CHENNAI: The Union Cabinet today approved two proposals for the state including exchange of land with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for expansion of Ekamra Marg, a road near the Biju Patnaik International Airport.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also approved another proposal for formation of an Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Berhampur Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
Apart from giving ex-post facto approval for of starting the academic session of 2016-17 from August 1, 2016 from a temporary campus at Berhampur, the Union Cabinet also allowed an expenditure of Rs 152.79 crore towards operational cost for the first three years from 2016 to 2019.
The state government has provided 200 acres of land free of cost at Laudigaon under Rangeilunda block on the outskirts of Berhampur town for a permanent campus of the national institute. Work has started at the site. Creation of the post of Director of the institute in the pay scale of Rs 80,000 (Fixed) and introduction of a Bill for inclusion of IISER, Berhampur and IISER, Tirupati in the second schedule of National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (NITSER) Act, 2007 was also approved. In his 2015 budget speech, Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley had announced setting up of an IISER in Odisha.
The student strength intake for this year in the bachelor and masters (BS-MS) course is 60 which will progressively go up and the cumulative student strength is envisaged as 665 in the third year, including MS degree, MS-Ph.D, Ph.D and Post-Doctoral fellowships. Educational Consultants India Limited (EdCIL), a PSU of Ministry of HRD, has been asked to submit a proposal for preparation of detailed project report for the permanent campuses.
The Union Cabinet accepted the State Government offer for exchange of 1.6 acres of land with AAI for undertaking road expansion. The land offered by the State Government is contiguous to existing airport and it will be used by AAI for construction of parallel taxi track. The road near the Airport (known as Ekamra Marg/Palashpalli Road) will be widened for streamlining the security arrangements of the VIP movements and creating buffer zone for public use.