IIT-Hyderabad gets permission to borrow Rs.1,500 cr from Japan
Indian
Institute of
Technology-Hyderabad
(IIT-H) will borrow
Rs.1,500 crore from
Japan International
Cooperation Agency
(JICA) to set up
infrastructure and
expand academic and
research capability.
The finance ministry
approved the proposal
after representatives
from the institute and
the human resource
development ministry
presented their case on
10 April, according to
three officials, who
spoke on condition of
anonymity.
“On Tuesday, we got
the file back with their
(finance ministry’s)
approval. Both the
countries are expected
to formally announce it
when Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh
visits Tokyo in the last
week of May,” said an
HRD ministry official,
one of the three cited
above.
This will be the first
loan of this magnitude
taken by any IIT from
an overseas funding
agency although some
of the older IITs, such
as the ones in Chennai,
Mumbai, Kanpur and
Delhi, received some
mentoring and financial
assistance from
Germany, the erstwhile
Soviet Union, the US and
the UK.
The Japanese
collaboration was
conceived in August
2007 by Singh and then
Japanese premier
Shinzo Abe, a year
before IIT-Hyderabad
started operation. Of
the total loan of
Rs.1,776 crore, the
Indian government will
give 15% and the rest,
a little over Rs.1,500
crore, will come from
JICA. It will bear an
interest rate of 1.4% to
be repaid in 30 years,
which can be extended
to 10 more years, said a
second government
official.
IIT-H will use the loan
to construct nine
buildings, including a
technology incubation
centre, a research park
and academic blocks. A
portion will also be
utilized to buy lab
equipment from Japan,
according to a
document reviewed by
Mint.
In the next five years,
the institute plans to
utilize the loan and scale
up its capacity by seven
times. IIT-H want to
expand the current
student strength of
1,056 by almost seven
times to 7,500 by 2018
and increase the
number of teachers to
750 from the present
105.
“We started with 100%
undergraduate courses
in 2008 and now the
undergraduate and
postgraduate (including
doctoral fellows)
student ratio is almost
50:50,” said an official
of IIT-H, one of the
three people cited in the
first instance. The ratio
he spoke about is
considered a yardstick
to measure an IIT’s
research focus.
The proposed research
facility will allow private
companies to establish
R&D labs inside the
campus. The incubation
centre will aim to create
commercially viable
technologies.
“IITs stand for
research and nurturing
innovation and I believe
the collaboration with
Japan will only be a help.
Their companies are
known for innovation
and the new IIT will
benefit immensely from
the collaboration and
joint research,” said
Reema Gupta, an
associate director at
Indian School of
Business, Hyderabad.
Gupta is a member of
the IIT-H’s board of
governors.
Institute of
Technology-Hyderabad
(IIT-H) will borrow
Rs.1,500 crore from
Japan International
Cooperation Agency
(JICA) to set up
infrastructure and
expand academic and
research capability.
The finance ministry
approved the proposal
after representatives
from the institute and
the human resource
development ministry
presented their case on
10 April, according to
three officials, who
spoke on condition of
anonymity.
“On Tuesday, we got
the file back with their
(finance ministry’s)
approval. Both the
countries are expected
to formally announce it
when Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh
visits Tokyo in the last
week of May,” said an
HRD ministry official,
one of the three cited
above.
This will be the first
loan of this magnitude
taken by any IIT from
an overseas funding
agency although some
of the older IITs, such
as the ones in Chennai,
Mumbai, Kanpur and
Delhi, received some
mentoring and financial
assistance from
Germany, the erstwhile
Soviet Union, the US and
the UK.
The Japanese
collaboration was
conceived in August
2007 by Singh and then
Japanese premier
Shinzo Abe, a year
before IIT-Hyderabad
started operation. Of
the total loan of
Rs.1,776 crore, the
Indian government will
give 15% and the rest,
a little over Rs.1,500
crore, will come from
JICA. It will bear an
interest rate of 1.4% to
be repaid in 30 years,
which can be extended
to 10 more years, said a
second government
official.
IIT-H will use the loan
to construct nine
buildings, including a
technology incubation
centre, a research park
and academic blocks. A
portion will also be
utilized to buy lab
equipment from Japan,
according to a
document reviewed by
Mint.
In the next five years,
the institute plans to
utilize the loan and scale
up its capacity by seven
times. IIT-H want to
expand the current
student strength of
1,056 by almost seven
times to 7,500 by 2018
and increase the
number of teachers to
750 from the present
105.
“We started with 100%
undergraduate courses
in 2008 and now the
undergraduate and
postgraduate (including
doctoral fellows)
student ratio is almost
50:50,” said an official
of IIT-H, one of the
three people cited in the
first instance. The ratio
he spoke about is
considered a yardstick
to measure an IIT’s
research focus.
The proposed research
facility will allow private
companies to establish
R&D labs inside the
campus. The incubation
centre will aim to create
commercially viable
technologies.
“IITs stand for
research and nurturing
innovation and I believe
the collaboration with
Japan will only be a help.
Their companies are
known for innovation
and the new IIT will
benefit immensely from
the collaboration and
joint research,” said
Reema Gupta, an
associate director at
Indian School of
Business, Hyderabad.
Gupta is a member of
the IIT-H’s board of
governors.
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