The shipping ministry has allocated Rs 300 crore to the Indian Maritime University for the next five years to create infrastructure facilities including academic complex, administrative building, library, hostels and residential accommodation for faculty and staff.
As a first step, a ‘bhoomi pooja’ was performed for construction of the university’s academic and administrative complex buildings at Semmenjeri, near Chennai on Saturday.
Union minister for shipping G K Vasan who was here to participate in the pooja said the university would be unique in the country and produce ‘high quality’ manpower in the maritime sector not only for India but also for the international requirements.
With Chennai as the headquarters, the university was established in November 2008 by an Act of Parliament by integrating seven government-owned maritime academic institutions.
IMU’s Vice Chancellor P Vijayan said the new academic and administrative complex is expected to come up in a year’s time. Of the 300 acres allotted for the campus, the university will utilise 106 acres and the remaining land would be for a National Maritime Complex.
The complex will be built on public-private-partnership and will have facilities like maritime museum, international convention centre with 15,000 seating capacity, five star hotel and a catering college.