The Hindu Business Line : NID’s capital expenditure for 11th Plan at Rs 139 cr

Ahmedabad, June 23 National Institute of Design received a 156 per cent hike in fund allocation by the Planning Commission at Rs 139 crore in the 11th Plan as compared to the previous Plan, said Dr Darlie O Koshy, Director, addressing presspersons at the beginning of the new academic session of the design institute.

“We are getting 25 per cent of the total Ministry’s allocation, which is a big support”, he said.

The college enrolled 80 under-graduate and 200 post-graduate students this year but intends increasing the number of UG seats to 120 from the next academic session.

Entrance exam

In a bid to regularise the admission process, the institute will introduce NEED, National Entrance Exam for Design, this October for admissions in January.

The process of achieving varsity status is under way and the institute is confident of becoming a deemed university by the end of this year, said Mr Koshy.

“The global plug and play of international students will increase and our degree will get recognition and credibility all over, once we get the deemed status. It will also encourage PhD research and qualified faculty to be a part of our organisation,” he said.

Design museum

A National Design Museum on the banks of the Sabarmati might be on the cards, on around two acres of land that once belonged to the institute. The college is in talks with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to return it. The museum will house treasures of private collector’s to be looked after a trust along with other antiques of inspirational interest, he said.

The institute will set up a rolling venture capital fund through NDBI. It requires around Rs 200 crore for the new campus at Gandhinagar, which is envisaged under the National Design Policy, he said. NID takes up corporate work and currently has projects including the Railway museum at Delhi, rail coach interiors for Mumbai Rail Vikas Nigam, UPSC museum and plasma screens and trophies for the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.

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