A four year hunt for land to set up IIT Goa has reached a conclusion with Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant handed over the documents of transfer of land admeasuring 10 lakh sq.mts. to the Director IIT Goa, Prof. B.K. Mishra in a simple ceremony held on Wednesday.
The State Government identified land at Melauli village of Sattari taluka in the north east of Goa after two previous sites at Canacona in south Goa and Sanguem were met with opposition from local residents.
The identified land was vetted by a site selection Committee of MHRD paving way for the Directorate of Technical education to conduct all the codal formalities required for handing over the land.
Sawant expressed his happiness at the proces having finally completed which he said will go a long way in making Goa an education hub, which is one of his dreams.
An IIT was allotted to Goa by the Central government in 2014 and the new Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) started functioning from July, 2016 in a temporary campus housed at Goa Engineering College (GEC) Campus located at Farmagudi, Goa.
Currently, it offers BTech courses in three core and one non-core branches namely Electrical, Computer Science, Mechanical and Mathematics and Computing. It also offers MTech and PhD courses.
Speaking on the occasion, Health Minister, in whose constituency the proposed campus will be set up, said the upcoming institute will “strengthen the ecosystem of the neighbouring areas of Sattari & Usgao, synthesize the knowledge of our youth, and generate employment for our citizens.”
“This prestigious body of knowledge holds a massive reputation and it will get Goa on the educational map of the country. Being one amongst the top in the country, it will raise the standard of education, nurture innovation and entrepreneurship. Coming into Goa, IIT will not only create a strategic bridge between various stakeholders,” Sawant said.
The new campus is expected to be up and running in two years.
