India should have world-class education ecosystem: Anand Mahindra

Mahindra outlines his vision for Mahindra University in the long-run

Mahindra Group Chairman ANAND MAHINDRA and his family have pledged Rs 550 crore over the next five years for Mahindra University (MU) and the Indira Mahindra School of Education in Hyderabad. MU was established in 2020. In a telephonic conversation with Sohini Das, Mahindra outlines his vision for MU in the long run. Edited excerpts:

What is your long-term vision for MU?

I want to credit a gentleman named Vineet Nayar, who served as the vice-chairman of Tech Mahindra during my tenure as chairman. He’s since retired. He is a great educationist himself, and one day he came to me and said, “Anand, your family is always dedicated to the cause of education”. He added that, given the commitment we have as a family, we really ought to set up a university.

It has long been our aspiration to establish world-class universities here, attracting people from around the world, rather than Indians having to go overseas. However, my concern has always been the red tape surrounding accreditation for a private university.

When we took over Satyam, a 130-acre campus came to us which was created for training, which seemed overly large for its limited purpose. So, Vineet suggested we should start there.

And so we began with one college called the Mahindra École Centrale, the College of Engineering. The École Centrale is the French equivalent of the Indian Institute of Technology.

Our endeavour has been strongly supported and encouraged by the government. The vision is simple: to establish a top-class university with multiple schools that are all symbols of excellence in their respective areas.

Recently, I have spoken about the soft power that America possesses, much of which comes from its universities that attract people from around the world. The vision is for India to have one of the best and most thriving educational ecosystems globally, validated by people across the globe eager to come here.

While it took Oxford and the American Ivy League colleges a century to achieve this, I believe it doesn’t need to take that long, but that’s the broader vision.

Tell us about the projects you have started at MU.

One of the initial projects we embarked on was establishing a school of education named after my mother, Indira Mahindra — the Indira Mahindra School of Education — in honour of her dedication to teaching. Despite her humble beginnings, she rose to teach history at Isabella Thoburn College in Lucknow.

She often emphasised the importance of focusing on developing teachers when providing scholarships to children. She believed that without cultivating a strong repository of educators in our country, we would never achieve excellence in education. To support this cause, we have pledged Rs 50 crore to the School of Education.

Additionally, we have launched various other schools at MU, including the School of Management, the School of Law, one for engineering, media, and more. We also have plans underway for a liberal arts college as well as a school of hospitality.

Recognising the urgent need for expansion, my family — comprising my wife, my children, and myself — has committed to donating Rs 500 crore to the university over the next five years.

We are commencing this initiative with Rs 150 crore this year, of which Rs 50 crore is allocated for the School of Education and Rs 100 crore for the university. Over the subsequent four years, we will disburse the remaining Rs 400 crore.

Currently, we have 4,100 students, over 240 faculty members, and hostels capable of accommodating about 3,500 students.

Will you also consider starting a school of medicine at some point?

There has been considerable attention on students travelling to Ukraine and other countries to pursue medical studies, as reported about a year ago. Recognising the significance of this sector, I delved deeply into exploring the possibility. However, establishing a medical college requires it to be affiliated with a hospital. Therefore, we have decided to put it on the back burner for now.