IIT Madras to set up first IIT offshore campus in Tanzania in October 2023

NEW DELHI: The first Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) offshore campus will be set up in Zanzibar, Tanzania. IIT Madras plans to launch programmes in October 2023 in the proposed campus of IIT-M in Tanzania. In this regard, an agreement for setting up the campus of IIT Madras in Zanzibar- Tanzania was signed between the ministry of education (MoE), Government of India, IIT Madras and the ministry of education and vocational training (MoEVT) Zanzibar- Tanzania on Wednesday.

The agreement was signed in the presence of HE Hussein Ali Mwinyi, President of Zanzibar and external affairs minister of India S Jaishankar.

“This campus is reflective of the longstanding friendship between India and Tanzania and a reminder of the focus India places on building people to people ties across Africa and the Global South,” the official statement said.

“This unique partnership will bring the top-ranked educational expertise of IITM to a prime destination in Africa and serve the imperative current needs of the region,” it said. The new IIT campus abroad will also deepen research collaborations with other top-ranked academic institutions world-wide.

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The academic programmes, curricula, student selection aspects and pedagogical details will be framed by IIT Madras, whereas the capital and operating expenditure will be met by the government of Zanzibar-Tanzania.

Witnessed the signing of the agreement on setting up of @iitmadras Zanzibar campus.

Appreciate President @DrHmwinyi gracing the occasion, as also the presence of his Ministers.

This historic step reflects India’s commitment to the Global South. pic.twitter.com/X3vdnICnSE

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) July 5, 2023

“IIT Madras degrees will be awarded to the students enrolled in this campus. The state-of-the-art interdisciplinary degrees are expected to attract a diverse cohort and will include students from Africa and other countries as well. Indian students are also eligible to apply to these programmes,” the statement read.

The institute also said the offshore campus will enhance the quality of IIT Madras education and research due to student and faculty diversity. High commissioner of India, Tanzania Binaya Srikanta Pradhan, IIT Madras dean global engagement Raghunathan Rengaswamy, and acting principal secretary of MoEVT Zanzibar Khalid Masoud Wazir signed the agreement on behalf of MoE, IIT Madras and MoEVT Zanzibar- Tanzania, respectively.

In February this year, a team of five professors from IIT Madras visited Tanzania to hold talks to set up an offshore campus in Africa.