Odisha asks district authorities to earmark acres for IIM

Odisha government today asked the authorities of two districts to identify 200 acres of land each, for establishment of the proposed Indian Institute of Management (IIM), officials said.
"We have written letters to the district collectors of Sundergarh and Koraput to identify 200 acres of land suitable for establishment of the IIM," Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) CMD Vishal Dev told reporters here.
While Koraput collector would find suitable place at Jeypore town, Sundergarh collector is told to identify a place in Rourkela city for the purpose of setting up IIM there.
The IDCO had yesterday wrote to four district collectors -- Cuttack, Khurda, Sambalpur and Ganjam -- to locate 200 acres of land in their jurisdiction.

"Though the Centre has asked us to identify three suitable places, we will submit names of six sites for the purpose. The site selection committee of the Ministry of Human Resource Development will pick up one place out of the six choices," Dev said.
According to provisions for locating an IIM, the land must be free from litigation and should be situated in a city that has better rail, road, and air connectivity.
In July, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced establishment of four new IIMs, including one in Odisha. The Odisha IIM has already been added as a choice for candidates appearing Common Aptitude Test (CAT) in November this year.

While public representatives from Ganjam, home district of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, are demanding IIM in their area, Balangir MP Kalikesh Singhdeo has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to consider his native Balangir town for the purpose.