Central panel to visit city on Dec 23 to finalise site for Odisha IIM

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Dec 14:

The site selection committee of the Centre is scheduled to visit the state capital on December 23 to finalise the site for the permanent campus of the proposed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Odisha, according to reliable sources.

The committee, headed by Amarjit Sinha, secretary of Higher Education in the Union ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) will visit the two sites selected by the state government on the outskirts of the capital city – one near the IIIT at Gothapatna and the other near the new campus of IIT, Bhubaneswar at Arugul.

Sources said the state government had written to the Union HRD ministry for the site selection committee’s visit on November 21.

The state government is learnt to be giving priority to the Gothapatna site for establishment of the permanent campus of the proposed IIM. Ithad cited the presence of industrial units, IIIT, Birla Institute of Management and Technology, International Management Institute, Nalco’s I&D Centre and STPI in the area to back its recommendation for the Gothapatna site.

Besides, the site is located at a distance of jts 15 km from the Biju Patnaik International Airport. Proximity to airport, it may be noted, is one of the major criteria set by the Centre for the location of the site for the proposed IIM. Moreover, the site is connected by a 100 ft wide BDA road.

The site selection team will have two senior officials from IIM Kolkata, the mentor for the proposed IIM in Odisha, secretary of Employment and Technical Education and Training department of the state government and Khurda Collector.