The National Institute of Design will soon be declared a Centre of Excellence, bringing it at par with institutions such as IIT and IIM.

“We shall declare NID as a Centre of Excellence and a Bill in this regard shall be placed in Parliament. Final touches are being given to the Bill, which will soon be approved by the Union Cabinet,” Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textile, said here today.

“We have taken a decision, the legal vetting of the Bill is on and it shall become a national institute of excellence very soon,” Sharma said.

“Thereafter, those joining the institute from India or abroad shall be awarded degrees, like from any other institute of excellence,” he said.

The process of declaring NID a centre of excellence, was set in motion around two years ago. Currently, it awards diplomas for its UG and PG programmes.

Sharma also announced that in the 12th Five-Year Plan, a Jewellery Design Centre and Automobile Research and Design Centre will be set up in the NID Gandhinagar campus, besides a mess of recreation centre, for which, Rs 25 crore will be given by the Centre.

Lauding the role of NID, Sharma said students of this premier design institute have brought laurels to the country.

The design work of cars such as Hyundai, Renault, new designs of the Tata Nano, were all being carried out here, Sharma said after reviewing the products put on display here.

The institute has also done well in empowering women, through basketry craft-making, one of the projects announced by the Prime Minister during the India African Forum Summit, he said.

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