the goan I network
PANAJI
After operating for nine years from the Goa Engineering College (GEC) campus, the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Goa has
decided to begin work in the first phase in their permanent campus in Cuncolim, and is expected to be inaugurated by July 2021, director of NIT Prof Dr Gopal Mugeraya
said at a press conference on Thursday.
The compound wall of the 124 acre land in South Goa is almost complete,
and work on the first phase of blocks will start soon, the director said, expressing confidence that work would be complete in the next two years.
With the new campus, Mugeraya said that the capacity of NIT will potentially increase from 30
students in each of the five branches of engineering to 60 students in each branch, taking the number
of students studying BTech to 300 in the next two
years.
Further, Mugeraya hopes that the new campus will also take the enrollment for MTech up to 200 students, and the enrollment for PhD up to 50 each year.
The director also spoke of his plans for the permanent campus, saying that it will be completely eco-friendly and hoped that
the number of trees in the campus would be double than the number of students. “We do not want development on the entire 124 acres of land. The first phase
will see 43 acres or one third of the campus developed. After the final phase of the campus is complete, Mugeraya said that one third of the campus will still be free of development.
The first phase of the project is set to cost Rs 396 crores, of which Rs 30 crores has already been transferred to the CPWD, who is carrying out work on the project. The structures are set to be built using precast technology. And Mugeraya s
tressed that the construction to be undertaken on the site will not disturb the flora and fauna at the site.
For the construction, none of the trees currently growing at the campus will be cut, he promised. Mugeraya also said that the new campus will use bookless technology, so that students won’t have to take books to class.
