Bhubaneswar, Jan. 2: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhubaneswar, is all set to begin its academic activities on its permanent campus at Argul from January 4.

Students of first-year (second semester) and second-year (fourth semester) will begin their classes - both theory and practical at the laboratory complex meant for the first-year students. Governor S.C. Jamir today inaugurated the complex.

The complex is first of the academic buildings to be inaugurated after the institute shifted its students to the hostels on its permanent campus in July 18 last year, coinciding with rath yatra. It marked the formal functioning of the permanent campus.

Till now, students had to travel to Toshali Plaza at Satyanagar to attend their classes.

All first-year students will be able to access the complex facilities since all branches have a common course during the first semester.

However, students of the third-year, fourth-year, MTech and the PhD will have to travel to the city campuses for their classes. Teachers will also have to keep on shuttling between the city campus and its permanent campus at Argul till all the academic blocks are ready, and the new campus is fully functional.

Inaugurating the laboratory complex, Jamir inspired the students of the institute to develop a culture of creativity and innovation. A tree plantation programme was also organised on the occasion.

The director of IIT Bhubaneswar, R.V. Raja Kumar, said: "The inauguration of the laboratory complex also marked the beginning of academic activity on the permanent campus. Besides the practical classes, the students of first and second-year will have their theory classes here."

Kumar also briefed the audience about the academic programmes, infrastructure and future plans of the institute.

The complex has 10 classrooms and 12 laboratories, including a library. The laboratories specialise in electrical technology, basic electronics, physics (with dark room for optical experiments), chemistry, programming and data structure, engineering drawing and e-classroom.

The institute was established on July 22, 2008 under the mentorship of the IIT Kharagpur. Exactly a year later, it started functioning on the temporary campus in Samantapuri.