The Indian Institute of Technology - Hyderabad (IIT-H) can now look forward to a rewarding future. The institute will get a whopping Rs. 1,336 crore to set up a permanent campus building at Kandi on the city outskirts and to procure of high-end research equipment.
The fledgling IIT will receive the amount as a part of the Japanese Official Development Assistance (JODA) loan through the Central government. An agreement to this effect was signed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), represented by Shinya Ejima, Chief Representative, JICA (India Office) and Rajesh Khullar, Joint Secretary (Bilateral Cooperation), Ministry of Finance.
The loan will be granted at a concessional rate of 1.40 per cent. It has a repayment period of 30 years with a grace period of 10 years. The project will be executed by IIT-H, and the expected year of completion is 2018. It is the result of an understanding reached between the Prime Ministers of India and Japan for funding and sharing of technical knowledge.
Eminent professors from the University of Tokyo will be involved in the preparation of concept design and architectural plans for some important campus buildings. An additional technical cooperation project envisages enhanced academic, research and human exchange network, besides conduct of joint research under the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS).
IIT-H was established in 2008 and is among the eight new IITs in the country. Since then, it has made strong inroads in research activities. The institute was recently rated ninth on the h-index thus appearing on top of all the new IITs. IIT-H Director U.B. Desai said efforts would be made to improve the h-index to 40 and then to 50 from the existing nine. He said the institute was currently working on 75 projects.
