<p>On August 25, 2021 IIT Bombay signed an innovative partnership agreement with its alumni organizations – Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Alumni Association (IITBAA) and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Heritage Foundation (IITBHF) to fund, design and build a new 1,000 – 1,500 room world-class Hostel Complex. Under this partnership agreement, IITBAA will be primarily responsible for all funding, design, construction and project management activities. Through this ambitious and much-needed project, the alumni will help build this Hostel Complex at the current site of H7 & H8 on IIT Bombay campus.</p><p> This Hostel Complex will replace Hostels 7 and 8 to cater to the current needs of the students and the increased need of women students. During the last two decades, the number of students on campus has increased from 3,000 to 10,000+ and there is a need to improve living infrastructure and build capacity to host them. The challenge is made harder by the limited funding that IIT Bombay has access to, and the fact that several of the very old hostels have structural issues and need to be rebuilt. There is thus a significant requirement for funds to revamp the old and build new hostels.</p><p> IIT Bombay reached out to its alumni to support the Institute in its quest to provide world-class facilities to its students to promote the best learning environments. Responding to the request, a group of volunteers have come together for planning, fund-raising, and implementation of the new hostel complex. This is the first of its kind project wherein alumni of IIT Bombay will seek to raise Rs. 120-135 crores and take the lead roles in project planning and implementation. The new hostel complex will come up in the old location of H8. It will be close to Powai Lake, which has been one of the key features of H7. In addition to wings for male students, it will also have a wing for accommodating the growing number of women students at IIT Bombay.</p><p> A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by representatives of IIT Bombay and its alumni organizations. Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director, IIT Bombay, Prof.Prasanna M. Mujumdar, Deputy Director (Finance and External Affairs), Prof. S.Sudarshan, Deputy Director (Academic and Infrastructural Affairs), Prof. Suhas Joshi, Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations) and Prof. B V S Vishwanadham, Dean (Infrastructure Planning and Support) were present on the occasion along with Mr. D.C. Agrawal, President, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Heritage Foundation (IITBHF), Mr. Girish Nayak, Chairman, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Alumni Association, Mr. S. Narayan, Chairman of the Project Planning Committee, Mr. Kirat Patel, Mr. Sudhir Nikam, and Ms. Zenobia Driver representing H7, H8 and the women’s hostels H10 and H11.</p><p> Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director IIT Bombay said, “Students are the essence of all academic institutions. IIT Bombay has been recognized as an ‘Institution of Eminence,’ owing to the hard work put in by the best and brightest of the country. We strive to provide world-class learning as well as living atmosphere to our students. We are grateful to our alumni for taking the stewardship role in building the new hostel complex which is the need of the hour. IIT Bombay sincerely thanks IITBHF and IITBAA for the roles that they have played over the years in various initiatives of the Institute”.</p><p> Mr. Kirat Patel, Class of 1975, H8 said, “IIT Bombay’s alumni have always supported the Institute’s goals and vision. We have full faith that they would come forward to help us yet again in this pioneering initiative. Together, we can create world-class hostels for our students, who are the future of our country”. Mr. D. C. Agrawal, Class of 1969, President IITBHF said, “IIT Bombay students deserve the best facilities to compete in the current global environment. We are determined to help build a hostel complex that is consistent with IIT Bombay’s goals of being a leading world-class Institute”.</p><p> Mr. Girish Nayak, Chairman IIT Bombay Alumni Association said, “We are happy to be playing our part in ensuring that our students get the best facilities available. We will continue to assist in securing IIT Bombay’s reputation as one of the best residential engineering institutes in the country”.</p><p> Ms. Zenobia Driver, Class of 1998, H10, spoke of her experiences as a woman in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). “It is a matter of such joy and pride that more and more girls are choosing STEM as their career and IIT Bombay has undertaken several initiatives to promote gender diversity. The new hostel complex is another step in this direction”.</p><p> Mr. Sudhir Nikam, Class of 1993, H7 added, “Thousands of alumni have called H7, H8, H10 and H11 their home. We plan to reach out to all of these alumni to contribute to the new Hostel Complex and are sure they would come forward to support us”.</p><p> Mr. S. Narayan, Chairman of the Project Planning Committee, said, “Sustainable living is the need of the hour and we are cognizant of this. The committee will strive towards building an environmentally sensitive hostel complex which will serve as a benchmark for other hostels”.</p>