Bangalore: Even as intense lobbying continues for snaring the Indian Institute of Technology promised for Karnataka, chief minister Siddaramaiah said he would announce the location in April. Apart from an IIT in Karnataka, the Union Budget 2015–16 also proposes to upgrade Indian School of Mines at Dhanbad to an IIT.
When contacted by news channel, the CM said he was aware that many districts had started making a pitch after the announcement by finance minister Arun Jaitley in the budget. There are demands from #Bagalkot, #Dharwad, Raichur, H#assan, Mysuru, Bengaluru and #Chikballapur, among others. I haven’t taken any decision yet.
Earlier, in a series of letters to the Union government, including the one sent on February 18, 2015 to Minister for Human Resource Development Smriti Irani, Higher Education Minister R.V. Deshpande had drawn attention to the State’s “long cherished dream” to have an IIT and had even assured of providing land required for its establishment. Deshpande, in the legislature last year, said the State government was willing to provide 500 acres of land for free for the purpose.
Mr. Deshpande was not available for comments on Saturday. Basavaraj Kalasa, president of the samiti, said they would meet Mr. Deshpande and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on their demand for setting up the IIT in Raichur as it would help fight the backwardness of the region.
Bureau Report
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