India is getting “a little respect and appreciation” in the global arena for the first time in the last 300-500 years, said N R Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys, while addressing a gathering at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), Friday evening.

“For the first time in the history of the country -- in the last 300-500 years -- there is now a little respect and appreciation for India in the global arena. Your responsibility is to build on that and make that respect enduring,” Narayana Murthy said while addressing a gathering largely consisting of students from IIMA.

“To increase that respect you will have to ensure that the poorest child in the remotest village of India has decent access to education, healthcare, nutrition and hope that its own progeny will lead a better quality of life than that poor child is leading today,” he said adding that India’s GDP growing to $4 trillion and overtaking Japan is not as important as ensuring that future for the poorest child in India.

Talking about his past, Narayana Murthy said, “When I went to Paris, everybody was looking down on India. Today, thanks to a generation of Indians who have done some hard work, that has changed a little bit -- not too much.” The Infosys founder also felt that in India individuals are glorified instead of focussing on institutional excellence. “The problem with our country is that while we glorify individuals -- and rightly so -- the focus on institutional excellence is not there. Therefore the task that India has is to focus on institutional strengthening, excellence and endurance,” he added.

Narayana Murthy was at IIMA to attend the maiden ceremony of Professor Jaswant G Krishnayya merit scholarship. The 20-year scholarship has been established by Narayana Murthy to support academic excellence at IIMA and honour Professor Krishnayya who is one of the founding faculty members of IIMA. This scholarship will be awarded annually to a second-year student from the flagship Post Graduate Programme in Management for achieving the highest CGPA at the end of the PGP first year.

The first scholarship was awarded to Viraj Modi, a student from the 2024-25 batch. The scholarship will fully cover the recipient’s annual tuition fee, hostel expenses, course material and mess charges for the duration of the two-year PGP programme.

Earlier in the day Narayana Murthy also visited Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) and held a detailed meeting with Hasmukh Adhia, Chairman of GIFT City, Tapan Ray, Managing Director and Group CEO of GIFT City and K Rajaraman, Chairman of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA). He also interacted with students of Jamnabai Narsee School, Deakin University and the University of Wollongong at GIFT City.  

Published on June 28, 2025