Agartala: Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) will start operating from the current academic year on the National Institute of Technology (NIT) campus here, education minister Ratan Lal Nath said here on Thursday.

MLAs Sushanta Chowdhury and Dilip Das moved a calling attention notice on the progress the institute's establishment.

In his reply, Nath said the institute was approved to be set up in the public-private partnership model in July 2012. The establishment of the institute was delayed by six years because of lack of initiative from the erstwhile Left Front government, he added.

Construction will begin soon, Nath said.

"The institute will be set up on a 52.08-acre plot at Bodhjungnagar. Meanwhile, we want to start the institute's functioning from the NIT campus this year," the minister said.

Nath said the institute would start commissioning with an undergraduate course in computer science and engineering. Thirty students would be admitted in the first batch, he added. Courses in electronics and communication trade would be started in the next academic session.

The institute will be set up with Rs 128 crore, of which the Centre will provide Rs 73.6 crore, Tripura will spend Rs 44.8 crore and three private companies - North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) - will jointly bear Rs 9.7 crore.

All stakeholders, except NBCC, have already given their share.