Though the University Grants Commission (UGC) had declared Calcutta University a centre of excellence in April, the campus will have to wait two more months to utilise the funds allotted to it.

The university was given a grant of Rs 30 crore by the UGC. Immediately after the declaration in April, the commission had released Rs 10 crore as the first instalment.

A final action proposal on how to utilise the funds has been submitted to the commission. Other formalities and aspects are also being verified before the commission gives the final nod before January.

A team of UGC officials from New Delhi will visit the university next month for reviewing the action plan. On the basis of their feedback, the commission will prepare guidelines, which the university will have to follow while spending the funds.

“The team will arrive in Calcutta on December 18. They will discuss the action plan with senior university officials, teachers, students and other employees for three days. We can utilise the first instalment of the grant only after the UGC endorses our plan,” said Suranjan Das, pro vice-chancellor of academic affairs, Calcutta University.

The university will have to spend the entire fund of Rs 30 crore within a span of five years, of which a year has almost passed. A sum of Rs 9 crore has been earmarked for setting up a research centre on modern biological sciences.

Sources in the higher education department said a communication gap had led to the delay in getting the final approval from the UGC. The commission had set up a team for visiting the university nearly six months ago. But the team could not come down to the campus as its chairman was abroad.

In such cases, the university should appeal for appointing a new head of the team, sources said. But the university’s higher officials were unaware of the rule and were informed about it only last month. The commission has recently appointed a new chairman, who will head the team that will come visiting next month.

However, the pro vice-chancellor said the university could not be held responsible for the delay, as every institution is required to follow the same procedure before utilising the funds.