Japan to help IIT, Hyderabad, to become centre of excellence

Tokyo, Oct 22 (UNI) Japan will collaborate with India to expand the academic programmes and research activities of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad, and to provide its students opportunity of higher education and job placement in Japan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told mediapersons at a joint press conference with his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso at the end of a summit-level meeting that Japan had special interest in the development of the IIT, Hyderabad, and the development of the Indian Institute of Information Technology at Jabalpur.

Hyderabad IIT opened its doors in August this year to 120 undergraduate students at its temporary campus. The institute will move into the official campus in 2010.

The Japan-India Working Group on the cooperation with regard to the Hyderabad IIT today submitted its report coinciding with the bilateral talks between Dr Singh and Mr Aso.

It identified Environment and Energy, Digital Communication, Design and Manufacturing, Nano Technology and Nano Science and Civil engineering as five areas where India's needs Japan's strengths.

The cooperation between the two countries will be at the post graduate level. Intellectual cooperation between Japanese universities and industries is envisaged for capacity building at the post-graduate level and for research in the five academic areas, especially through joint research and exchange of faculty members and researchers, official sources told UNI.

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