IIT Kharagpur to set up institute in Malaysia to promote Indian standards of education

KOLKATA: IIT Kharagpur Director V K Tewary on Saturday said that as part of the plan of the premier institute to set up top quality higher educational institutions outside India, an IIT is expected to come up in Malaysia in near future.

While speaking at the 68th Convocation of IIT Kharagpur, Tewary said the institute is aiming to be among the top 10 institutes in the world. “IIT Kharagpur aims to become the world-wide benchmark in education excellence by establishing IIT Malaysia, which will be a major step for the institute to set its global footprint in the international domain of Higher Education promoting Indian standards of education,” he said.

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The institute has compiled a compendium of its 75 innovations, Tewary said as the audience broke into applause. Listing the project innovation success stories of IIT Kharagpur in the past two years, he said while the Covirap diagnostic kit for coronavirus was sold at Rs 6.7 crore, many other successful new devices were sold at prices of more than Rs one crore.

"We are supporting 25 identified innovations," he said, adding the institute has set up the 260-bed Syama Prasad Mookerjee Institute of Medical Sciences,” Tewary said. "From Vinod Gupta to Sunder Pichai, many ex-IIT KGPians, numbering thousands, brought laurels to the institute," he added. Chief Guest of the Convocation, Peter Chan, Chief Executive Officer of Herons Bonsai Ltd, an IIT alumnus having passed in 1962, said that he feels proud to be moulded by IIT Kharagpur, an 'institute of eminence'.

Stating that future is bright in multidisciplinary higher education with all innovations going on, he said that in future, IITs should also be awarding degrees in climate change. "You cannot stand still, please move with the times. Don't be held back," he told both the students and the institute asking them to opt for courses like space science. Nine life fellows of the institute were awarded on the occasion along with 40 distinguished alumni. Nine students were handed over gold medals in their respective fields of study while 26 silver medals were also given on the occasion.