Thursday, April 26, 2007

Orissa govt document on IIT in Orissa

INDUSTRIES DEPARTMENT GOVT. OF ORISSA

Industries Department Government of Orissa

BACKGROUND OF IIT PROPOSED IN ORISSA

1 Central Government was earlier considering upgradation of a few selected existing institutions to Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) level. On the proposal of the State Government, it was agreed to consider upgradation of one institution in Orissa.

2 It is learnt that the Government of India has now proposed to establish three greenfield IITs under the 11th Five-Year Plan. Originally, Orissa was included in this proposal, which was also announced by Honourable Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development (HRD) Shri M.A.A. Fatmi on 28th August at Patna. However, recent new reports state that the greenfield IITs will be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan, while Orissa has been excluded.

3 The original choice of Orissa was one that had received State wide support and created enthusiasm. The recent news of it being shifted elsewhere has caused widespread disappointment.

4 Separately, the Governing Body of IIT Kharagpur has approved a full fledged campus in Bhubaneswar by upgrading its existing extension centre, entailing an investment of Rs. 800 � 900 crores. The proposal is awaiting the clearance of Ministry of Human Resources Development (MoHRD), Government of India (GoI). The State Government has offered 300 acres of land free of cost for this project.

5 Honourable Chief Minister of Orissa Shri Naveen Patnaik has written to Honourable Prime Minister of India for considering Orissa as the location of one of the greenfield IITs and for expediting the MoHRD sanction to branch campus of IIT Kharagpur.

RATIONALE FOR TOP PRIORITY OF ESTABLISHING AN IIT�S IN ORISSA

1 Orissa is today poised to emerge as the mining, metals, manufacturing and power generation hub of the country with investment proposals amounting to over Rs. 400, 000 crore. Out of this, over Rs. 30,000 crore investment has already materialised, creating employment opportunities, direct and indirect, for about 30,000 persons.

2 The State has also made considerable headway in promoting technical institutions at ITI, diploma and degree levels, which provides the required critical mass to support institutions of higher learning of the level of an IIT.

3 Orissa has the highest concentration of engineering colleges in eastern India and with the current rate of growth, it is expected to be amongst the top States in the country in the very near future.

4 In recent years Orissa has developed a large number of new (mostly private) engineering and MCA colleges and an IIT that grants M.Tech and Ph.D degrees will significantly help in improving the faculty quality of the Orissa engineering colleges, as their faculty can more easily pursue a higher degree at the IIT and can collaborate with IIT faculty. If India were to maintain its growth, India�s engineering colleges have to improve their faculty quality drastically and the new IITs should contribute to that. As one of the emerging hubs for technical education in the country, Orissa greatly deserves an IIT.

5 The vibrant growth in the industrial sector and the technical education sector in the State provides enormous potential for industry and institution linkages, which includes research development activities. Establishment of an IIT in Orissa will greatly facilitate in intensifying this process, which is of critical importance to make the industry globally competitive.

6 Today, Orissa is playing host to the biggest ever FDI projects in the country such as POSCO and Arcelor Mittal steel projects. The presence of such strong industrial players will definitely provide required synergy for an IIT level institution to realize its full potential. Many of the existing & upcoming industries would be able to leverage the presence of an IIT to boost Research & Development (R&D) activities, and they are also very keen to forge varied forms of partnerships with the IIT.

7 Government of India is requested for establishment of a greenfield IIT in Orissa, which would go a long way in supporting the rapid industrial growth in the State by producing highly qualified technical and managerial personnel as well as the much needed R&D support.

8 State Government while recommending the proposal has also conveyed its willingness to provide 300 acres of land free of cost for the prestigious project of IIT Kharagpur to have a full campus in Bhubaneswar with a final intake capacity of 5000 students. MoHRD, GoI is requested to expedite the approval of the same as well.

9 Orissa finds itself at the bottom of per capita funding through MOHRD, which is not at all justified. The establishment of a greenfield IIT in Orissa along with full branch of IIT Kharagpur shall help in improving this unbalanced and skewed position.

RATIONALE FOR TOP PRIORITY OF ESTABLISHING AN IIM IN ORISSA

1 Given the current industrial boom in Orissa, it is necessary to bring in a culture of professional management and handling of the development process. For this, there needs to be a steady induction of a stream of professional, committed and dynamic managerial workforce into the system.

2 In this context, the establishment of a greenfield Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Orissa becomes one of highest priority. The IIM shall be the incubation centre for quality managerial professionals who will then have a positive impact on the performance and delivery of services by the entire gamut of agencies / organizations in the public & private domains.

3 Besides, the IIM will be one �centre of excellence� that will be a partner to the State in many strategic interventions, be it in promoting entrepreneurship or supporting institutional reforms or formulating policies or providing a think-tank to high level Government decisions or training / retraining of staffs or in encouraging ethical practices in governance & management, etc.

4 Numbers and quality of faculty in local management institutes is a concern which would be adequately addressed by the IIM through it�s doctoral programmes and faculty development programmes.

5 The services sector in Orissa shall be largely benefited by the MBAs from IIM and the sector will be one with the highest growth rates. In fact, an IIM in Orissa will attract services sector players to consider the State as a centre for their businesses.

6 It is learnt that 5 new IIMs are being established under the 11th Plan. Government of India is requested to sanction one IIM in Orissa which shall be provided with all necessary infrastructure support by the State Government.

BACKGROUND OF BHUBANESWAR�S EMERGENCE AS THE NEW KNOWLEDGE CITY

1 Government envisages Bhubaneswar as the new �Knowledge City� through a confluence of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Technical Education.

2 Bhubaneswar, the State capital is the 2nd planned city in the country after Chandigarh; Bhubaneswar has been ranked 5th among cities in �Ease of Doing Business�, a recent study conducted by The World Bank.

3 In IT Sector, Orissa is emerging as a powerhouse with software exports in excess of US$ 100 million during 2005 � 06 and a target of exporting software to the tune of US $ 1000 million by 2011-12.

4 Major players: Infosys, Satyam & TCS and Wipro, Genpact (operational by April-June 07) ; Other major players include MindTree Consulting, Genpact, Hexaware Technologies and Contiloe Films.

5 More than 300 SME units and 12000 software professionals in the State.

6 Investors from Silicon Valley setting up 5000 seater IT/ITES facility.

7 Upcoming Knowledge Corridors

i. Info Park: Creation of 4.2 million square feet of built-up space by DLF

ii. Knowledge Industry Township: 784 acres integrated township located 15 kms from the city and to comprise an SEZ, residential, educational, commercial areas and business zones. To be extended to 1500 acres in Phase-I and 4000 acres to be further added in Phase-II

iii. IDCO-Genpact BPO Complex on 28 acres in the heart of the city

8 State Government has taken the initiative of promoting an International Institute of Information Technology in the public private partnership (PPP) mode.

9 Bio-pharma Park in Bhubaneswar being developed through PPP route.

RATIONALE FOR TOP PRIORITY OF ESTABLISHING AN IIIT IN ORISSA

10 It is of utmost importance to establish an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at Bhubaneswar with central funding which will provide the critical high-end institutional intervention to catapult Bhubaneswar into the fast lane of knowledge based industries.

10 IIT would be an ideal platform for new age courses like bio-informatics, bio-engineering, data mining, embedded systems, image processing, mobile communication, computing, networking, pattern recognition, parallel & distruated computing, robotics, VLSI, etc.

11 The institute would provide the necessary R&D level interventions and support to the IT industry in Orissa.

12 With the emergence of Orissa as the mining, metals, manufacturing and power generation hub in the country, there will be a need for designing applications of IT to the modern manufacturing and engineering sectors, thereby fostering competitiveness and technology driven growth. IIIT will fill this gap in the State.

13 Also, the IIIT will foster technical applications to activities like disaster management that will have huge beneficial impacts on social sectors like agriculture, rural infrastructure, forest & environment management, etc.

14 It is learnt that the Central Government is establishing a number of IIITs in the 11th Plan period. Government of India is requested to favourably consider a centrally funded IIIT in Orissa.

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