Launch of the Jawaharlal Nehru Professorship of Indian Business and Enterprise

The Professorship, in the Judge Business School, has been set up with a fund of £3.2 million, a contribution made by the Government of India to celebrate the centenary of Jawaharlal Nehru's arrival at Trinity College Cambridge, where he studied for a degree in Natural Sciences before going on to become India's first Prime Minister.

The University will retain all of the £3.2m benefaction as a permanent endowment and will apply the net income from investment of the sum towards the salary and expenses of the holder of the Professorship, and associated overheads.

The Professorship has been established to help forge closer links between the Indian and other international economies and to promote understanding of India's interests and its place in the world economy.

The chosen Professor will provide leadership for the creation of a dedicated ‘Cambridge Centre for Indian Business' at Judge Business School, which will be formed as a result of a £550,000 contribution by the BP Group. The name of the newly appointed Professor will be announced shortly.

The Centre for Indian Business will support the work of the Professorship and would initially focus on contemporary research themes relating to today's business environment. Themes to be covered in the first three years include technology innovation, emerging global economies, the relationship between economic development and the knowledge economy and entrepreneurship.

BP's support of the Centre includes funding for the ‘BP India PhD Scholarship' for an outstanding graduate student from India to work under the supervision of the newly-appointed Nehru Professor on a research topic agreed with the donor, as well as support for operational costs.

Addressing the press in New Delhi, Professor Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor of the University, said: “This Professorship reflects the unprecedented world interest and excitement in the new models of business being generated in India. The Chair also affirms and strengthens Cambridge's rich links with India, historically, today and far into the future.

"The eight percent growth rate of India's national income for three consecutive years is a true indication of its success story.

"We are deeply grateful to the Government of India for endowing this Chair, and we look forward to strengthening our ties with India even more.”

Professor Arnoud De Meyer, Director, Judge Business School, said: “India and the UK are on the path to a healthy bilateral economic and commercial relationship, arising from a common democratic outlook in both countries. Recent years have seen a surge of investments into the UK from India, particularly in the IT sector. India is now the second largest investor in the UK from Asia in terms of the number of projects.

“Some of the prominent Indian companies present in the UK include TCS, Wipro, Infosys Technologies, Reliance Infocom and ICICI.

"Looking at the strong Indo-UK economic relations, we are delighted to host the Centre for Indian Business within Judge Business School. The Centre will serve as a focal point for Indian and UK business and policymakers to work together to promote a better understanding of India's business interests and its place in the world economy.”

Adding to this, the High Commission in London said: “The Chair reflects the exceptional bilateral relationship between India and the UK and the need to release the enormous potential inherent in the entire spectrum of economic partnership between the two, from services and manufacturing to high technology and knowledge-based ventures. These two profound and authentic knowledge societies deserve nothing less in Cambridge University, with which India has a deep-rooted relationship.”

Dr Ashok Jhawar, Country Head, BP India, added:“BP was founded right around the time that Jawaharlal Nehru was studying in Cambridge. What would be more appropriate one hundred years on, than for BP to support this important new subject of scholarship, the Indian economic and business models, at one of the world's leading centres of learning?

We are pleased to be supporting this great initiative in partnership with the Indian Government, and we look forward to formally launching the new Centre later this year.”

Professor Alison Richard is currently on a two-week visit to India.

This is her first visit to India since she assumed the role of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge in 2003.

The Vice-Chancellor and senior Cambridge academics will be in New Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Mumbai, meeting University alumni, Indian higher education institutions and senior figures in the public and private sector.

The intent of her visit is to further strengthen Britain's and Cambridge's long standing relationship with India. The large number of Indian students who have studied at the University of Cambridge over the past 100 years underlies the University's consistent engagement with the Indian sub-continent.