Fantastic: Mahindra on report claiming students turning down IITs for CMI India Published: Monday, February 15, 2021, 15:42 [IST] Mumbai, Feb 15: Businessman Anand Mahindra reacted to a report that claimed that students are turning down IITs to study at Chennai Mathematical Institute, an institute funded substantially by the government. Anand Mahindra "This is fantastic. A perfect marriage of resources," Mahindra tweeted. "Voilà, you have an institute that is a world-beater," he added, as he praised CMI's Founder, late mathematician CS Seshadri. Founded in 1989 by the late professor CS Seshadri, a mathematician and Padma Bhushan awardee, CMI was recognised as a university in 2006. While the institute holds the distinction of having over 50 per cent of students pursue doctoral or post-doctoral research globally, the introduction of a post-graduate program in data science at CMI has made corporate behemoths too line up outside the institute.