Abu Dhabi: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi’s high-level team of faculty members is all set to visit Abu Dhabi this month to discuss plan for first IIT campus in United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to the Emirates News Agency (WAM), the team’s visit was finalised on the sidelines of a two-day event of all 23 IITs in India to commemorate the 75th year of India’s Independence.
India’s Minister for Education and Skill Development, Dharmendra Pradhan, spoke about future plans for IITs at the event. “Technology will drive the next phase of growth and development with information technology and communications technology among the front-runners. Our IITs should seize this opportunity,” he said.
On February 18, 2022, as part of the India-UAE trade deal signed, India has announced to set up the first Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in the UAE.
Since then, the two sides have been in contact to come up with measures to follow up on the proposal. IIT Delhi has a small team stationed in the Abu Dhabi map to implement the proposal.
This will be the first time an IIT would be established outside of the country.
As per media reports, teams from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were in New Delhi this month to study the model followed by IIT-D while also holding talks with teachers and students.
Professor V Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, told local media that overseas expansion of IITs has been put on the “fast track” and hopes to open the Abu Dhabi campus along with the ones in Malaysia and Tanzania within one year.
About IIT
IITs are the national institute of India and presently there are 23 IITs in the country. These 23 IITs are located in various regions of the country offering undergraduate (UG), postgraduate (PG) and doctorate (PhD) level programmes. The top IITs in India are IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur, and IIT Madras. Predominantly, IITs are known for offering B Tech and M Tech degree programmes.
Admission to IIT is through the Advanced Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). The highest-ranking eligible students in JEE Mains are eligible to appear on the JEE Advanced. Indian expatriate students usually visit India to write these exams.
Among the most famous “IITians” are Google CEO, Sundar Pichai; the face of the Indian IT industry N. R. Narayana Murthy; bestselling novelist and writer Chetan Bhagat; and former Governor and Economist of the Reserve Bank of India Raghuram Rajan.
