Bajaj Auto Foundation commits ₹400 crore to support women engineers through scholarship programme

The foundation said the scholarship is among the largest initiatives in India focused on supporting women in core engineering streams.

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Bajaj Auto Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of Bajaj Auto, has committed ₹400 crore over the next decade to support women pursuing engineering education and careers in the manufacturing and technology sectors.

The initiative will be implemented through the Rupa Rahul Bajaj Scholarship for Women in Engineering (RRBSWE), which was formally unveiled at an event held at Bajaj Auto’s headquarters in Pune.

The event was attended by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson and Founder, Biocon Limited, and Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto, and also marked the felicitation of the programme’s inaugural cohort of 506 scholars selected from 40 engineering institutions across the country.

According to the foundation, the scholarship programme is aimed at meritorious women pursuing core engineering disciplines such as mechanical engineering, electronics, industrial instrumentation, mechatronics, robotics and allied fields.

Under the initiative, selected students will receive financial support of up to ₹8 lakh over the course of their engineering education. The programme covers students enrolled at leading institutions, including IITs, NITs, IIITs, as well as reputed state and private engineering universities.

The foundation said the scholarship is among the largest initiatives in India focused on supporting women in core engineering streams.

“Women possess inherent skills of patience, empathy and diligence, which are very strong attributes to excel in core engineering jobs. We identified this long back and made women engineers a significant part of our workforce. In fact, from virtually no women in our operations till around a decade back, today they account for nearly 20 per cent of our workforce,” said Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto Ltd.

Beyond financial assistance, the programme will offer structured mentorship, leadership development opportunities, industry exposure and access to professional networks to help scholars build long-term careers in engineering and manufacturing.

Addressing the gathering, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson and Founder, Biocon Limited, said, “The future of science, engineering, and manufacturing must be built on inclusion and equal opportunity. Encouraging more women to pursue core engineering disciplines is not just a social imperative, but an economic one. Initiatives like the Rupa Rahul Bajaj Scholarship can help create a stronger and more diverse innovation ecosystem for India.”