Four institutes get centre of excellence tag
These institutes will be awarded an endowment of ₹250 crore each for developing and increasing India-specific knowledge in urban planning and design
The central government has recognised four institutes across the country as Centres of Excellence (CoE) in the field of urban planning and design, officials familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
The Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) has selected the institutes to develop India-specific knowledge in urban planning and design, said the official.
“The four institutes selected as Centres of Excellence (CoE) are Ahmedabad’s Centre for Environment Planning & Technology (CEPT) University; IIT Kharagpur, School of Planning and Architecture-Delhi and NIT-Calicut,” said MoHUA secretary Manoj Joshi.The proposal to identify these CoEs was announced by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech in 2022.
These institutes will be awarded an endowment of ₹250 crore each for developing and increasing India-specific knowledge in urban planning and design, said the people familiar with the matter.
Commenting on the development, CEPT University president Bimal Patel in a statement said, “We will work with the MoHUA on moving forward with the activities of the CoE. This recognition is 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 the MoHUA, the department of higher education (Ministry of Education), NITI Aayog and leading domain experts were formed to identify these CoEs in September 2022. It was decided that five such institutes would be chosen as centres of excellence, according to the initial guidelines.
