IIM Odisha at Sambalpur to admit 70 students this year

There is still hope for IIM Odisha, admitting students for the current academic session.

The Union government is planning to enrol at least 70 students in the proposed IIM (Indian Institute of Management) at Sambalpur from this academic year, a senior officer of ministry of human resource development (MHRD) said on Sunday.

Shailendra Kumar, who is leading the four-member site selection committee, told the media if their recommendations were accepted by the Union government, classes could commence from the coming academic session. “If the admission commences this academic session, it will start with 70 students instead of 140,” Kumar said.

After visiting the sites in Sambalpur district for the proposed IIM, the four-member Central team on Sunday said it would submit its report to the Ministry of Human Resources Development by June 25.

On Sunday, the site selection committee visited Nildungri under Jujumura block which has been shortlisted for permanent campus and Government ITI building at Rasanpur near Maneswar on the outskirts of the city for temporary campus. The team also surveyed the periphery of the site at Nildungri.

On Saturday, they had visited Basantpur near Goshala under Dhankauda block and Brahmanipali under Rengali block. They also went to Sambalpur University Institute of Information Technology (SUIIT) at Burla, Silicon Engineering College and the government polytechnic at Rengali to inspect facilities available for starting the temporary campus.

Pawan Kumar Singh, a professor of IIM Indore, mentor institute of the proposed IIM, said, the team would evaluate all the sites and reach a consensus on sites for temporary and permanent campuses.

Asit Tripathy, the secretary at the department of technical education and training, government of Odisha, said: “We visited all the tentative sites and the report would be submitted to the government of India by Thursday.”