From Temples to Technology: India's Wealthy Are Finally Giving to Science

For a long time, most wealthy people in India gave their money to temples and religious groups. But something is changing. A growing number of India's richest business leaders are now choosing to fund science, research, and education instead. In 2025, two big announcements showed just how much this trend is picking up speed.

Abhishek Lodha is the head of the Lodha Group, a company famous for building luxury towers across India. One of their most well-known buildings is a golden Trump Tower overlooking the Arabian Sea in Mumbai. Lodha surprised many people when he called Jainendra Jain, a top physics professor at Penn State University, and asked him to lead a brand-new science institute in the city. Jain had just won the Wolf Prize, one of the most respected awards in science, and was not expecting the call at all.

Jain admitted he was shocked that a real estate businessman would want to invest in theoretical physics. 'I was pleasantly surprised someone building skyscrapers would suddenly be interested in putting money into fundamental sciences,' he told the BBC. In the United States, it is fairly common for very wealthy people to donate to science, but in India this kind of giving has been rare. Lodha has promised to spend $100 million over eight to ten years to build the new Lodha Theoretical Physics Institute.

Just weeks later, another powerful business family made headlines. Rajiv Bajaj, whose family runs one of India's oldest companies, launched the country's largest scholarship program for women studying engineering. Female students who qualify can receive up to 800,000 rupees — roughly $8,400 — to help cover the cost of their education at top universities. This support could open doors for many young women who might not otherwise afford higher education in technical fields.

These announcements are part of a bigger pattern across India. Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan is funding brain research, and pharmaceutical entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw launched a cutting-edge biology lab in 2022. At least six other tech billionaires — many from Bengaluru, often called India's Silicon Valley — have pledged large amounts for research into topics like robotic astronomy and specialized medical care. Experts say this shift shows that India's top earners are beginning to see science as key to the country's future strength.