Members of the Central Site Selection Committee would visit the State on December 23 to finalise a location for establishment of the proposed IIM, Odisha. The team led by Additional Secretary in the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development Amarjeet Sinha would visit two sites, one near IIIT at Gothapatna and another near the new IIT campus at Arugul. Earlier, the State Government had proposed the two sites for the premier institute.
Apart from Sinha, the Site Selection Committee includes two senior officials from IIM Kolkata, Secretary of the State Technical Education and Training Department and the Khordha district Collector. Sources said the State Government is giving priority to the Gothapatna site for the proposed IIM citing presence of national-level educational institutes like IIIT, Birla Institute of Management and Technology, International Management Institute, Nalco’s I&D Centre and STPI. Besides, the location is just 15 km away from the Biju Patnaik International Airport and connected with a 100-ft road constructed by the BDA.