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N. S. Raghavan Centre
for Entrepreneurial Learning at IIMB
"Early this year, Mr NS Raghavan,joint managing director of Infosys Technologies Ltd, donated Rs 10 crores (approx$2m) to the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B) to set up the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CEL). Ask him the reason why and he simply answers, "Entrepreneurship is what made us what we are today." The 56-year old Raghavan may be worth more than Rs 2,000 crore (approx $450m) but his wealth is well hidden behind an easy-going affability. His contribution is remarkable because it is probably the largest contribution to a premier institute from a person who is not an alumni. Raghavan's vision is that, over a period of time, CEL will become the numero uno centre for entrepreneurial studies in S.E Asia. The immediate plans of the CEL include launching a business plan competition, that will be open to students of the IIMs and the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), which a VC firm has agreed to sponsor. The CEL plans to encourage students from both these sets of premier organizations to cross-pollinate their business and technical acumen to come up with winning business plans. CEL is also launching a web and CD-based distance education programme on entrepreneurship. Raghavan points out that in 1998, 97 percent of Harvard graduates were placed with large firms but in 1999, around 35 percent turned down these offers to create start-ups. "That's a big swing in one year. That may not happen so soon in India but the momentum has picked up in the last six months, with organizations like the The IndUS Entrepreneurs coming in. I have started getting lots of calls from those who want to do startups," he says. If rumours are to be believed, Raghavan has set a target to the CEL administrators of ensuring that at least 40% of the MBAs take up entrepreneurship in the next few years." |
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Last updated: April 13, 2004 Created: Feb 10, 2002 |
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