$3 bn Vedant University to be set up in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, July 20: India's first world class multi disciplinary university spread over an area of ten thousand acres with an investment of Rs.15,000 crore will come up by 2008 on the Puri-Konark Marine drive in Orissa.

Christened as Vedant University and promoted by the Anil Agarwal Foundation, the formal announcement of the high tech university was made at a brief ceremony here where a MoU was signed with the Orissa government.

The Orissa government will pass specific legislation to provide complete administrative autonomy to the Vedant University and create an allied infrastructure including an expressway to connect the campus with the Bhubaneswar airport.

Orissa Special Secretary in Education department Ashok Tripathy and Director Corporate strategy Vedanta Resources Dhanpal Javeri signed the MoU in presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Vedant Aluminium Limited Chairman Anil Agarwal.

The University's academic and research agenda would focus in a variety of disciplines including Liberal Art, Basic Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Law, Business and Performing Arts and also centres of excellence for cross disciplinary research in areas like Agriculture, Biotechnology and Nanotechnology, Information and Communication technology besides health Sciences and Rural Economy.

UNI