Former student and Indigo cofounder Rakesh Gangwal gifts ₹100 crore to IIT-Kanpur

Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder of budget carrier IndiGo and an IIT Kanpur alumnus, has made a personal donation of Rs 100 crore to support the School of Medical Sciences and Technology at his alma mater.

IIT Kanpur Director Abhay Karandikar confirmed this in a series of tweets.

"Here is big news from IIT Kanpur. In an extraordinary gesture, our alumnus Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder of IndiGo airlines has made one of the largest personal donations with a Rs 100 crore contribution focused on supporting the School of Medical Sciences and Technology at IIT Kanpur," Karandikar tweeted.

Gangwal has also signed a pact with IIT Kanpur to set up a school of Medical Sciences and Technology on the IIT Kanpur campus. He also donated Rs 100 crore for the purpose.

The IndiGo co-founder will also soon join the Advisory Board of the institution.

Gangwal told reporters, "It is a privilege to be associated with such a noble endeavour with my alma mater. I am proud to see that the institution that has produced thousands of leaders across various sectors is now paving the way in the healthcare sector. More than ever, healthcare is intertwined with technological advances and this school will accelerate innovation in healthcare."

This school will be completed in two phases. The first phase will include setting up a 500-bed super-specialty hospital, academic block, residential/hostel and service block with a total built-up area of around 8, 10,000 square feet.

It will also involve setting up Centres of Excellence (CoE) for pursuing R&D activities in futuristic medicine and is tentatively planned to be completed over 3-5 years.

The second phase is planned to be completed in 7-10 years and will see the hospital capacity to grow to 1,000 beds.

It will also involve expanding clinical departments/centres, research areas, the inclusion of paramedical disciplines, alternative medicine, hospital management, sports medicine and public health programmes.

Karandikar thanked Gangwal for his contribution and said: "The proposed medical school will play an important role in driving IIT Kanpur's innovations in medical research and technology and catapult India into the global league of institutions that are converging medical sciences and technology to benefit humankind."
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