IIT in Karnataka: Where would it come up?

A long standing demand by Karnataka became a reality in the recently presented Union Budget when Arun Jaitley announced that an IIT would come up in the state.

While there is much to cheer about this, the question is where exactly would an IIT be set up in Karnataka. The choices are Dharwad, Raichur, Hassan and Bengaluru. At the moment it appears as though the person who lobbies the hardest would manage to set up the IIT in his or her city.

Karnataka won the race this time

The state of Karnataka has been making a demand for an IIT to be set up in the state for long. In fact it is a demand that has been on for almost 50 years.

Just before the IIT was set up in Chennai, Karnataka had made a pitch for the same. However it lost the race to Chennai in 1959. The next time the demand was made was when H D Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister. While he had shortlisted Karnataka the plan never materialized.

Karantaka lost the race yet again when a stronger lobby from Andhra Pradesh managed to get an IIT set up.

Which place is most suited for an IIT?

While the place is yet to be decided if one goes by the earlier promise made by former Union Human Resource Development Minister, Kapil Sibal would suggest that it would come up in Raichur.

However another strong pitch is being made for Hassan and the lobby is being led by Deve Gowda. He feels that Hassan and Bengaluru are close by and hence it ought to come up there.

There is also a strong pitch being made at Dharwad. There have been complaints that there is lack of opportunity. The setting up of an IIT in Dharwad would enhance job opportunities and also infrastructure growth.

What about Bengaluru?

Many politicians argue that Bengaluru has got enough and more institutes already. There is an Indian Institute of Management Sciences and also an IISC already.

While the setting up of an IIT in Bengaluru could attract more students, the argument is that other cities too need to be given a chance to grow. There is also a land issue in Benglauru and to provide such a big campus the government would have to some searching. An IIT campus would require large tracts of land and providing that would be a major challenge.