Andhra Pradesh’s districts split into three zones

Hyderabad: The Tirupati-circuit has been given the Indian Institute of Technology (300 acres), Central University (500 acres) and Indian Institute of Science and Educational Research (200 acres).

HRD minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Municipal and Urban Development minister P. Narayana and health and medical education minister Kamineni Srinivas, told the press that the 13 districts in AP were divided into three circuits so that premier institutes were allocated to all three regions in the state.

Experts from various fields were consulted before zeroing in on the locations for these institutions. Road, rail and air connectivity, social infrastructure, faculty, local conditions and future development were taken into consideration.

The ministers mentioned above will accompany Mt Naidu to Delhi on June 25 and June 26 to push for starting at least a couple of these institutes during the current academic year in rented buildings, moving into permanent quarters over the next five years. The team will also seek the early release of Central grants to speed up the process.

Each institute will require land of between 200 and 500 acres. District Collectors have been told to identify the land in their respective circuits. Mr Srinivasa Rao said that revenue officials have been directed to identify 1,000 acres for each institute so that there is no land acquisition problem for expansion.

Later, Dr P. Narayana said that the premier institutes will be set up within 100-km radius of airports in their respective circuits. “Faculty for IIT, IIM and AIIMS and other top institutes will not come if the airports are far away from work place. The journey time from airport to the institute should not be more than one-and-a-half hours. Locations will be finalised keeping this in view,” he said.

For example, the IIM was allotted to Visakhapatnam because the city is developing as an industrial hub and IIM students can do their projects in industries nearby. The IIM will mostly likely come up in Visakhapatnam district.

A Tribal University is likely to be established in Araku-Paderu or Rampachodavaram and a Petroleum University between Visakhapatnam, Kakinada-Rajahmundry to gel with the PCPIR region.

Medical institutes such as AIIMS are likely to be set up near Vijayawada.