PM Modi virtually inaugurates IIT Bombay Research Park building

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday virtually inaugurated the IIT Bombay research park building and also laid the foundation stone of academic and residential buildings of the premier institute. The IIT Bombay Research Park was constructed for Rs 225 crore, utilising Rs 100 crore from a grant by the Ministry of Education, Rs 67 crore from HEFA (Higher Education Financing Agency) loan, and Rs 58 crore from IITB internal revenue generation, a statement said.

The Research Park is a G+14 floor building with 5 lakh square feet of built-up space. The prime minister also laid the foundation stone of efficiency apartments, hostel 04, academic sciences blocks for chemistry and chemical engineering, bio-school and central animal facility, and academic blocks 1 and 2, as per the statement issued by the IIT Bombay.

The total cost of the projects for which the foundation stone was laid is more than Rs 1,120 crore. "IIT Bombay is extending the IITB Research Partnership program by investing in a dedicated facility, the IITB Research Park, where our industry partners can co-locate their researchers and staff in the IIT Bombay campus," IIT Director Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri said on the occasion.

The Research Park will be a hub for innovation and collaboration between academia and industry, he said. "It (the Research Park) will be organised into clusters, in core and emerging areas such as bioengineering and healthcare, sustainability and clean energy, semiconductors and quantum tech, materials and smart manufacturing, eMobility, AI Robotics and automation, geospatial technology," he added.