Another million for a woman's polytechnic 100 miles from here in his village, Rampur Maniharan, which he will inaugurate during this visit. This morning the doctor shared the dais at IIT with Senator Larry Pressler as he gave a talk on Indo-US relations.

Later, in an informal conversation with Express Newsline, he said: ``The government should sell the airports. And other public undertakings. The industry should be given a free hand. The government should limit itself to maintenance of law and order and setting up of infrastructural facilities in the country.''

Reacting to the new IT ministry, Dr Gupta said strongly: ``Now, there will be a group of bureaucrats and politicians trying to supervise experts in the field.'' The billionaire goes on to say: ``Often, Indians flourish when they leave India. The government does not help cultivate creative talent amongst its people.'' ``And why shouldn't IITians go abroad? They have better opportunities there. Moreover, the IITs have put India on the world map. They make the best software professionals in the world. If the Indian government creates similar opportunities, they will stay here.''

In the summer of '67 Gupta didn't. His family borrowed money for his air ticket to Nebraska in USA where he enrolled for a course in agricultural engineering. He entered the campus with a suitcase of clothes and 58 dollars in his pocket. His is the quintessential business fairy tale come true. He sat in his hostel room and poured over the yellow pages, made a list and InfoUSA Inc was born. He's made his millions selling information.

Thirty-two years later, Dr Gupta visits IIT Kharagpur twice every year. ``We will set the ball rolling for the Kharagpur fund this time round. Several IIT alumni will contribute to it. Out of the 100 million dollar fund, 50 per cent will remain in the corpus fund, and the rest will be spent on worthwhile heads.''

In 1991, he gave his alma mater two million dollars to start the Vinod Gupta School of Management. This institute now offers MBA programmes to engineering graduates with five years' work experience.