vINOD GUPTA the present day MADAN MOHAN MALVIYA

American Indian funds first ever Indian IPR School
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Friday, August 12, 2005

NEW DELHI: Indian American Vinod Gupta, who has funded a string of educational institutes in India, is investing $2-2.5 million on setting up the country's first school on intellectual property rights (IPR).

The Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Law will be set up at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, from where Gupta graduated in 1967. The human resource development ministry has given its go-ahead.

"The institute will provide world-class legal education in the intellectual property space, leading to post-graduate degrees in law and later doctorate programs," Gupta, who is probably the only American Indian to stay overnight in the White House as a personal guest of former American president Bill Clinton, said.

With an annual intake of 150, the institute is expected to attract students from both within the country and abroad, Gupta added. Admissions will begin next July.

"(The institute) will probably cost $2-$2.5 million initially, spread over two years. We expect the institute to be self-sustaining in two years," said Gupta, who chairs infoUSA, Inc., a $300 million company that deals with information databases for businesses and employs over 2,000 people across the U.S.