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Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that more than 10 nations are interested in opening IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) campuses.
Addressing media persons on the sidelines of the annual convocation of NITK (National Institute of Technology Karnataka) at Surathkal in Mangaluru taluk on Saturday, the Minister said he is confident that some countries would have IIT campuses in the next two years.
Terming IIT as a big reassuring brand today, he said standards of technology and education are ultimate in these institutions. All these will be represented in the proposed campuses of IIT overseas also, he said.
To a query on the use of local languages in the preparation of curriculum for professional courses, the Minister said AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) is developing local language based curriculum and study materials. AICTE has developed them for the first two years of courses in more than eight languages.
During his visit to the NITK campus, he also inspected two of the projects taken up by the institute. Pradhan said NITK has the ambition to convert a 500-kg food water based biogas plant into a full-fledged hydrogen plant. The proposed project would look at converting biogas into hydrogen energy and syngas. He said both commodities have a huge market in future because of pressure on fossil fuels. Being a research and engineering institution, NITK is developing this project from research to design to production to delivery in a holistic manner, he said.
Future energy
Stating that sustainable energy is the way in the 21st century, he said hydrogen is the energy of the future. “Looking into India’s energy needs, we all have ambition to take lead role in the energy transition in the hydrogen area,” he said.
The Minister also inspected the charging facility for electric vehicles donated by the alumni of the institute. Students have also developed different models of e-bicycles and e-mobility vehicles of different designs and capacities, he said.
The Minister also inaugurated the newly constructed ‘Central Research Facility’ and the ‘School of Interdisciplinary Studies’ building on the occasion.
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