Bargarh MP Suresh Pujari raised a demand in the floor of the Parliament to convert VSSUT Burla to a Centrally-funded technical institute (CFTI) in the line of Central Institute of Technology (CIT) in Kokrajhar of Assam.

And to justify his claim, Pujari said the State of Odisha is very rich in minerals but still has undeveloped regions like KBK.

Close to the Hirakud Dam, the first engineering college of the State,  UCE, Burla was set up in 1956 and it has been a State unitary technical university named as VSSUT Burla since 2009. It has UGC recognition of 2(f) and 12(f). The present student strength is more than 5,000 and the top rankers of the State are preferring this university. It offers 11 UG courses, 34 PG courses and 16 PhD programmes. It has produced 30,000 plus alumni who are serving the nation and abroad in responsible positions, said Pujari.

The institute is within the vicinity of industrial belt, mines and other institutes of higher learning like Sambalpur University, VIMSAR, IIM, IIT, NIT and agricultural university. It is well connected by road, rail and air. The university has a total land of 500 acres and has a scope to become a ‘Multi-disciplinary Engineering Research University' (MERU) as mandated in NEP-2020.    

Under these circumstances, Pujari requested to consider upgrading VSSUT Burla so that it acts as a catalyst to the socio-economic and overall development of all the underdeveloped districts of western Odisha.

To be noted here when Dharmendra Pradhan was the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, he had recommended a letter of the then VC of VSSUT Prof E Saibaba Reddy to the Union Education Minister to convert VSSUT to an IIT. And fortunately Pradhan is Union Education Minister now and hence things would be easier for the purpose as he himself would do the work that he recommended to his counterpart in 2015.