Brand IIT goes to the world,gets OK to set up a campus in Qatar

While the HRD Ministry has traditionally been opposed to IITs or IIMs venturing abroad,arguing that “elite” educational institutions must focus their energies on India alone,the new dispensation in the ministry is keen Brand India makes a mark abroad. It is learnt that the ministry has,in principle,said it has ‘no objection’ to the Qatar plan.

“To be called the International Institute of Technology,it will have the support of all the IITs. There will be a joint venture between the Indian government and the Qatar government,” said an official.

IIT Qatar,when it comes up,will rub shoulders with elite institutes like Carnegie Mellon University,Virginia Commonwealth University and Georgetown University School of Foreign Service that have set up branch campuses in Qatar’s Education City.

The Qatar Foundation,chaired by the Emir’s wife,Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned,has been instrumental in getting major American varsities set up centres in Education City—an educational district on the outskirts of Doha. The project aims to make oil-rich Qatar a knowledge economy by 2030.