India 2020

The Rockfellers made their millions from the industrial and economic transformation of towns like Bluefield and Pittsburg some hundred years ago. They "invested" millions to cultivate the sciences in the US. In addition (to quote Sylvia Nasar - A Beautiful Mind), they imported scientists from centers such as Berlin and Budapest, established European style professorships in US universities (including Princeton), with extravagant salaries. The fact that the USA today is a storehouse of intellectual giants owes at least as much to the private sector as it does to the US government. The universities on their part have ensured a supply of high quality human resource as well as the best technological innovations. In terms of economic ROI, the investments made by Rockfellers are unsurpassed.

Can our rich private sector attempt something similar? Can we think of an India where our institutions will support the best scientists of the world? Or shall they continue to take pride in how difficult they were to secure admissions into or how many of their students went to the US and got married and settled there?