Mamata Banerjee on Friday allotted plots in Rajarhat to St. Xavier’s College and rival Presidency University to set up their second campuses, playing honorary Xaverian and chief patron of Presidency from the same podium.

“These two institutions are our pride, just like Besu and Jadavpur. We are giving the land St. Xavier’s had asked for at the minimum possible rate,” the chief minister said at Writers’ Buildings after a meeting of the cabinet sub-committee on infrastructure.

St. Xavier’s has been allotted 16 acres in Action Area III, four acres of which it already owns. The land is opposite the Rosedale Garden residential project, one of the many works in progress spread across Rajarhat.

For Presidency, the government has marked out a prime 10-acre plot in Action Area I, close to Hidco Bhavan. “We have a 20-acre plot, of which 10 are reserved for a medical college and hospital. The rest will be given to Presidency University,” Mamata said.

Father Felix Raj, principal of St. Xavier’s College, termed the allotment “a gift” from the chief minister. “She called me to talk about the land before making the announcement. She is an honorary Xaverian now and we are grateful to her and the government,” he said.

Mamata had invited herself to the St. Xavier’s alumni fraternity at the college convocation on January 20, saying she would be delighted to “join the family” by becoming the institution’s first associate member. The principal was happy to oblige.

The chief minister then extended a return invitation to Bengal’s first autonomous college to become a unitary university like Presidency.

St. Xavier’s had first petitioned the Trinamul-led government for land last September, saying it would ideally like a 25-acre plot. “The government did not have 25 acres of land available for us in one place. We are very happy with what we have got. The onus is now on us to start planning how to develop the plot,” Felix Raj said.

The completion target for the second St. Xavier’s campus is two years. It will house the proposed MBA and postgraduate engineering departments along with the existing BBA wing and some of the arts courses.

The science courses might be shifted to the St. Xavier’s research centre off the Bypass, the principal said.

The college is in the process of adding two new boarding facilities, one each for girls and boys, and an additional floor for classes to the Park Street building that presently houses the boys’ hostel.

Presidency intends using the 10 acres in Action Area I to set up a “moderate-sized campus” modelled on that of Delhi University. Vice-chancellor Malabika Sarkar said she had written to education minister Bratya Basu earlier this year, detailing the grand old college-turned-fledgling university’s expansion plans.

“We have just heard that land has been allotted. We will start drawing up a construction plan and budget for it once we get possession of the plot. We might approach the government for funds,” she said.

Presidency is banking on a building grant from the University Grants Commission under the 12th Plan to take care of a large portion of the expansion expenditure.