The two new seven-storey mega hostel blocks on the sprawling campus of Adityapur-based National Institute of Technology (NIT) are now ready to host over 1,500 more students.

The hostels, each of which can accommodate 756 inmates, will be thrown open to students on Wednesday.

Right now, NIT has 3,400 students on its rolls and campus hostel accommodation is provided to 2,500 students. The rest the 900 had to live outside campus in rented rooms.

But with the two new mega hostel blocks ready, all the students would now get to stay comfortably on campus, NIT spokesperson Deepak Chourasia on Monday said.

Each single-seater accommodation with a balcony and necessary infrastructure including wardrobe and study table has been provided for students at the newly built hostel blocks. Each student will pay Rs 1,500 per semester - a six-month period - for the hostel facility.

According to Chourasia, apart from NITians of regular BTech and MTech courses, students of the first batch of Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) would also be allotted rooms at the new hostels.

Classes for the new batches of NIT and IIIT would start from August 16. NIT, which happens to be the mentoring institute of IIIT, has also been selected to temporarily host the first batch of IIIT students till the time the latter's own campus comes up in Ranchi.

The first batch of IIIT comprises 33 students in two streams, computer science engineering and electronics and communications engineering.

Outstation NIT students who so far did not get to stay on campus but would now be able to do so, are a relieved lot.

"I am happy I won't have to commute 3km to reach campus. I will shift to the hostel when it opens on Wednesday," said Amit Kumar, second-year electronics and electrical engineering student, a boy from Bihar who so far stayed on rent in Adityapur. "I will save money and time," he said.

NIT also completed formalities to select 108 ad hoc faculty members in various streams of engineering. This was the first time such ad hoc faculty hires were made in such a large number. These faculty members, contractually appointed for one year, subject to renewal, will enjoy the status of assistant professors and get Rs 50,000 as monthly salary each, an NIT official said.