Bhubaneswar, April 11: The state government has agreed to provide 75 acres for the proposed marine campus of IIT Bhubaneswar.

“We have been asked to select a plot of land on the Puri-Konark marine drive. Although the exact location is yet to be determined, final talks are on with the district authorities,” said IIT registrar B.K. Ray.

“The campus will be sea-facing and so, we are looking for a particular type of location that would be convenient for the study of waves and the sea. There have to be facilities for jetties and boats used for research,” he said.

A proposal in this regard was sent to the state government in 2010. The campus will be the first marine campus set up by any IIT and would conduct programmes and research on subjects such as climate, sea level rise and extreme weather events.

Expected to come up by 2014, the school will be interdisciplinary, focusing on geology, geophysics, marine sciences, ocean science and other similar fields of study.

In a related development, the institute will be starting MTech courses from July. MTech courses will be available in subjects such as civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, geology and metallurgy and mining engineering.