Berhampur, April 19: The second floor of the academic-cum-administrative building of the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) was handed over to the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER), Odisha, to facilitate classes on the transit campus.

The institute will start functioning from the upcoming academic session.

The principal of ITI, Rajat Kumar Panigrahi, handed over the building to the mentor director of IISER, Odisha, and director of IISER, Bhopal, Vinod Kumar Singh, at the e-library hall of the ITI today.

"We have handed over 16 rooms spread over an area of 14,000sqft on the second floor today. Construction work for the third and fourth floors would start soon and we would provide another 20,000sqft space to the IISER within a year. The chief secretary had directed us earlier to hand over the second floor of the building within a month and we have followed his order," Panigrahi said.

Mentor director Vinod Kumar Singh said classes for the first batch of students would begin from the first week of August.

"The permanent campus at Laudigaon on the outskirts of Berhampur would be ready within two years. The infrastructure development at the transit campus and the permanent campus would progress simultaneously. The state government is co-operating with us," Singh said.

A notification for admission to bachelors and masters dual degree programme for the academic year 2016 in seven IISERs, including IISER, Berhampur, was released on February 28 on its official website.

Students passing the Plus Two exams in the current as well as previous year are eligible for admission. According to a notification, students seeking admission can apply from May 25. The last date of application is June 12 while the entrance test would be held on July 3.

The results of the written test will be declared on July 10.

Students who have valid Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) fellowship and those who have qualified for IIT-JEE are eligible to apply for admissions.