Maharashtra govt nod to set up 10 centres of excellence in institutes across state

Mumbai’s renowned engineering college, Veermata Jijabai Technology Institute (VJTI) is among the selected ten institutes. The centre of excellence at this institute will focus on Artificial Intelligence. Whereas College of Engineering Pune (COEP) will have its centre focused on industrial product design. Government Engineering College, Nagpur will focus on Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy. Government Pharmacy College in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar will focus on Industrial Pharmacy Innovation and Research.

“Aiming to bridge the industry-academia gap, the academic institutes should be encouraged to conduct research on new-age technologies which are in use in industries. This will enhance industry collaborations and in return will lead to more employment-oriented training in these institutes, in line with the National Education Policy, 2020. This requires creating such up-to-date technology facilities in academic institutes. Realising the need, it was proposed to set-up such centres of excellence in select institutes following which a detailed proposal was prepared by the department which is now approved in the cabinet,” states the GR adding that two committees are now formed for implementation of the plan.

While there will be one state-level committee to oversee the implementation, there will be a separate committee at individual institution levels. The committees will include research experts from institutes such as IITs and NITs. The state will be providing financial support for these centres for four years from its establishment. However, the centres are expected to design a self-sustainable model after four years.