IDCO asks 4 districts to identify land for IIM, Odisha

Bhubaneswar, Sept 2: Initiating the process of setting up an

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, the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) has asked the collectors of four districts to identify the land for the purpose.

"We have asked the district collectors of Ganjam, Sambalpur, Khurda and Cuttack to identify 200 acre of land for the purpose of establishment of IIM. The district authorities are told to submit their report on availability of land with IDCO by September 10," IDCO CMD Vishal Dev told reporters here.

The IDCO, the state government's nodal land acquisition agency, said that it would inform the Centre about availability of land in the state. "The central site selection committee will select one of the four places for locating the IIM, Odisha," Vishal Dev said.

The move from IDCO follows the Union Human Resource Development Ministry's letter to the Odisha government to provide free land, measuring 200 acre inside the state for establishment of an IIM. According to provisions, the land must be free from litigation and should be situated in a city that has better rail, road and air connectivity.

In July, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced establishment of four new IIMs, including one in Odisha. The Odisha IIM has already been added as a choice for candidates appearing Common Aptitude Test (CAT) in November this year.

With the state government initiating the process, demands from different places have been pouring in to locate the country's top B-school in their areas.

While the public representatives from Ganjam, the home district of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, are demanding IIM in their locality, Balangir MP Kalikesh Singhdeo has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to consider his native Balangir town for the purpose of setting up prestigious management institute.

Similar demands have been pouring in from Balasore, Rourkela and Sambalpur.

PTI