Rupa Rahul Bajaj Scholarship: Up to Rs 8 Lakh

Rupa Rahul Bajaj Scholarship for Women in Engineering: What It Really Offers

Engineering classrooms in India's top colleges still skew heavily male, and the skew gets worse in the core branches — mechanical, electrical, metallurgy — where women make up barely 3% of the workforce later on. The Rupa Rahul Bajaj Scholarship for Women in Engineering (RRBSWE) is Bajaj Auto Foundation's answer to that specific problem: a large, decade-long commitment aimed at meritorious women who choose core engineering, not just any degree.

This is not a generic "girls' scholarship". It is deliberately narrow — first-year female B.Tech students, at a defined set of 40 leading engineering institutions, in core branches only. Understanding that narrowness before you apply is the difference between a serious application and a wasted afternoon.

Who runs it, and how big is it?

The scholarship is run by the Bajaj Auto Foundation, the CSR arm of Bajaj Auto Limited, and was formally launched on 11 June 2026 at the company's Pune headquarters. The Foundation has committed ₹400 crore over ten years to this one programme, making it one of the largest private scholarships in India for women engineers. The first cohort — 506 scholars from IITs, NITs, IIITs and reputed state and private colleges — was felicitated at the launch event.

At the institutional level the rollout is real and ongoing: IIEST Shibpur, for instance, has 33 beneficiaries in the latest cycle with roughly ₹44 lakh disbursed there, and is running selection in the eligible branches for the next cohort.

The money: up to ₹8 lakh across the degree

Each selected scholar can receive up to ₹8,00,000 across the four years of the B.Tech degree — that works out to roughly ₹2 lakh a year. The financial support is disbursed semester-wise and is intended to cover the full academic fees for each semester; the official IIEST partnership note also mentions residential support (hostel and mess) being covered for its scholars, subject to the programme's terms.

Money is only half the package. Every scholar also gets:

• Mentorship from experienced professionals and women leaders in industry
• Industry exposure — engagement with manufacturing environments, plant visits and similar immersion
• Life-skills and career-prep workshops — confidence-building, leadership, interview readiness
• An alumni and peer network across the 40 partner institutions

The programme is explicitly framed as a career pipeline into manufacturing and industry, so selection and engagement tilt toward students who want that path — not just fee assistance.

Who is eligible?

The official eligibility bar is clear and strict. All of these must hold:

1. First-year female studentenrolled in a B.E./B.Tech programme — this scholarship is for the entering batch, not seniors.
2. Admission through a recognised competitive examination(JEE Main/Advanced or the equivalent recognised entrance) at one of the 40 listed engineering colleges. A general admission that bypasses the merit list does not qualify.
3. Minimum 75% in Class 12.
4. Core engineering branch only.The eligible streams listed on the official portal are: Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics & Communication, Industrial/Production, Automobile, Mechatronics, Instrumentation, Material Sciences, Metallurgy, Robotics & AI, and Engineering & Computational Mechanics.

Two things students often get wrong: Computer Science branches that are not on the core list do not count, and students in year two or later cannot enter mid-stream — the intake is first-year only.

Scholars must also maintain a minimum GPA of 6.5 each year and take part in the programme's engagement activities to keep the scholarship renewed through the degree.

Documents you will need

The official portal lists: passport-size photograph; identity proof (Aadhaar, passport, voter ID or PAN); address proof (Aadhaar, voter ID, utility bills, ration card or domicile certificate); Class 10 and Class 12 marksheets; the institute admission letter; the JEE (Main/Advanced) or equivalent entrance rank card; semester fee receipts; and an income certificate. For renewal years, the previous year's college grade sheet is required.

Scan everything at a readable resolution before you start — applications with illegible marksheet uploads are the most common avoidable rejection point.

How to apply

• Open the official scholarship portal and click Apply Now.
• Click Start Application to begin the online form.
• Fill in personal, academic and admission details exactly as they appear on your marksheets and admission letter.
• Upload the documents listed above.
• Accept the Terms and Conditions and open the Preview screen.
• Check every field on the preview — names, percentages, the college and branch — then click Submit.

Applications can be tracked by logging into your account on the portal. For help, the programme runs a dedicated helpline: email [email protected] or call 011-40848860, Monday to Friday, 10 AM to 6 PM.

2026–27 cycle: the honest position

Here is the part that needs honesty. The official portal currently displays an application deadline of 19 February 2026, which belongs to the previous cycle — as of 20 October 2026, no fresh 2026–27 application window is visibly announced on the official page. The programme itself is a confirmed ten-year commitment with institutional partners actively shortlisting, so a new intake window is expected — but the exact dates are not yet published.

If you are a first-year woman in a core branch at a participating institution, the practical move right now is: prepare your document set, confirm with your institute's scholarship cell that your college is in the 40, and watch the official portal rather than third-party "last date" claims. Do not apply on a rumoured deadline from a coaching site — check the live portal.

Common mistakes

• Applying from a non-core branch (CS/IT outside the listed streams) — you will not qualify.
• Assuming the ₹8 lakh is a lump sum — it is disbursed semester-wise across the degree, and renewal depends on grades and participation.
• Uploading blurry or cropped marksheets.
• Treating it as fee reimbursement you can sort out later — engagement activities and mentorship are a condition of the programme, not optional extras.

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Flags

• UNVERIFIED: the 2026–27 cycle's application window and deadline. The official portal currently shows the previous cycle's deadline (19-02-2026); check the live portal before applying.
• UNVERIFIED: whether a family-income ceiling applies — the official FAQ poses the question but the answer text was not visible in the fetched page; confirm with the helpline if your file needs an income certificate.
• UNVERIFIED: the full list of the 40 partner institutions (linked on the portal as a PDF); the renewal rule "minimum 6.5 GPA each year" is from an institutional notice, not the main portal text.