Ranchi, Jan. 2: From the next academic session, engineering courses would be offered at Vinoba Bhave University (VBU) in Hazaribagh.

The state science and technology department has extended a go-ahead for beginning the four-year engineering studies in four streams — electronics, mechanical, computers and information technology — from the 2008 session itself.

But it would not be possible for the university to offer the courses at this juncture due to the obvious delay. “We have given permission to the university to run the courses. Being a recognised university, they do not require a nod from the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). But, since this year, almost half of the academic session has lapsed, admissions would only be possible from the next academic session,” said the director of technical education, Arun Kumar.

VBU pro-vice-chancellor J.L. Oraon said that admissions would be through joint entrance tests conducted by the state government for admission into engineering, medical and related streams.

Oraon said that construction work for the new engineering faculty is going on at VBU but if the building is not complete by next year, they would hold the engineering classes in the unused portion of Kala Bhavan, a building that houses post-graduate department of arts at present.

Other than BIT, Sindri, colleges offering engineering courses include DAV engineering colleges in Daltonganj; RVS Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur; Bihar Association-run engineering college near Jamshedpur; Alice Institute of Technology, Nawagarh (Ranchi); Ram Govind Institute of Technology, Koderma; Cambridge Institute of Technology, Tatisilwai (Ranchi) and two other institutes.