CM Revanth Lays Foundation For ₹200-Crore NIUM Campus
Telangana CM A. Revanth Reddy laid the foundation for a ₹200-crore NIUM campus at Bharat Future City, featuring sustainable buildings and six research centres.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Monday laid the foundation stone for the 20-acre campus of the National Institute of Urban Management (NIUM) campus at Bharat Future City on Monday. Nearly two-thirds of the campus will remain green and open, with the ₹200-crore project incorporating solar power, rainwater harvesting and passive cooling systems.
The campus, designed by Sanjay Puri Architects, will also reuse treated wastewater and use low-carbon and recycled construction materials. Its buildings will be set into the natural slope of the land and open towards a central garden and a stepwell-inspired water reservoir, according to the Telangana government.
The state government has allotted 20 acres free of cost and set June 2, 2028, Telangana Formation Day, as the completion deadline.
The project follows a delay of more than a decade in allotting land for the institute. NIUM was selected in 2009 through a national competition under the erstwhile Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The Centre committed ₹50 crore in assistance in December 2009, subject to the state allotting land, but the condition remained unfulfilled for over a decade, the government said.
Established on July 29, 2013, NIUM is Telangana’s urban think tank and action-research institute. It has trained more than 6,000 elected representatives and officials and prepared GIS-based master plans for 54 urban local bodies, according to the government.
The campus is intended to serve as a national centre for urban management, action research and capacity building, a statement said. It will house six action-research centres covering urban governance and financing, infrastructure, socio-economic development and corporate social responsibility, urban mobility, climate mitigation and adaptation, and incubation.
A learning and capacity-building centre will train municipal commissioners, officials and elected representatives. An ‘Urban Living Street’ and prototype testing corridor will allow urban solutions to be tested before wider implementation. The campus will also have 122 residential units for trainees, fellows and visiting experts.
