ROURKELA: Amid the growing campus strength, the National Institute of Technology - Rourkela (NIT-R) has secured funds of Rs 208.5 crores as easy educational infrastructure loan and corporate donation for creation of capital assets.
Institute sources informed the NIT-R and the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) have signed an MoU in which HEFA would extend loan support of Rs 165.81 crore towards development of building and other infrastructure.
NIT-R director K Umamaheswar Rao and registrar Rohan Dhiman recently met HEFA officials in Bengaluru and discussed blueprints of sanctioned funds to be issued under Window-1 of HEFA.
Dhiman said NIT-R being an old premier institute it has been sanctioned a loan fund of Rs 165.81 crore for a period of 10 years under Window-1 category of HEFA based on the institute’s annual earning and capability for repayment. He said under the Window-1 facility the NIT-R would have to repay only the principal amount in two annual installments of about Rs 16.5 crore, while the MoE would pay the loan interests.
The loan fund would be utilised for construction of a 1,000-seated boys’ hostel, 500-seat girls’ hostel, 72 faculty residences and a five MLD sewerage treatment plant (STP), adding the institute targets to complete these projects in next three years, he further informed. HEFA is a joint venture company of Canara Bank and Ministry of Education (MoE) to provide financial assistance for creation of capital assets including educational infrastructure and R&D facilities in India’s premier educational institutions.
Meanwhile, the Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) too has sanctioned Rs 42.69 crore to the NIT-R from its CSR fund for construction of a 500-seat girls’ hostel.