HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh has been sanctioned its first Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). It will be located at Isnapur in Medak district, the hub of chemical and pharma-based industries and the proposed venue of a textile park, about 35 km from Hyderabad.

This is one of the three new IITs being established in the country under the 11th Plan, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, announced in the Assembly on Tuesday. Making a suo motu statement, he said the Ministry of Human Resources Development would spend Rs. 1,800 crores on the IIT during its first three years.

PG courses

Basar in Adilabad district, the site originally proposed by the State Government for the IIT, will get a 21st Century Gurukul Centre with a strength of 250 students. It will offer postgraduate courses in information technology conforming to national and global standards. 21st Gurukul Centres, conceptualised by Raj Reddy, former consultant to the US President, are already functioning in the State with the help of the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), here.

Knowledge hub

A full-fledged campus will be established within a year at a cost of Rs. 5 crores at Basar. Coupled with the medical college sanctioned in Adilabad, and Jnana Mandir constructed at a cost of Rs. 80 lakhs at Basar, the Gurukul will make Adilabad district a knowledge hub.

Dr. Reddy said he had received communication from Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh informing him about the decision and seeking allotment of 500-600 acres of land free of cost, and infrastructure, including road, rail and air connectivity. He said Isnapur had been selected for the IIT instead of Basar, with a view to developing the backward Medak district. An IIT close to a mega city would grow fast, he said, citing the example of those at Mumbai and Chennai.

Naidu's view

Amidst applause, the Chief Minister thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, apart from Arjun Singh, for the gesture. Leader of the Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu also welcomed the decision but wanted the IIT at Basar as originally envisaged.

He said the branch of Birla Institute of Technology, set up near Hyderabad, would start functioning from next academic year. Efforts were on to establish a College of Architecture at Vijayawada.

Speaking about the measures to establish higher education institutions in backward areas, he said his Government had sanctioned four new universities, medical colleges at Ongole and Srikakulam and JNTU engineering colleges in Karimnagar and Vizianagaram.

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