Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved Tuesday a proposal of Rs 1,500 crore to upgrade the Odisha University of Technology and Research (OUTR) at par with IIT. The top technical institution has been in need of a makeover.
The amount will be spent in a phased manner in the next three years. In the first year Rs 1,000 crore will be spent for all-round development of the educational institution, starting from infrastructure to human resources.
OUTR was earlier known as College of Engineering and Technology (CET). Sources said it will be upgraded to the level of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and National Institute of Technology (NIT). At present 4,600 students are studying in OUTR. In the course of three years more than 10,000 students will benefit from the upgradation.
Patnaik at a review meeting here Tuesady held discussions on infrastructure, management and teaching staff at the varsity. He urged the authorities to make OUTR a leading institution in technical education and research in India.
Sources said the university will focus on quality education and introduction of new curriculum with advance technology. A number of ‘Centre of Excellence’ will be established to develop human resources and promote inter-departmental research works. Also OUTR will work in association with world-class universities for teaching and research programmes, sources said.