The Sri Saravu Mahalinga Bhat Foundation has been established in memory of Late Sri Mahalinga Bhat S. He came from an agricultural family background, graduated from REC (Now NIT) Surathkal in Mechanical Engineering in the late 1970s'. He then went on to pursue post graduation in foundry technology at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science (IISc) . From IISc he got recruited and worked at a couple of Industrial companies for close to a decade before starting his own company in a very modest way. He was a first generation entrepreneur and set up the first unit of the Krishi Group of Companies in 1986 which grew to M/s. Krishi Irrigation Pvt. Ltd. His drive to provide quality irrigation equipment with low cost of access to farmers revolutionized the sector under the brand KRISHI. He further went on to introduce many innovative products like Krishika Ball Valves and Krishi Pipes & Fittings.

In keeping with the tradition of his keen interest in helping deserving meritorious students - the Sri Saravu Mahalinga Bhat Foundation has been started with the intention to provide scholarships to meritorious students who wish to pursue education.