CEPT University among 4 institutions to get MoHUA’s centre of excellence tag

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman first announced the plan to identify centres of excellence in her 2022 budget speech

NEW DELHI: The Centre for Environment Planning & Technology (CEPT) University in Ahmedabad, IIT Kharagpur, School of Planning and Architecture-Delhi and NIT-Calicut have been selected as centres of excellence (CoE) by the union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) for developing India-specific knowledge in urban planning and design, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

CEPT University president Bimal Patel said the recognition was a testament to the tremendous efforts of all members of the University. (CEPT Photo)

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman first announced the plan to identify centres of excellence in her 2022 budget speech.

Designating these institutes as centres of excellence would foster partnerships with urban local bodies, development authorities and provide technical support for all aspects of planning and design in their respective regions. They are also envisaged to “create an eco-system of well-informed city decision-makers” by organising training and allowing research opportunities for government and non-government entities.

The decision to designate CEPT University as CoE was communicated to the university by a letter dated December 15.

In a statement, CEPT University president Bimal Patel said the recognition was a testament to the tremendous efforts of all members of the University and is a moment of immense pride for everyone.

A high-level committee comprising officials from MoHUA, higher education ministry, NITI Aayog and leading domain experts was formed to identify these centres in September 2022. It was decided that five such institutes would be chosen as centres of excellence, according to the initial guidelines.

The four institutes will be awarded an endowment of ₹250 crore each for developing and increasing India-specific knowledge in urban planning and design.

A majority of the ₹250 crore has to be parked as investments and the income/interest earned from these investments can be utilised for conducting research, publications, training, organising workshops, documentation of best practices, and hiring of trainers in the initial years.

In the first five years, only 10% of the ₹250 crore can be used for capital expenditure, and for the first year, only ₹5 crore can be used for the principal amount can be spent on salary, travel, rent, and other revenue expenditure. From the second year onwards, only the interest earned from the endowment fund can be utilised for the activities identified for CoE. Only from the 21st year can these institutes use their principal amount of ₹250 crore of the endowment for capital and revenue expenditures. After 25 years, the institutes will be free to use these funds without any cap for any specific purpose.