Soon, city likely to get its first vertical university in Malad

The Atharva Educational Trust has proposed the establishment of Mumbai's first vertical university, which would require approval from the state government. If approved, the university would be located in Malad and would aim to address the issue of land scarcity in the city. Vertical universities are common in cities like New York and Tel Aviv. The proposal will also need approval from the state cabinet as it will be a self-financed university. The Atharva Educational Trust runs several degree colleges in Mumbai and is headed by BJP MLA Sunil Rane.

Mumbai: In a first, the city is likely to get its first vertical university in the country soon as the Atharva Educational Trust has approached the state government with a proposal to establish a vertical university. The higher and technical education department is scrutinizing the proposal, if approved, the university will come up in Malad in western suburbs.

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Atharva Educational Trust runs several degree colleges in Mumbai and is headed by BJP MLA Sunil Rane. “We have received a proposal from Atharva Educational Trust. They have sought approval to establish a vertical university in Malad, where they run an engineering college,” said a senior official from the higher and technical education department, wishing anonymity.

“Once approved, the proposal will need approval from the state cabinet as well as it will be a self-financed university, which requires cabinet clearance,” he informed.

In a state cabinet meeting held on July 19, the state approved a policy to set up vertical universities that require much less land than regular universities. In the beginning, the state allowed establishing them in the city, Suburbs, and the neighboring Thane city.

The idea of a vertical university campus was conceived to deal with the issue of land scarcity, which is common in major cities such as Mumbai. Vertical universities are common in cities like New York, Washington, and Tel Aviv, Israel.

Confirming the development, Sunil Rane, executive president and founder of Atharva Group of Institutes, said they applied for a vertical university in October. “We were waiting for the policy for 25 years. It was a very long wait which ended only this year after following it up for years. I am happy that the chief minister (Eknath Shinde) and deputy chief ministers (Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar) are serious about the growth and development in education.”

Rane also attended a hearing two days ago as part of a scrutiny process held by the state higher and technical education department. “I also made many suggestions to the officials as an MLA,” Rane said.

Atharva Educational Trust’ established its first educational institution in 1999 as Atharva College of Engineering, which got an NAAC A+ grade.

“We are the pioneers in education for robotics, which was started in 2013. Our student team achieved the milestone in establishing a functional receiving ground station for IIT Bombay’s ‘PRATHAM’ satellite at Atharva College of Engineering.”

According to the policy decision for a vertical university, a private university can be established on a minimum land of 25-acre in rural areas, 15-acre in district headquarters, and 10-acre in regional headquarters, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR) whereas for vertical university the institution requires a minimum 15,000 square meter built-up area and to have its own independent building to establish a university where no commercial activity in any way would be allowed to conduct, among other conditions.