IIM-Paonta Sahib session from this year

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, June 28

The Central Cabinet’s nod to make six new Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs), including one at Paonta Sahib, operational in the current session has paved the way for initiation of its first academic session from the temporary campus.

Sources in the Department of Technical Education confirmed that these centres would initially offer postgraduate diploma courses in management. A sum of Rs 79 crore has been set aside by the Ministry of Higher Education for putting in place requisite facilities in the temporary campus which would initially be registered under the Societies Act.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting convened under the chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education, at Delhi recently.

A task force comprising senior officials of IIM Lucknow, which is the mentor institute for this new campus, has already been entrusted the task of making this campus functional.

Sources in the Department of Technical Education revealed that the final campus would be set up over an area of 1.15 lakh sq km over a period of seven years by 2022-2023. The new campus, once functional, would have a student strength of 1,145 with 125 non-faculty and 114 faculty members as per a communication received from the ministry.

An area of 4,400 sq m has been earmarked at Rampurghat in Paonta Sahib where the temporary campus which comprises 12 classrooms, five offices, three seminar halls, two conference rooms and space for library and computer labs is coming up.

This IIM was part of the budgetary announcement made by the outgoing UPA government in 2014 in its last budget.

Opening of this institute was a major achievement of the state government and it was trying to facilitate the ministry in all ways in opening this IIM.