Bhubaneswar, June 12: The state government has asked the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation to provide 17 acres for infrastructural development of the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at Malipada on the outskirts of the capital.
This was discussed today at the IIIT governing body meet, chaired by chief secretary B.K. Patnaik. “The construction of the four-storey academic block (B) is expected to be over by July while the hostel will be ready by August end. Other infrastructural development work would hopefully be over by the end of this year,” said a senior officer.
The government would release Rs 40 crore for the purpose. “This would be in addition to the already sanctioned amount of Rs 51.40 crore,” he said. Sources said a 10-day faculty recruitment for IIIT would begin from June 14. “We have received about 600 applications from interested candidates for subjects such as computer science, IT, engineering, electronics and telecommunication and electrical engineering,” sources said.
An official of the institute said they had received due approval from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to go forward with the plans of extension as far as the number of courses, teachers, students and overall strengthening of infrastructure are concerned.
“We have also signed an MoU with University of North Texas in Denton for student and faculty exchange programmes, collaborative academic and scientific activities, including promotion of research work,” an official said.
Another IIIT official said the institute, which was established in 2006, was also planning to set up a characterisation laboratory on its campus. The proposed lab, to be a joint venture between the state IT department and a group of NRIs, is expected to help local IT entrepreneurs and designers to test their products and services and attract IT investors to Odisha, too.
Sources said an “IIIT-Bhubaneswar Bill 2012” would be introduced in the next session of the Assembly to chalk out future plans for the institute.
