December 5, 2008

Indians Are Generous Donors to Universities Abroad, but Corruption Concerns Limit Giving at Home

By SHAILAJA NEELAKANTAN

This year the Indian press cheered as several American universities announced multimillion-dollar donations from Indians here and abroad. The articles cited the generosity as evidence that India has become a philanthropic nation, no longer just a poor supplicant looking for handouts.

But more telling is the fact that the money went to institutions in the United States, even though Indian universities are in far greater need.

Among the big spenders were Ratan Tata, an