The West Bengal Government on Friday allotted land to St Xavier's College and Presidency University at Rajarhat for their campus expansion programme in the city.

While St Xavier's College has been given 16 acre of land, Presidency has got 10 acre of land in Rajarhat — the satellite township on the north eastern fringes of Kolkata, the State Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, said at the Writers' Buildings here today.

“The Cabinet Committee on infrastructure has cleared the decision; the land will be allotted by HIDCO (West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd). It is a matter of great pride for us,” Ms Banerjee said.

Both St Xavier's and Presidency has been urging the State Government for land for expanding their campus in the city. “We are giving the land to them at a much lower rate, much below the market rate,” Ms Banerjee said.

The land allotted to Presidency is a part of a 20-acre plot held by the Health Department, she said and added that it would need the land for a medical college and hospital on the remaining 10 acre.

St. Xavier's was earlier allotted about six acres of land on EM Bypass by the previous Left Front Government. According to Father Felix Raj, Principal, St. Xavier's College, the institute would set up its third campus which would primarily offer management courses at Rajarhat.

“Work is progressing on the second campus on EM Bypass near the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute. It should be ready in another two years. We plan to have an educational multimedia research centre at the campus. This apart, we plan to shift the science, communication and multimedia departments from the Park Street campus to the second campus,” he said.

shobha@thehindu.co.in

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