IIT-Madras's Class of 1981 donates EV buses

CHENNAI: The alumni of IIT-M's class of 1981 have announced they will donate a fleet of five electric buses and six golf carts to their alma mater. The fleet of electric buses will replace the existing diesel buses on the campus. During the 40th year reunion on the campus on Wednesday, the alumni handed over a cheque for 10 crore to IIT Madras director V Kamakoti.
The batch consists of around 600 people living in different parts of the world now. "This will be a very good start towards our goal of a 'zero carbon campus' by 2050," said the director.
An additional bus exclusively for research and development was also given to the department of engineering design, which offers an interdisciplinary dual degree (IDDD) programme on electric vehicles.
"The class of 1981 has set a record by exceeding the quantum of funds contributed by any single class. This gift to kickstart our transition to a greener, more sustainable and carbon-neutral campus is both timely and crucial," Mahesh Panchagnula, dean (alumni and corporate relations), IIT-M.
"The electrification of public transport fleet will complement the institute's two existing centres of excellence: CoE for Electric Mobility and CoE for Zero Emission Trucking. Several components of electric vehicles are imported and expensive," said Krish Bhargavan, an alumnus from 1981 batch.
During the three-day reunion, the batch will explore the campus to learn about the changes over the last four decades since they graduated.