Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 27 : As Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stones for the expansion of IIT Jammu, Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh called it a matter of pride.
Speaking to reporters, Jitender Singh said, "It is a matter of pride that a leading institute like IIT is being developed in Jammu at a quick pace. Even before 2014, people of Jammu have demanded a high-standard institute. Engineering college in Srinagar, which became an NIT afterwards, even with that, people demanded a high-level institute."
"An IIT for Jammu was announced in 2014, in the first interim budget by the late Arun Jaitley. Jammu IIT has developed the most among the new IITs, and this is a matter of pride for us. In the NIF index, IIT Jammu is in the top 60 engineering institutes in India," he added.
Union MoS Singh added that a research park, like in IIT Madras, will also be established at IIT Jammu.
"A research park will also be established here, which will be a new concept for North India. The first research park was established in IIT Madras," he said.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Modi virtually laid the foundation stones for the expansion of eight IITs-Tirupati, Palakkad, Bhilai, Jammu, Dharwad, Jodhpur, Patna, and Indore--at an investment of around Rs 11,000 crore.
The expansion will create capacity for 10,000 new students over the next four years and will establish eight state-of-the-art research parks, thereby strengthening India's innovation ecosystem and providing a strong push to research and development.
Meanwhile, PM Modi today inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of development works worth over Rs 50,000 crore in Jharsuguda, Odisha.
The slew of projects spans across telecommunications, railways, higher education, healthcare, skill development, and rural housing sectors, among others.
In the field of telecom connectivity, the Prime Minister will commission more than 97,500 4G mobile towers built at a cost of around Rs 37,000 crore with swadeshi technology. This includes more than 92,600 4G technology sites commissioned by BSNL.