Bhubaneswar: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhubaneswar, plans to shift its entire set-up to its permanent campus at Argul on the outskirts of the city in the next two months.

Institute director R.V. Raja Kumar said during the 10th foundation day on Monday that construction on the campus was going on in full swing with an investment of more than Rs 1,000 crore.

"A part of the central administration in functioning from the city office. But it will shortly be shifted to the permanent campus. We have already shifted 90 per cent of its set-up," said the director.

The Union ministry of human resource development is funding construction of the new campus.

At present, the IIT functions from two sites in Bhubaneswar. Some parts of the institute's administrative block function from Toshali Bhavan at Satya Nagar, while the hostel and other schools function from its permanent campus at Argul.

On Monday, the institute also announced the introduction of an MTech course. Students can get enrolled in the five-year integrated programme in networking, cyber security, forensics, data analytics and machine intelligence programmes from July 2018.

The central government has sanctioned Rs 5 crore for getting some high-end equipment for mechanical and electronic science departments at the institute.

Chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi, who attended Monday's event as the chief guest, lauded the effort of IIT-Bhubaneswar in utilising state-of-the-art technology to address societal problems.

He emphasised on use of data for next generation economy and encouraged students to start indigenous technology-driven companies.

The foundation day lecture was delivered by security and strategic studies expert C. Uday Bhaskar on "National Security - The Role of the Youth".

He felt that it was the responsibility of every citizen to contribute to national security. He talked about the importance of maintaining national integrity. He also talked about role that a nation's security forces have to play to ensure the well being of its people, by giving various historical examples.

The lecture was followed by an Open Day on the campus from 11.30am to 5.30pm where school students from classes VIII to XII and engineering students from across the state took part.

More than 1,000 students from 25 schools and colleges took part at the programme.

IIT students also organised a science-and-technology exhibition to mark the occasion.