The budget declaration allocating an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) for Kerala has brought cheer to Palakkad as the State government has already identified 600 acres of land at Pudussery on the outskirts of the town to establish the institute of higher learning.
Good connectivityBoth the Central and State governments have already reached a consensus that the IIT must be established in Palakkad keeping in view of its strategic location in the middle of the State and its proximity to Tamil Nadu’s second largest city, Coimbatore.
While Palakkad and Shoranur junctions will ensure sufficient rail connectivity to the proposed institution, the Coimbatore Airport will provide the air link. Located close to the Coimbatore-Palakkad stretch of National Highway 47, the proposed campus can be easily accessible by road from Bangalore, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.
The efforts to get an IIT for Palakkad began when V.S. Achuthanandan was the Chief Minister and there was a sustained campaign since then. Former Union Minister of State for Human Resources Sashi Tharoor and Palakkad MP M.B. Rajesh too took active interest in making it a reality and had initiated the ground works.
237 acres acquiredAccording to Revenue Department sources, while the State government has already acquired 237 acres for the institution, the process of acquiring the remaining land is fast progressing.
The State government has already informed the Centre that it will begin preliminary work for the institution once the decision was officially conveyed to the State authorities.
The proposed site was earlier identified by the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra) for the expansion of the Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. (BEML). Kinfra had allotted 375 acres of land close to Sathyanadhampallam to establish a BEML plant. The company demanded 600 more acres and the land was allotted. After BEML put its expansion plans on hold, the State reallocated it to the proposed IIT.
The gazette notification to acquire rest of the land has already been issued and the land included government, private, and railway land. Individuals who owned land in the area have informed the government of their willingness to part with their plots if compensated.