IIT - Gn

Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IIT-Gn) will finally get its own address. After a four-year wait, IIT-Gn took possession of over 400 acres of land for its new campus. The land is on the banks of the Sabarmati near Palej in Gandhinagar. 
IIT-Gn is one of six new IITs set up in 2008-09 and presently functions from a temporary campus at Vishwakarma Government Engineering College (VGEC) at Chandkheda. 
This delay by state government in allocation of land drew flak from educationists and IITians across the country. 
The institute was forced to function from a makeshift arrangement and saw its first batch graduate from the temporary campus. 
The new campus will be constructed at a budget of around Rs 1,200 crore in the first phase, as a fully residential campus for 2,400 students. Work is set to begin in six to nine months, and the campus will flaunt some of the country’s most environment-friendly buildings. 
IIT Gandhinagar authorities hope to move into the campus by 2015. 
Director of IIT-Gn, Sudhir Jain said, “Construction at the new campus will begin with classrooms and student hostels. Once these are ready, we can start functioning from there.” 
Jain added: “We will recycle used water to flush toilets, water plants and so on. The campus will also have a solid waste management system so refuse can be segregated and have non-organic waste sent to recycling centres.” 
The institute’s new premises will have two parts – North campus and South campus – which will be connected by a Central campus. Along with solar back up for power consumed during the day, most of the campus will be vehicle-free zones.
Palej villagers also will benefit from the institute. Administrators have decided to set up a fund of Rs 1 crore. “The money will be used to teach village children and students will also venture go to the village to teach.
This will create goodwill between the institute and villagers,” said an IITGn official.