IIT Bombay research sub-centre at COEP Pune in plans: Minister Chandrakant Patil

Talking about the future possibility of Pune getting its own IIT, Patil said, “The beginning will be with this ‘IIT-2’ at COEP, and later it might become an independent IIT"

In his remarks, COEP Chairman, Vinayak Pai encouraged graduates to seize opportunities in manufacturing and research sectors (Archive)

A collaborative research centre between Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and College of Engineering Pune (COEP) Technological University at its upcoming Chikhali campus was in the works, said Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil on Friday. Speaking at the second convocation ceremony of the university in Pune, Patil explained that ‘IIT-2’ at COEP would offer only research programs and not graduate or postgraduate degrees.

Patil said, “Almost all our IITs are around world ranking 100-200. To set up an IIT in Pune is not possible so we are trying to set up an ‘IIT-2’ at COEP. This will be at the 35-acre COEP campus at Chikhali, which will focus on research. Coordination regarding this between IIT Bombay’s director Shirish Kedar and COEP is ongoing. The start to this collaboration can begin with exchanging some courses, lectures, and experiments.”

“Permission for a new IIT (at Pune) will not be given immediately. They will say ‘there already are many educational institutes in Pune’. But an IIT is an IIT. So will it be possible to convert COEP to IIT-2? I am attempting to make this happen in Delhi,” he added.

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Speaking to reporters after the event, Patil expounded, “For the research that will be conducted, that PhD will be awarded by IIT. The campus, faculty, etc, will be of COEP. Once this materialises, I can assure you that the government will not step back from providing funding.”

Talking about the future possibility of Pune getting its own IIT, Patil said, “The beginning will be with this ‘IIT-2’ at COEP, and later it might become an independent IIT. Before Modi became PM no new IITs were being constructed, but he made five new IITs. Now we are saying our (Pune’s) time should also come. This is the beginning of that.”

This is the second announcement in the last two days that has given a boost to the education sector in Pune. On Thursday, state Revenue Minister Chandrakant Bawankule announced the allocation of 70 acres of land in Moshi, Pune for a satellite campus of IIM Nagpur.

At the convocation ceremony, 358 postgraduate students (271 M.Tech and 87 MBA) and 725 undergraduate students received their degrees. 17 top-performing PG students were awarded rank certificates, and nine Gold Medals were presented to UG toppers. Degrees were awarded across Civil Engineering, Computational Sciences, Electrical and Communication Engineering, Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Transdisciplinary Sciences, and Management.

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In his remarks, COEP Chairman, Vinayak Pai encouraged graduates to seize opportunities in manufacturing and research sectors.

Soham Shah

Soham is a Correspondent with the Indian Express in Pune. A journalism graduate, he was a fact-checker before joining the Express. Soham currently covers education and is also interested in civic issues, health, human rights, and politics. ... Read More

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