The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi's pioneering Abu Dhabi campus is poised for significant expansion, with its student strength expected to nearly double to around 400 in the upcoming academic year. This marks a major milestone for India's premier engineering institute's first international foray.
Rapid Growth from Humble Beginnings
Shantanu Roy, Executive Director of IIT Delhi-Abu Dhabi, revealed the ambitious target during a recent interaction with Indian media at the campus. The campus, which started its journey in September 2024 with just 17 students in a single master's programme, has seen rapid growth. It currently hosts 182 students, a figure set to surge to approximately 400 next year.
"In the beginning, in the first semester, we started with 17 students. We had only one master's programme. Within six months, we started two undergraduate programmes with around 50 students enrolled then," Roy recounted. He outlined a steady expansion plan, stating, "We are starting a new undergraduate programme every year, maybe a new master's programme every year, and possibly some growth on the PhD front every year."
A Global Institution with Local Alignment
Roy emphasized that the Abu Dhabi campus is an integral part of IIT Delhi, not a separate entity. "We are actually one global institution with three campuses. This (Abu Dhabi) is our first international campus," he clarified. However, the curriculum and focus are strategically aligned with the United Arab Emirates' national priorities and economic diversification goals.
"This is in a different geography and is being aligned with the priorities of the United Arab Emirates," Roy explained. He highlighted key focus areas like energy, sustainability, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and smart materials. This local contextualization is crucial while maintaining the core ethos and academic rigor of the parent IIT Delhi campus.
"The curriculum we are offering here is by and large, the same curriculum, except for some customisation specific to the Middle East requirement," Roy noted. He assured that the quality of education remains paramount, stating, "It is not like if you go to IIT Delhi in Delhi, you get a different training from what you get in Abu Dhabi."
Admissions and Strategic Collaborations
Admissions to the Abu Dhabi campus are conducted through two primary channels: the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced 2025 and the Combined Admission Entrance Test (CAET) 2025. Roy specified that while one-third of the students are admitted via JEE Advanced, the CAET is specifically designed for UAE residents, including expatriates who have lived in the country for at least five years.
The campus fosters strategic local partnerships to enhance its academic and research ecosystem. Roy pointed to a collaboration with the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI). "We are closely aligned with MBZUAI, which offers specialized AI degree programmes. We are starting a master's programme in AI, which is already offered in Delhi," he said.
Roy also addressed the campus's current status, clarifying that the present facility in Khalifa City is a transit campus. "This is not our permanent campus. It may have very good infrastructure, but it's still a transit campus. The permanent campus is still some years away," he stated, adding that sustainability will be a cornerstone of the future permanent campus design.
The IIT Delhi-Abu Dhabi campus, inaugurated on September 2, 2024, stands as a landmark in the educational collaboration between India and the UAE. Its planned expansion to 400 students underscores the growing demand for world-class Indian technical education in the Gulf region and its role in supporting the UAE's knowledge economy vision.
