Bengal engg varsity gets Rs 450-crore facelift

The Bengal Engineering and Science University (Besu) in Shibpur plans to invest Rs 450 crore to finetune its syllabus and to improve infrastructure and accommodation facilities.

This is part of an attempt to nearly double its student and faculty intake. The money is a grant from the centre for the Eleventh Five Year Plan.

The institute has received the status of an Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology (IIEST) from the central government. The university has also been conferred the status of Institute of National Importance (INI).

As a part of ringing in the changes, the university's governing body will also see changes. The new members of the governing body will comprise officials from both the state and central governments. Most importantly, this change will mean that students will receive degrees from the institute.

Speaking to Business Standard, Bhaswati Mitra, Besu, registrar said: "We will not only increase the student and faculty intake, but also completely transform the campus with introduction of e-governance and wi-fi systems. We are also looking at setting up new campuses around our existing campus in Shibpur in West Bengal and the next one in Salt Lake in Kolkata."

Currently, the institute has about 2,500 students and 250 teachers. It has about 60 classrooms and 14 hostels for students. The institute plans to increase the number of undergraduate students by 50 per cent and award 30 more research scholarships by the end of the Eleventh Five Year Plan. The institute also plans to change its syllabus to accommodate papers in more specialisations.

The syllabus was last revised in 2004. In July 2007, it introduced three new courses "" MSc in food and nutrition, postgraduation in megatronics and postgraduation in safety and occupational health.

With the grant, the institute is looking at introducing several new courses and verticals under technology, management and engineering for students over five years.

The institute is also planning a new digital library building. The number of hostels will also be increased from the 14, currently. At present, the campus has two eight-storey buildings and more such projects have been lined up.

The University plans to invest in setting up its second campus in Salt Lake in Kolkata. It has been able to locate 40 acres in Salt Lake where the University plans to offer courses in Information Technology (IT) and Management. At present, its 125-acre campus in Shibpur in West Bengal accommodates 250 and 240 students for IT and management courses respectively.

With the confirmation of the IIEST status to Besu, the Union ministry of human resources development (MHRD) will have complete control on the university.

Admission to the university will now be through the All India Engineering Entrance Examination system and the admission policy will be similar to that of the other National Institute of Technologies (NIT).

Moreover, 50 per cent of the students will be admitted from within the state and the remaining will be selected from outside.