The plan to establish Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campuses in Abu Dhabi, Tanzania, and Malaysia has been accelerated, with a year being the target time frame, according to key officials.
Prof V Kamakoti, director of IIT Madras, stated that a team led by the institute’s Dean of Global Engagement has been tasked with coordinating the establishment of the institute’s proposed campus in Tanzania, which will primarily provide courses in Mining, Metallurgy, and Data Science.
According to an official at IIT Delhi, which will establish a campus in Abu Dhabi, delegations from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were recently in New Delhi to examine the model used by IIT-D while also meeting with teachers and students. “A specialised team based in Abu Dhabi is working on it,” added the official.
Two IIT-D faculty members will also be in Abu Dhabi soon. Aside from IIT-D and IIT-M, IIT Kharagpur will open a campus in Malaysia.
According to Kamakoti, the plan is in a “hazy stage.” “We are looking at a year,” he stated when asked if the institute has set a timeframe for the project.
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has repeatedly mentioned the IIT abroad expansion proposal.
The paradigm being considered for the new offshore campuses is that of completely residential campuses with students and instructors from India as well as the host countries. The IITs are adopting guidelines produced by a Ministry of Education committee chaired by IIT Council standing committee chairperson Dr K Radhakrishnan in this regard. “However, we are going above and above the limits,” an official stated.
Undergraduate and postgraduate courses, particularly in new areas, are likely to be offered.
The Radhakrishnan committee’s recommendation that the new institutes be named “Indian International Institute of Technology at (country name)” was also approved.
“The proposed name is sufficiently similar to IIT, with international added to emphasize/clarify that the institute is located outside of India.” The report stated that “the variation in name (with sufficient similarity) will allow the newly formed institutes to evolve their own identity and ethos, while drawing on the strength of the current IITs.”
