Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Ongole, named after former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will start functioning from the new academic year.
Announcing this here on Tuesday, Minister for Human Resource Development Ganta Srinivasa Rao said that a notification for admitting 1,000 students would be issued in March/April.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao, along with Transport Minister Sidda Raghava Rao, inspected the land identified for the institution under the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies at Yerrajerla near here. Meritorious students with rural background would be given preference under the six-year integrated course after Class 10, leading to a B.Tech. degree, the Minister told reporters. The focus would be on honing soft skills of the students, he explained.
The site for the IIIT would be finalised in a 'day or two by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu from the shortlisted sites, including the ones closer to the Chennai-Kolkata highway, he said after holding consultations with TDP MLAs D. Janardhana Rao and D. Balaveeranjaneya Swamy.