NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 08, 2004
IANS
California-based venture capitalist Vinod Khosla has gifted
$5 million for a school on information technology at the Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) and is funding a series of micro-credit
foundations in India.
"I am contributing $5 million towards the school at IIT
Delhi where I studied. The name of the school has not been decided
yet," said Khosla, partner in the Melno Park (California)-based
venture fund Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers.
"The curriculum and coarse structure for the school are
being worked out by the IIT faculty," Khosla, here on a
personal visit, said.
An alumnus of the IIT where he pursued a bachelor's degree
in electrical engineering, Khosla was a co-founder of Daisy
Systems and the founding chief executive officer of Sun Microsystems.
On the issue of micro-credit, he said he wanted to replicate
the success of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank in India and fund tiny
enterprises in small towns and villages.
"One of the institutions I am contributing to is Share
in Hyderabad. There are two-three others I am talking to and
the discussions are in various stages," said Pune-born
Khosla, who went to St Mary's School here.
Share - or Society for Helping and Awakening Rural Poor Through
Education - was founded in 1991 by M Udaia Kumar. As in April,
the programme had reached out to around 30,000 families by disbursing
loans worth some $75 million.
Asked about the investment he proposed to make in microfinance,
he said: "This not something I can define. A few million
dollars will go a long way. These are not things you do for
profit."
Speaking at Stanford recently where he pursued a master's degree
in business administration, Khosla said he began looking at
the concept of micro-credit in India some three years ago and
found its potential immense.
"In fact, I think it is so important, I can't think of
an economic phenomenon after capitalism that is more important
than micro finance," he had said.
"This is a whole new avenue for capital-capital on a commercial
basis that's competitive with market borrowing rates so more
capital can flow into this."
Khosla said he now devotes "slightly less" time to
the venture capital industry and uses the time gained for pursuing
interests in areas such as microfinance and philanthropy.
"I want to take micro-credit to other countries, especially
in Africa, where there is a good scope to make a social impact."
