‘Plaksha’ To Be The New Gold Standard In Indian Education? 40 Entrepreneurs To Raise 2,000 Crore For STEM University

Forty entrepreneurs and chief executives working in different sectors have joined hands to raise Rs 2,000 crore to set up a private science and technology-focused university in India to “promote innovation, entrepreneurship and quality research,” reports Mint.

This outlay for the project is estimated to be at least four times more than the amount spent by the government to build a new Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).

The university, which will be named ‘Plaksha’, has already attracted funds to the tune of Rs 400 crore. Some of the investors include Naukri.com’s managing director Hitesh Oberoi, Tech Mahindra’s chief executives C P Gurnani and Ajay Arora, managing director of D’ Décor.

World-renowned academics like Ashish Nanda of Harvard University, Anant Agarwal of MIT, S. Shankar Sastry of the University of California-Berkeley, and Arvind Raman of Purdue University have also joined the academic advisory board of the university.

The project group has brainstormed for three years to set up the best model in pedagogy, curriculum, culture, faculty, and processes.

“It (the project) will address India’s largest challenge through applied research and foster an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship. The university will catalyse 1,000 startups over a period of time,” said Neeraj Aggarwal who serves as the chairman (Asia Pacific) at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and one of the 40 people associated with the project.

Like Stanford in Silicon Valley

“Plaksha is a much-needed effort. Its approach of cross-functional hands-on education...is a great way to prepare students for entrepreneurship and leadership in technology companies. (I have) seen the impact of similar approaches in universities like Stanford and its resulting impact in the Silicon Valley,” said Vineet Gupta, education entrepreneur who is also part of the university.

Also Read: Now Easier To Set Up Private Universities In Maharashtra As Fadnavis Government Relaxes Norms