Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar (IIT Bhubaneswar or IITBbs) is a public technical university established by the government of India in 2008, located at Kansapada village, Khordha district, Odisha, India. It is located 24 km south of Bhubaneswar and 4 km from Jatni, but is named after Bhubaneswar.
The institute admits students for bachelor's and master's programs via JEE Advanced and Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering respectively.IIT Bhubaneswar M. Tech notice/ The permanent campus at Kansapada, Khordha District was inaugurated by prime minister Narendra Modi on 24 December 2018. The area of research are science, engineering and humanities.
History and Establishment
Demand and Political Movement for IIT in Odisha Establishing an IIT in Odisha was a long-standing demand for several decades. As the state ranked at the bottom in terms of centrally funded academic and research institutions, there were strong allegations of Congress led central government neglect. There were several incidents of protest, both locally in Odisha, the National Students Union of India (NSUI), and eminent nonresident Indian academics. An organization called Agamee Odisha was formed, that spearheaded mass agitation throughout the state. There also have been stray incidents of violence related to the issue of Odisha's neglect. Politicians including the Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, cast this festering issue as a sign of severe neglect of the state by the UPA government in New Delhi. In May 2007, this became a major issue in the Indian parliament. The opposition NDA staged a walk-out in the Indian parliament, accusing the ruling UPA of neglecting the state's economic development. Sections of the media reported that the Congress party led UPA government had been embarrassed by this issue. Eventually, the HRD minister Mr. Arjun Singh relented, leading to the inception of IIT Bhubaneswar.
Announcement and Approval The birth of the Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, came on the 60th anniversary of the country's Independence on 15 August 2007 when Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India at that time, made the announcement about the expansion of IIT system in the country. Further, the National Development Council of the Planning Commission, in its 54th meeting held on 19 December 2007, approved the proposal as part of the approval process of the 11th Five Year Plan (2007–12).
Mentorship and Initial Administration The actual birth of the institute was announced by the Minister of Human Resource Development Shri. Arjun Singh in a press conference on 28 March 2008. The Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, Government of India, vide its Order dated 9 May 2008 decided that IIT Kharagpur would mentor the setting up of this new IIT for 2–3 years.Unofficial FAQ on IIT Bhubaneswar / It was further decided that the Director of the mentor IIT i.e. IIT Kharagpur, would be the mentor Director of the new IIT pending selection of regular Director and the chairman, Board of Governors (BOG) of IIT Kharagpur would also be the Chairman of the BOG of this new mentored IIT Bhubaneswar.
Government Approval and Legal Formation The Union Cabinet, at its meeting held on 17 July 2008 approved setting up eight new IITs including IIT Bhubaneswar at a cost of per IIT. The Cabinet also approved creation of the post of Director and Registrar along with 30 Faculty per year for each of the new IITs. It was also decided that pending amendment of the Institute of Technology Act, 1961 for inclusion of IIT Bhubaneswar as an Institute of National Importance, the Institute would start functioning under aegis of Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar Society to be registered under the Societies' Registration Act, 1860 (Act XXI of 1860). Papers were filed on 19 July 2008 with the Registrar of Societies Odisha, Cuttack for registration of IIT Bhubaneswar Society and the society was registered on 22 July 2018.From the Director's In This Issue – IIT Bhubaneswar /
Inauguration and National Importance Status IIT Bhubaneswar became the first amongst the eight new IITs to become operational with a sanctioned intake of 40 students each in the disciplines of Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Classes for the first batch of students started from the campus of IIT Kharagpur at Kharagpur, the mentor Institute for IIT Bhubaneswar on 23 July 2008 with admission of 95 students.Info about IIT Bhubaneswar / IIT BHUBANESWAR became an Institute of National Importance from 29 June 2012 with notification of Amendment in the Institutes' of Technology Act, 1961 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, (Department of Higher Education) Government of India published in the Gazette of India dated 2 July 2012.
The process of selection of Faculty and the Registrar were initiated through an issue of advertisement on all India basis. Shri Bata Kishore Ray from MHRD Govt. of India joined as the first employee and first Registrar of the institute on 31 December 2008.Registrar IIT Bhubaneswar /
Campus Selection and Operational Relocation To finalise the site for the permanent campus of IIT Bhubaneswar, the MHRD had set up a Site Identification Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri Ashok Takhur, Additional Secretary to the Government of India which visited Odisha during 24–25 December 2008.Central team gives its nod to Argul for IIT-Bhubaneswar / After visiting four sites proposed by the Government of Odisha i.e. Banki, Ramdaspur in Cuttack district and Gayabandh and Jatni in Khordha district, the Committee recommended the site at Jatni. The recommendation of the committee was approved by the Government of India on 13 January 2009. The Government of Odisha agreed to provide Campus – IIT Bhubaneswar / of land free of cost out of which had been given physical possession on 10 February 2009. The State Government also agreed to provide other facilities including a four-lane road from National Highway No.5 (Kolkata-Chennai) to the IIT.Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar /About IIT Bhubaneshwar / Prof M Chakraborty, deputy director, IIT Kharagpur joined as the Director of IIT Bhubaneswar on 19 May 2009. He took over the rein from Prof D. Acharya, the earlier Director of the institute. IIT Bhubaneswar became operational in the city of Bhubaneswar on 22 July 2009 with shifting 2008 batch of students from IIT Kharagpur and admission of 117 new students in 2009. The Institute started functioning at IIT Kharagpur's Extension Centre built in 1998 in Bhubaneswar.Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar/
Campus and location
Permanent Campus The Government of Odisha has allotted about 936 acres of Government land for permanent campus of the institute. In addition, the State Government is acquiring about 16 acres of private land at its own cost to make the land contiguous. The Foundation Stone of the permanent campus at Arugul, on the outskirts of Jatni and 24 km from Bhubaneswar was laid on 12 February 2009. Provision of water and electric supply to the campus by the State Government have made considerable progress.
The site near Jatni Railway Station on the East Coast Railway is 35 kilometres from Biju Patnaik Airport Bhubaneswar. The land is picturesque with Barunai Hill on one side and a reserve forest nearby. The site is at 20° 10' N and 85° 42' E. A total of of land has been allocated towards the self-contained campus for nearly 10,000 students and 1,100 faculty. A science park is being set up as a part of this institution to support industry oriented research activities. The institute has started operating in its new campus at Arugul from academic year 2015–16. The campus construction began on 14 August 2011, Chief minister Naveen Patnaik laid the foundation stone of the IIT campus at Aragul village near Jatni. The campus master plan has been prepared by Vastunidhi Architects, Noida.
Marine Campus IIT Bhubaneswar is the first IIT to set up a separate marine campus in 2011 for conducting research in rising sea levels, ecology, disaster management, marine ecosystems, fishery development, and other areas. This campus, which will be a part of the School of Earth, Ocean and Environment Sciences, will be set up near Chilka lake. It will have educational facilities for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Temporary Campuses The institute used to operate from a number of locations within the city of Bhubaneswar which included Extension Centre of IIT Kharagpur, Toshali Bhawan and Workshop cum Laboratory Complex near IIT Kharagpur Extension Centre for laboratory facilities, particularly of 3rd and 4th year students. Besides, the Institute had also received tremendous support from other institutes viz. Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology and Central Tool Room & Training Centre for laboratory and workshop facilities, respectively.
Hostel & Housing Hostel facilities to students have been provided through a 200 capacity Dr. A. N. Khosla Hall of Residence of IIT Kharagpur near its Extension Center. In addition, the institute has two hostels (started in July 2015) at its permanent campus, Mahanadi Hall of residence(MHR) of 800 capacity for boys and Subarnarekha Hall of Residence(SHR) for girls of 200 capacity. The institute has also provided housing facility for the Faculty members and the staff members at its campus, Faculty Quarter(FQ) and Staff Quarter(SQ).
Education Hub Several other universities and research institutions are either present or being established in a little far away area, including AIIMS Bhubaneswar, NISER, IIIT, XIMB, one of the Indian government's proposed National Universities of international calibre, and the Institute of Physics. NISER's campus is 2 km away from the IIT. Other institutions, such as Sri Sri University, premier law school National Law University Odisha, as well as the world's biggest academic institution, Vedanta University, will be in the neighbouring places of Cuttack and Puri respectively. An advantage of this IIT is its location at Bhubaneswar, an emerging education hub, that is being promoted as an Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) by the government. A total of 40 km2 of land has been allocated for the purpose, out of which about 60% will be devoted to research and development. An estimated will be invested by the Indian government within the next few years in order to develop the institute.
Connectivity The Old National Highway 5 (part of Golden Quadrilateral) is 8 km from this new IIT, so it has good connectivity. Khurda Rd railway station is 4 km away from the campus, and the Biju Patnaik airport is 35 km away.
Organization and administration Governance
All IITs follow the same organization structure which has President of India as visitor at the top of the hierarchy. Directly under the president is the IIT Council. Under the IIT Council is the board of governors of each IIT. Under the board of governors is the director, who is the chief academic and executive officer of the IIT. Under the director, in the organizational structure, comes the deputy director. Under the director and the deputy director, come the deans, heads of departments, registrar.
Schools The institute has adopted the concept of Schools rather than Departments for promoting inter-disciplinary research. At present the following Schools offer academic programmes:
School of Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Bio Science & Mathematics) School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Management (Economics, English & Psychology) School of Mechanical Sciences (Mechanical Engineering) School of Infrastructure (Civil Engineering) School of Electrical and Computer Sciences (CSE, ECE & Electrical Engineering) School of Mineral, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (Metallurgy & Material Engineering) School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences (Geology, Atmospheric & Ocean Science)
Research Centres