3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 19, 2026 07:40 PM IST
Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani has announced a donation of Rs 2.5 crore by alumnus Agendra Kumar, Managing Director of Esri India, to set up the Agendra Kumar Fellowships Fund. The contribution will support doctoral research at the institute over the next decade.
According to the institute, the fellowship fund will support 10 PhD scholars and is aimed at strengthening research capacity across interdisciplinary domains.
The fellowships will support research in areas such as climate and sustainability, healthcare and biotechnology, cybersecurity for critical infrastructure, geospatial intelligence, water resource management, computational cancer research and precision agriculture.
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According to an official statement, the research will be undertaken under the School of Interdisciplinary Research and Entrepreneurship (SIRE) at BITS Pilani. The school runs multiple programmes, including PhD DRIVE, which allows researchers to pursue doctoral studies alongside work on deep-tech and deep-science ventures.
The institute stated that the fellowship initiative is intended to support research that addresses real-world challenges through technology and engineering solutions.
Support for doctoral research and innovation
BITS Pilani said the fellowship fund will provide financial support to enable scholars to pursue long-term research without constraints. According to the institute, such initiatives are aimed at encouraging innovation-led research and strengthening doctoral-level academic output.
The focus on interdisciplinary areas reflects the growing need for cross-domain expertise in addressing complex challenges across sectors such as energy, healthcare, agriculture and digital infrastructure.
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The institute has established a $100 million endowment fund to support research, faculty development, scholarships and global engagement. According to a statement by BITS Pilani, the endowment has received commitments from alumni in India and abroad.
Earlier in February 2026, the institute announced that its endowment fund had crossed $34 million in pledges and receipts. A $4 million contribution from alumnus Chand P Garg and his wife Manju Garg was reported as the largest individual donation by an alumnus to date. Garg, a mechanical engineering graduate from the 1968 batch, is based in the United States and has worked in international trade and entrepreneurship.
According to the institute, the contribution is intended to support scholarships for students, as part of its broader effort to expand funding support through alumni-led initiatives.
