PM Modi to lay foundation of Sambalpur IIM on January 2

Sambalpur (Odisha), Dec 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the permanent campus of IIM Sambalpur in Odisha virtually on January 2, 2021, officals said on Thursday.

The work on the campus will be completed on April 2022 and will be a fully equipped state-of-art structure with energy efficient green features as per the GRIHA' standards, director of IIM Sambalpur, Prof Mahadeo Jaiswal said. The new and permanent campus of the institute will have green features with maximum use of renewable energy.

The heritage and art of Odisha will also reflect in the building design, Jaiswal added. GRIHA is a rating tool that helps people assess the performance of their building against certain nationally acceptable benchmarks.

Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Union Petroleum and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other dignitaries will be present at the programme, he said.

The ceremony will be virtually attended by over 5000 invitees including dignitaries from the Centre, Odisha government, industry leaders, PSU executives, directors of IIMs, IITs and IISERs, he said. The state government has provided 200 acres for the construction of the proposed campus, while the union ministry of education has extended continued administrative support and financial grant of Rs 401.97 crore for the realisation of the project, Jaiswal said.

IIM Sambalpur is the first IIM to implement the flipped classroom, a learning environment where the basic concepts are learnt in digital mode and in the class the experiential learning happens through live projects from the industry.

As a part of realising the vision of National Education Policy, inclusiveness has been adapted by IIM Sambalpur as its core vision, the director said. The inclusiveness is both in terms of gender inclusivity and outreach to weavers and farmers, he said The institute has outscored all other IIMs in terms of highest gender diversity in the MBA 2019-21 batch with 49 per cent women students and 43 per cent women in MBA 2020-22 batch, he added.