Goa Government's Final Push for IIT Campus Site Selection Before Elections
With exactly one year remaining before the state assembly elections, the Goa government has initiated what appears to be a final attempt to finalize land for the permanent Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Goa campus. The administration has shortlisted two new sites and is reevaluating one previously identified location in a renewed effort to establish a permanent home for the institute that has been operating from temporary facilities for nearly a decade.
Three Potential Sites Under Consideration
The three shortlisted sites include comunidade land at Usgao, the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) site at Keri in Ponda, and the previously identified sugar factory location at Dharbandora. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has confirmed that the government will soon finalize the site selection to establish a permanent IIT-Goa campus within the state.
This development comes after last year's decision to abandon plans for a campus on over 14 lakh square meters of comunidade land at Codar in Ponda taluka, following strong opposition from local residents. The Codar site represented the fifth location identified for the permanent campus since the institute became operational in 2016.
A Decade of Temporary Operations and Multiple Setbacks
IIT-Goa has been functioning from a temporary campus at the Goa Engineering College in Farmagudi since its establishment. Over the years, several land parcels identified for a permanent campus have faced significant challenges:
- Multiple sites have been rejected by the Union Education Ministry's site selection committee
- Several locations have faced protests from local residents for various reasons
- The government previously began demarcating land at the Sanjivani sugar factory in Dharbandora before shifting focus to the Codar site
A senior government official has clarified that the sugar factory site at Dharbandora remains under consideration for the permanent IIT-Goa campus, though no final decision has been made.
Previous Site Rejections and Community Opposition
The search for a suitable campus location has been marked by multiple setbacks and community resistance:
- Rivona in Sanguem: Plans for a campus on nearly 10.5 lakh square meters of land, officially approved by the Union Education Ministry in January 2024, were dropped due to issues pertaining to land title.
- Sanguem rejection: The Centre earlier rejected land selected in Sanguem, deeming it unsuitable for the project, with additional protests from farmers claiming cultivation rights in the area.
- Melauli in Sattari: When the project was proposed here, locals organized sustained protests, culminating in clashes between protesters and police personnel in January 2021. The Chief Minister subsequently announced the project would be moved elsewhere, citing "people's sentiments."
The current effort represents a renewed push by the state government to resolve the long-standing campus location issue before the upcoming elections, with the three newly shortlisted sites offering potential solutions to the decade-long search for a permanent home for IIT-Goa.
