The Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), a state-owned autonomous institution which is on its way to become a university, has got its largest single donation from one of its alumni from the class of 1967.Manu Shah, a BE mechanical engineering graduate from the institute and co-founder of MS International, and his family from the US, through the Shah Happiness Foundation, committed the donation for two of the institute’s flagship projects, a 12-storey multipurpose academic block and the modernisation of the mechanical engineering workshop.While his contribution amount is undisclosed, the entire academic block is projected to cost Rs 60 crore, with Shah funding five storeys.In the recent past, the institute received a donation of about Rs 3 crore from SBICAPS and Rs 2 crore from Savex Technologies as part of CSR funds.The Old Smithy Building on the Matunga campus, which housed the historic blacksmithing workshop for the mechanical engineering department, is being demolished to make way for the new multipurpose academic block.Director Sachin Kore said that the block will be a state-of-the art facility designed for interdisciplinary learning, modern pedagogy and collaborative research.The block will have a cafeteria, several classrooms, two seminar rooms, laboratories, training and placement office, a central computing facility, business incubation facilities, a library and centres of excellence. The ground plus 11-storey building will be spread across a total built-up area of 92,410 square feet.The institute has invited and appealed to alumni and philanthropists to contribute towards the construction of the block and other infrastructural projects, added Kore. The name of the donor and their family will be displayed on a commemorative plaque within the facility.Another project to which the Shah family has contributed is the transformation of the mechanical workshop into a world-class hub for skill development, equipped with high-tech machinery and aligned with Industry 4.0 standards.In a recorded message, Shah, an entrepreneur, whose company is into the distribution of surfacing products, has appealed to the institute’s alumni to come forward and support the institute.
