Modi lays foundation stones for IIT-DH, IIIT-D

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday laid the foundation stones for the permanent campuses of the Indian Institute of Technology Dharwad (IIT-DH) and Indian Institute of Information Technology, Dharwad (IIIT-D) at a function held here.

Modi also dedicated to nation five other projects such as City Gas Distribution (CGD) project, Strategic Petroleum Reserve facility located in Mangaluru and Padur, 2,350 houses built under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) and doubling of railway track between Chikjajur-Mayakonda section of South Western Railways on the occasion.

IIT-DH

The permanent campus of IIT-DH will come up on 470.21 acres of land located in Chikkamalligawad-Kelageri village on the outskirts of Dharwad at an estimated cost of Rs 1160.34 crore. The premier technological university, which was announced in the 2015-16 budget, will be completed in a three phase. IIT-DH has developed a master plan to construct a green
and smart campus with world class and state of art infrastructure. Currently, the institute is functioning at WALMI campus next to Karnataka High Court bench.

The IIIT-D campus, which will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 114 crore, is coming up on 60 acres of land at Tadasinakoppa village near Dharwad. This building is expected to be completed by July 2020.

Other projects

Modi also dedicated the Rs 178.43 crore city gas distribution network, an inter-connected network of pipelines for supply of gas to the domestic, industrial and commercial premises in the Dharwad district. So far, 40.5 km of steel pipelines and 95.5 km of MDPE pipelines has been laid for this purpose. The India-Oil Adani Gas company venture has so far received registration of 2,126 Pure Natural Gas (PNG) connections.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve located at Mangaluru and Padur are underground crude oil storages that can serve in case of any disruption in the external supply of fuel. The Mangaluru SRP with 1.5 MMT capacity is constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 1,194.71 crore and can meet India’s crude oil requirement for 2.7 days, whereas the 2.5 MMT capacity Padur SPR is constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 1647.51 crore and it can meet India’s crude oil requirement for 4.5 days.

Modi digitally dedicated the doubling of Chikjajur-Mayakonda (18 km) railway track. The project has been completed at an estimated cost of Rs 110 crore. This project is expected to improve the railway service between Bengaluru and Mumbai, Belagavi, Hubballi.