5 Years of NEP: IIT Bombay starts alumni-backed new hostels, entrepreneurship school

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated Project Evergreen and the new Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship (DSSE) building at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay virtually, as part of the fifth anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Developed by alumni, Project Evergreen comprises three state-of-the-art hostels (H7, H8, and H21), adding 848 rooms and 1,127 beds. Students will get “vibrant”, thoughtfully-designed spaces to live better, learn better, debate, dream, and build friendships that last a lifetime”. Over 30 batches of IIT Bombay alumni joined hands to create the project.

As part of IIT Bombay's growing focus on inclusive campus infrastructure, Coal India Limited enabled the creation of Hostel 21 (part of Project Evergreen), dedicated to female students, that now accommodates 370 women.

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"Coal India Limited is proud to support the construction of the new women's hostel at IIT Bombay as part of our commitment to education and gender empowerment under CSR. This collaboration with one of India's premier institutions reflects our belief that quality infrastructure plays a crucial role in nurturing future leaders. As we celebrate CIL's Golden Jubilee, we are honoured to contribute to a project that will benefit generations of young women pursuing excellence in science and technology," said Vinay Ranjan, Director (HR), Coal India.

DSSE building

The newly inaugurated DSSE building offers collaborative workspaces, labs and incubation facilities, spanning across 1,15,000 square feet. The facility supports students and researchers to develop solutions with real-world impact, reflecting NEP 2020's call to nurture job creators. The school has been established in support of the institute's distinguished alumnus and philanthropist Bharat Desai and Ms. Neerja Sethi.

DSSE as a pioneering entrepreneurship school has been training aspiring entrepreneurs through academic and pre-incubation programmes. More than 4,750 students have benefitted from the entrepreneurship courses, over 1,120 have been mentored by the faculty and alumni, close to 430 venture teams have been formed, and over 109 startups registered.