Bhubaneswar, Sept. 30: The information technology department has shortlisted eight private institutions to partner with it for establishing an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Odisha.

The proposed tech institute will be among 20 such IIITs that the Centre intends to set up across the country to churn out quality professionals in the field of information technology. The state government had earlier floated tenders for expression of interest following which several firms had applied to collaborate for the venture.

Of them, eight have been selected — Regional College of Management, S.N. Mohanty Group, RSB Group, Power Research and Development Consultant, MITS Group, International Panacea, Silicon Engineering College and Shyam Metallics.

They have now been asked to make presentations before the technical subcommittee constituted for the purpose. A detailed project report will be submitted to the Centre by the end of October. “Since the project is to be undertaken in public private partnership (PPP) mode, the proposal can be sent to the Centre only after the private partner for the venture is finalised,” said a senior official of the state information technology department.

Setting up the institute would involve an expenditure of Rs 128 crore, of which the Centre will provide Rs 54 crore. The state government will invest Rs 35 crore and the remaining amount will be contributed by the private agency that takes up the project. The institute will come up on 50 acres that the state government would allocate free of cost.

The private partner will decide the location of the institute. If it selects a location in Bhubaneswar then the land will be provided at Information Technology Investment Region that is spread over 40sqkms between Bhubaneswar and Khurda.