On Sunday, Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, opened the state-of-the-art Centre for Nanotechnology (CNT) and the Centre for Indian Knowledge System (CIKS), two significant infrastructure projects in IIT Guwahati.

He additionally opened two hostels at the institute in the presence of Guwahati MP Queen Oja and state education minister Ranoj Pegu.

The CNT plans on meeting future difficulties and growing academic partnerships with the industry in nanotechnology. The main funding for the centre, which comprised Rs 37 crore for the building, apart from equipment, was acquired from the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) and the ministry of education (MoE). It will host 25 advanced laboratories which will concentrate on improvements in multi-disciplinary, scientific and translational research, as per a spokesperson at IIT Guwahati.

The CIKS will concentrate on protecting, documenting and maintaining the knowledge that is unique to India. The top priorities involve yoga, Indian classical music, traditional medicines, Sanskrit, temple architecture, ceramic tradition and special agricultural practices of northeast India, herbal plants of the northeast as health food and metalwork of Assam. Scholars from different backgrounds would be encouraged to take part in the new CIKS’s interdisciplinary research and education programmes, allowing them to develop practices and technologies in various areas for sustainable growth and development.

The Disang hostel was opened by adding another 1,100 rooms to the existing facility at IIT Guwahati, while the Dikhow hostel is the first hostel on the campus particularly for the accommodation of project staff. Constructed for Rs 132 crore, these hostels will additionally help in improving the capacity of IIT Guwahati.

Pradhan congratulated IIT Guwahati for attaining excellent rankings in several international and national ranking systems and applauded the efforts of the institute in building an ecosystem for research and education as well as concentrating on the overall development of the northeastern area. He said that the centre for nanotechnology will provide not just the knowledge and development of India but the entire world.

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