Orissa to have an IIT: Navin Patnaik
16 May, 2007 l 0127 hrs IST l PTI
NEW DELHI: Orissa Chief Minister Navin Patnaik on Wednesday asked the Centre to set up an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in the state as it did not have a single institution of national excellence.
"I met Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh and demanded setting up of an IIT in Orissa as it was a long standing demand of the people of the state," Patnaik said.
He said he had asked Singh to consider setting up an IIT in the coastal state during the 11th Plan period.
The HRD Minister has assured that the demand of the state would be considered while finalising the proposals of his ministry for the current Five Year Plan, he said.
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(Chronicle adds: After a public protest in Orissa over past several weeks, then central govt. has agreed for an IIT in Orissa. It is basically re-starting of original proposal by IIT-Kharagpur to open a satellite campus at Bhubaneswar, capital of Orissa. After few years, the campus will be converted into an independent IIT.)
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