Mukesh Ambani donates Rs 151 Crore to ICT Mumbai as ‘Guru Dakshina’ for his mentor

In a rare and deeply personal tribute, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Saturday announced an unconditional grant of Rs 151 crore to his alma mater, the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai — a move he described as ‘Guru Dakshina’ to his mentor and legendary professor, Dr MM Sharma.

Ambani, who graduated from the institution in the 1970s when it was known as the University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT), returned to the campus not just as a billionaire industrialist but as a former student expressing reverence for a teacher who helped shape India’s chemical industry and inspired a generation of scientific leadership.

The occasion was the launch of ‘Divine Scientist’, a biography of Professor Sharma — an academic giant who joined UDCT as a professor at the age of 27 and went on to mentor some of India’s brightest scientific minds. The event, held at ICT’s Pidilite Hall, was attended by several luminaries from the world of science including nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar, Raghunath Mashelkar, J.B. Joshi, and G.D. Yadav.

Ambani recounted how Professor Sharma’s very first lecture left a lasting impression on him. “He was a quiet architect of India’s economic reforms,” said Ambani, crediting Sharma with encouraging Indian policymakers to dismantle the restrictive license-permit-raj system — paving the way for private enterprise, industrial scale, and global competitiveness.

Ambani likened Sharma’s vision to that of his father, Dhirubhai Ambani, saying both believed deeply in the power of science and private entrepreneurship to transform India from scarcity to prosperity. “These two bold visionaries believed that science and technology, in alliance with private entrepreneurship, would open the floodgates of prosperity,” Ambani said.

In a moving moment, Ambani revealed that it was Professor Sharma himself who encouraged him to make a significant contribution to ICT. “When he tells us something, we just listen. We don’t think,” Ambani said. He then announced the Rs 151 crore grant, calling it his Guru Dakshina — a token of reverence, gratitude, and continued belief in the transformative power of education.

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