PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania today announced a $2 million grant from the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs of the Government of India to support Penn’s Center for the Advanced Study of India, which will conduct research on international migration from India.

This is the first time that MOIA has ever awarded an empirical research grant of this magnitude to an academic institution outside India.

“Penn was chosen because it is home to CASI, which has become known around the world as the first and only academic research unit in a U.S. university focused on contemporary India,” G. Gurucharan, Joint Secretary, MOIA said. “We see this as a small beginning."

He signed the agreement on behalf of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs at a ceremony at Penn’s College Hall Feb. 16, joined by Rajeev Ranjan, community affairs counselor of the Embassy of India in Washington, D.C.; Shiv Ratan, MOIA director, financial services and budget; Rebecca Bushnell, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Penn; Devesh Kapur, Madan Lal Sobti associate professor and director of CASI.; Penn Provost Vincent Price; Jack H. Nagel, associate dean for the social sciences; and Ramin Sedehi, vice dean for finance and administration at Penn's School of Arts and Sciences.

As principal investigator of the research project, Kapur will be supported by a group of scholars recruited specifically for the purpose of conducting the research, as needed during the next four years. Kapur’s forthcoming book, “Diaspora, Democracy and Development: The Impact of International Migration from India on India” will be published this summer.

CASI, which was founded in 1992, has been awarded numerous research grants from major philanthropic foundations such as The GE Fund, The Ford Foundation, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Additional information about the Penn’s Center for the Advanced Study of India is available at http://casi.ssc.upenn.edu/.