erach & Meheroo Mehta Memorial-FFE Scholarship'; and would be administered under the aegis of the Financial Aid Program (FAP) run by IIT-B Alumni Association.

Mehta, a chemical engineer, calls himself a "serial entrepreneur" in the plastics industry and lives in USA. He passed out of IIT-B in 1970 and moved to USA to continue his post-graduate studies. "I owe a deep sense of gratitude towards IIT Bombay for giving me such quality education at almost zero cost," he said, "If a country as poor as that can do so much, I pledged that when I could, I would do my darnedest to give back to IIT and society at large."

"In nine years, FAP has supported 840 students with a disbursal of Rs 7.36 crore plus," said a IIT-B statement.