New Delhi, Mar 27 (IANS): Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra and his family have pledged Rs 500 crore over the next five years to Mahindra University, starting from the next financial year (FY25) till FY29, it was announced on Wednesday.

The funds would help propel Mahindra University’s mission to strive for interdisciplinary academic excellence and train multi-skilled leaders committed to "inclusive and sustainable progress", the university said in a statement.

Anand Mahindra also made a personal pledge of Rs 50 crore endowing the Indira Mahindra School of Education in FY25. Named in memory of Indira Mahindra, a teacher and Anand Mahindra’s mother, the school aspires to be a centre of excellence in educational research, practice, and innovations.

The combined pledge of Rs 550 crore is the latest of many education initiatives that Anand Mahindra supports around the country, including the Mahindra United World College India and the Mahindra International School.

In 1996, the entrepreneur started the ‘Nanhi Kali’ programme, which has provided over 700,000 underprivileged girls with access to high-quality education over the past two decades.

Mahindra University was established in May 2020 in Hyderabad. Beginning with the School of Engineering, the university now offers 35 programmes across five schools and four centres at the undergraduate, post-graduate, and doctorate levels. The university has over 4,100 students enrolled, approximately 10 per cent of whom are at the postgraduate level.