ROURKELA: Eight years after the announcement, the plan for the second campus of Xavier Institute of Management at Rourkela (XIMR) has hit a roadblock.In 2015, days after recommending the IIM for Sambalpur, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced establishment of XIM’s Rourkela campus. It was planned as a tripartite collaboration of the Odisha government, Xavier University (XU) and Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP).
With the then Rourkela MLA and former union minister Dilip Ray pitching for IIM at Rourkela, the CM after meeting the top RSP and XU authorities announced XIMR at Rourkela. Documents available with The New Indian Express reveal the RSP committed to provide Rs 120 crore and 30 acre land at Rourkela Town Unit (RTU)-5 of RSP’s captive township.
In a follow-up letter to the secretary of higher education department, the RSP on July 22, 2015 wanted certain concessions and wanted clarifications if 25 per cent seats would be reserved for the children of SAIL employees and inclusion of RSP representative in the XIMR board.
Reliable sources said the other two parties did not reportedly agree to RSP’s demand and since then there has been a complete breakdown of communication. With the RSP also slipping into financial crisis, the proposal went into cold storage. The stand-off continues even after eight years.
Former director of National Institute of Technology-Rourkela (NIT-R) Prof Sunil Kumar Sarangi strongly mooted for revival of talk for the proposed XIMR. Given the rapid expansion of the economy, the XIMR should come up early to help create quality manpower to cater to demand for high-end jobs, he said.With transparent negotiation, he said, RSP should be given reasonable concessions to build public faith or else the management would risk criticism for providing land and fund but getting nothing in return.
Sarangi said the tribal belts of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are socio-economically tied and strong operating areas of the Xavier organisation which naturally becomes a logical partner in Odisha’s social prosperity to set up XIMR after the XIMB at Bhubaneswar. A spokesperson for the RSP claimed there has been no further communication over the proposal from the government.