Mukesh Ambani announces donation of Rs 151 crore to his alma mater ICT

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries has announced an unconditional grant of Rs 151 crore to the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, from where he graduated in the 1970s. Back in the seventies, ICT was called the University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT). Ambani spent over three hours at ICT and was present at the function to publish Professor MM Sharma’s biography titled ‘Divine Scientist’.

Ambani recalled how the first lecture he attended at UDCT by Professor Sharma motivated him and how Prof. Sharma later played the role of a quiet architect of India’s economic reforms. Prof. Sharma impressed upon the policymakers that the only way for India to grow was to unshackle Indian industry from license-permit-raj, which will allow Indian players to build scale, reduce dependence on imports and compete globally.

“Like my father Dhirubhai Ambani, he had a burning desire to change Indian industry from scarcity to global leadership,” said Ambani and added, “These two bold visionaries believed that science and technology, in alliance with private entrepreneurship, would open the floodgates of prosperity.”

Crediting the rise of the Indian chemical industry to Prof Sharma’s efforts, Ambani, in his speech, referred to him as ‘a Rashtra Guru ─ a Guru of Bharat’.