SHILLONG, Dec 2: Construction at the permanent campus of National Institute of Technology (NIT) Meghalaya at Sohra, which had to be stalled in the wake of the pandemic earlier this year, will resume this month, the institute’s director, Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal informed.
Speaking to mediapersons on Wednesday, Biswal informed that the progress of construction in the early stages was satisfactory till paucity of funds brought work to a halt.
He informed that in February this year, the central government sanctioned an additional amount of Rs 426 crore for completing the project, but the outbreak of COVID-19 subsequently put the brakes on any further construction.
“The good news is that work will resume in December,” the NIT director said.
) The permanent building of NIT Meghalaya is coming up over a sprawling campus of 326 acres.
The director said the construction of the infrastructure would take about a year to complete.
“The intake capacity will be 950 students and the institute will offer B.Tech, M.Tech, M.Sc and PhD courses. The capacity will be enhanced to 1260 in the subsequent years. It will have 50 per cent students from the state,” Biswal said.
He further informed that NIT Meghalaya has clinched the top spot among all NITs in the North East besides making a mark by securing the 16th rank among 31 NITs across the country.
Biswal also informed that the institute would be holding its seventh e-convocation on Friday.
“The institute will confer degrees on 10 PhD, 56 M. Tech, 38 M. Sc and 123 B. Tech students at the convocation,” he said.
Union Education Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ will be the chief guest at the convocation while Sajjan Bhajanka, chairman of Century Plyboards (India) Ltd and also the chairperson of the Board of Governors of NIT Meghalaya, will also be present.