Monday, August 24, 2009

Prof. Balaram on PPP models


In this Business Standard interview:

People are only now talking about PPP model. IISc is the first example of PPP. It came up with an endowment from Jamshetji Tata and the government (then British and Mysore government). In case of this PPP, the philanthropist (Tata) was a philanthropist in the true sense. He wanted no control over the institution. This PPP model has not happened over the last 100 years. Now, PPP is nothing but almost business deals.

There's another section in which he talks about the government's contribution to IISc's budget:

What is the main source of your funding?
The government is the primary supporter of research and education. We get about Rs 200 crore from the government every year as maintenance and development grant. Besides, we generate about Rs 150 crore from various projects sponsored by government departments and institutions. However, despite being the prime source of our funding, the government does not get as much mileage as private funders.

What about contributions from the private sector?

At the moment, private funding is insignificant. Private funding does not account for more than 10 per cent of our research expenses. Individual faculty try to get projects on their own, but it does not benefit the institution enormously. Private funding today is not philanthropic. [...]

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