VIJAYAWADA: VIT University has announced that the foundation stone laying ceremony of its AP campus would be held at Inavolu in the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) area on Thursday and classes would commence in the next academic year — 2017-18.
The function will be attended by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu. VIT will be the first educational institution to start functioning in Amaravati.
VIT-AP is the third institution of its parent organisation in the country, the fist Vellore Institute of Technology has deemed university status.
The Chennai campus was set up in 2010. Both the campuses together have 32,000 students in 53 undergraduate, graduate and PhD programmes.
Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, VIT founder and chancellor G Viswanathan said that VIT-AP was being set up under the AP Private Universities Act to offer quality
education. The average Gross Enrolment Ratio for India is 23 per cent while for AP it is slightly higher at 27 per cent.
“We are far below the world average of 33 per cent,” Viswanathan said. Gross Enrolment Ratio is a measure used to show the ratio of the number of students to those who qualify for a particular grade in an institution.
For the first academic year beginning next year, an online entrance test will be held from April 5 for 15 days for which applications could be filed from November 9.For the first phase of the institution, the VIT-AP will spend Rs 300 crore.
The state government allotted 200 acres of land for VIT against the 300 acres it sought.
The total built up area will be 1,86,73,612 sq ft in 25 years, housing 50,000 students.
VIT-AP is expected to achieve a student strength of 18,000 in the first phase by the end of 5 years. The figure is expected to go up to 50,000 by the end of second phase in 25 years.
VIT-AP, according to Viswanathan, is coming out with a scheme called AP-stars under which it intends to pick up toppers among boys and girls in each district in the state who studied intermediate course in a government junior college located in rural areas and give them free admission, boarding and hostel facility every year.
VIT-AP also intends to adopt three villages close to its location — Inavolu, Velagapudi and Sakhamuru — and take care of all public needs of its residents, Viswanathan said.