Mindtree founders donate ₹425 crore for medical school, hospital at IISc
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, has received its single largest donation of ₹425 crore, which will fund a medical school and a multi-speciality 800-bed hospital on its campus.
The university has signed a partnership with Susmita and Subroto Bagchi, and Radha and N S Parthasarathy, who collectively donated the amount. Bagchi and Parthasarathy are co-founders of Mindtree.
IISc director Govindan Rangarajan said on Monday the new venture would be named IISc Medical School and Bagchi-Parthasarathy Hospital. “The academic centrepiece of this initiative will be an integrated dual degree MD-PhD programme aimed at creating a new breed of physician-scientists, who will pursue a career in clinical research to develop new treatments and healthcare solutions, driven by a bench-to-bedside philosophy. They will be trained simultaneously in the hospital as well as in the science and engineering laboratories at IISc,” he said.
The hospital has been designed by Ahmedabad-based company Archi Medes (I) Consultants. Work on the project will start in June, and the hospital will be operational by the end of 2024.
Rangarajan said the hospital will not be a charitable facility. “It will have a mixture of beds — private as well as insurance beds where patients can avail themselves of benefits under government insurance schemes,” he said.
The medical school will have an intake of 70 students and will start admission from 2025, he added.
Susmita Bagchi said: “In a country like ours, medical research and delivery cannot be left to the Government or the corporate sector alone. With IISc, we find a shared vision. It is an institution with depth, competence, leadership, and capacity to deliver in scale.”
Radha Parthasarathy said IISc’s larger vision to integrate science, engineering and medicine in one campus is a new concept in India. “IISc’s global reputation and network will attract outstanding talent to create breakthroughs in research and delivery of medicine that must impact the masses,” she said.
