The Indian Institute of Management, Tiruchirappalli, has acquired 172.27 acres of land owned by the Bharathidasan University to construct its own buildings at Chinna Suriyur near here.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that enabled the transfer of land was signed between the officials of the IIM and the BDU in Chennai on Tuesday. Prafulla Agnihotri, Director, IIM, Tiruchirapalli, and Ramganesh, Registrar-In-Charge, BDU, inked the MoU in the presence of Hemant Kumar Sinha, Secretary, Higher Education and V.M. Muthukumar, Vice Chancellor, Bharathidasan University.
Just days after the signing of MoU, the IIM-T on Thursday commenced the construction work in the permanent campus at the location adjacent to the Bharathidasan University. A special puja was held to commemorate the construction activity. Jayashree Muralidharan, Collector, M. Damodaran, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIM Tirchy, Prafulla Agnihotri, Director, IIM, Muthukumar and others took part in the function.
Agnihotri said the institute had already appointed an architect for designing the buildings. It had also finalised a master plan. It has been planned to construct 75,000 Sqm of building space in the first phase of construction. It would cost Rs 333 crore for creating infrastructure in the permanent campus. The amount has also been sanctioned by the Centre. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) would be the Project Management Consultant (PMC) for undertaking the construction. It aims to complete the works within 24 months.
Muthukumar said the land of the varsity had been allocated to the IIM with the approval of the State government. It would offer all possible help to build the elite institute quickly.
(This article was published in The Hindu on Thursday, June 26, 2014)