IIM plans to upgrade facilities

Abstract

IIM Calcutta has decided to build new hostels and academic blocks to deal with a rise in students and to attract international scholars.

The institute said in a release: “There is an urgent need to upgrade the infrastructure so that the institute can retain its competitive edge on the national and global stage.” Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan will virtually lay the foundation stone for the project from Shastri Bhawan in New Delhi on January 31, officials said.

The proposed hostels, service building and sub-station building will be a G+9 structure. Many teachers have told this newspaper over the past few years that IIM Calcutta was losing ground to the other IIMs in the absence of “forward-looking initiatives”.

The institute has also decided to dismantle the older hostels while upgrading the infrastructure.

Institute sources said chunks of concrete keep coming off the ceilings of the older hostel buildings.

They were constructed in the 1970s.

A release from the institute said the proposed G+9 building will have a built-up area of 32,556 square metres consisting of 726 rooms with common washrooms and 200 rooms with attached washrooms.

The estimated cost is Rs 245.88 crore.