The Bhagalpur district administration, under pressure to find a 500-acres land for the proposed Vikramshila Central University, has zeroed in on a plot of the Bihar Industrial Development Authority (BIADA) near the half-excavated Vikramshila Mahavihara.

Following instructions from district magistrate Adesh Titarmare, Kahalgaon sub-divisional officer Arunav Verma has started looking for papers related to the plot concerned.

Verma focused on the BIADA land after residents told him it was suitable for the Vikramshila Central University.

The central government has recently announced Rs 500 crore for the proposed central university but asked the state government to provide 500 acres for it.

The BIADA is a wing of the industries department that was constituted under the Bihar Industrial Area Development Act, 1974, to promote industrial growth.

According to a senior district official, the BIADA has more than 1,020 acres of unutilised land at Ramjanipur. The plots belonged to farmers, who were offered compensation but are now agitating demanding revised reimbursement.

"There move was illegal but since it was politically motivated, nothing could be done. As a result, big industrial houses like Star Cement, which had bought the land, did not launch any project. The land is lying unused there. The fate of the proposed central varsity now depends on the willpower of the state government, which would have to transfer the Biada land for the proposed central varsity. We need a clear stand from the government," he said.

People, too, have urged the government to give the Biada land for the proposed central university.

"Those who were opposing industrial activities on the BIADA land will not oppose the establishment of the Vikramshila Central University. Earlier, some politicians were successful in diverting the people. This time, they will not be able to do it," said Rajiv Kumar of Anadipur village near Vikramshila.

Nishikant Dubey, BJP MP from Godda (Jharkhand) and a resident of Bhawanipur, a village near Vikramshila, has also requested the Bhagalpur district administration to arrange land for the proposed central varsity.

"It's a golden opportunity. If land for the central varsity is chosen, the function for the foundation stone laying ceremony will be done in April. The availability of land would also help to allot funds in the upcoming Union budget," he told The Telegraph.

On January 13, Bhagalpur district magistrate Titarmare received a letter from additional secretary, education, Senthil Kumar, in which he communicated that the central government had sought the plot.