Rohtak in Haryana is set to carve a niche for itself in the global education arena by playing host to North India?s first Indian Institute of Management (IIM).
Proposed to be located in village Garnawati in Rohtak district, the new IIM will be functional from 2010-11 academic session. Four IIMs will be set up in Trichy, Ranchi, Raipur and Rohtak in the first phase and the other three in the second phase in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan, which will get operational from 2011-12.
MP Gupta, director, technical education, Haryana, said, ?The campus will be located over 200 acre and catalyse an investment of about Rs 250 crore to be funded by the central government. The IIM at Rohtak has been attached with IIM-Lucknow as per the government?s model in which an established IIM mentors the new one.?
It?s surprising to see how a town with primarily agrarian economy has emerged to be an educational as well as industrial hub in recent years. With an IIM and about 12 government and private educational institutions in its portfolio, Rohtak is poised to surpass Kota in Rajasthan as the next destination for coaching and quality education.
On the industrial front, Rohtak district has attracted investment from the global players in the Industrial Model Township (IMT) spanning across 3,000 acre. The IMT where Asian Paints is developing one of the world?s largest manufacturing plant over 130 acre, recently saw the entry of Maruti Suzuki that plans to develop a world-class R&D facility over 700 acre.
Deepender Hooda, Member of Parliament from Rohtak constituency, told FE, ?These developments have definitely made an impact on the economy of Rohtak. There has been a convergence from an agrarian economy to a town on the path of modernisation. Rohtak has become a key town for investments in the fields of automobile, chemicals, education, engineering and mechanical components. This has happened because of the improved infrastructure and right environment for development.?
Industrial development also gave a push to the real estate prices in the region which are still sky high despite the economic slowdown. ?The real estate prices, which were hovering at Rs 2-3 lakh per acre shot up to Rs 20-25 lakh per acre. Various developers are coming forward to invest in the district,? said a Rohtak-based real estate consultant.
Ample employment opportunities will be generated at the IMT with Maruti Suzuki investing close to Rs 1,000 crore in its new R&D facility and Asian Paints pumping around Rs 900 crore into its manufacturing plant. Both Asian paints and Maruti Suzuki are expected to act as catalysts for fast track growth of industry in Rohtak.
Deepender Hooda said, ?In my last term, the focus areas of development were improving the connectivity, education and industry. To improve connectivity, six-laning of NH-10 between Delhi-Rohtak is being undertaken along with electrification of all the train links. Extension of metro is also being sought up to Bahadurgarh, which is the entry point to Rohtak.?
?An investment of around Rs 2,000 crore is being made in the education sector. With institutions like health and medical education institute, footwear design and development institute, state-level film and television institute, national institute of fashion technology and college of arts setting foot in Rohtak, the education scenario is set to change in the next three-four years. Other upcoming institutes include a regional centre of foreign languages of Hyderabad University, women institute of professional studies, hotel management institution at Tilyar etc,? said Hooda.
During his second term as an MP from Rohtak, Hooda also plans to focus on developing a world-class milk processing plant in his constituency to give a push to animal husbandry.