Vedanta to invest $1 bn to set up university

The university will be launched by July 2008.

Vedanta Resources Plc has decided to set up a world-class university, like Harvard, Stanford and Oxford, at an investment of $1 billion.

Chairman Anil Agarwal will contribute a part of the investment and the rest will be managed by the university trust. The university, to be launched by July 2008, will be called Vedanta University.

"Discussions regarding the location are on with 4 to 5 states and a decision will be reached by July," said Agarwal.

The university will offer courses in a various disciplines such as liberal arts, basic sciences, engineering, medicine and law.

It will also have centres for cross-disciplinary research in areas such as agriculture, information and communication technology, health sciences, rural economics and manufacturing.

AT Kearney has been roped in to program and manage the initiative. For faculty discussions are on with 300 academicians all over the world.

More than 1,50,000 Indian students go abroad every year for higher studies.

"There is an urgent need for wold class universities with multi- disciplinary curriculum and clear research focus to boost the country's potential as R&D hub," said Agarwal.