If all goes well, Ahmedabad, which boasts of India's top B-school, will soon become home to two other prestigious institutions — the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT).

A team of central government officials visited the city recently to inspect the locations proposed by the state education department for these institutions.

According to sources in the department, the team members liked a site in Sanand, near Ahmedabad city. The department officials are now awaiting a formal response.

A senior government official said that the department had proposed the establishment of five special education zones (SEZs) on the lines of the special economic regions. “We are scouting for land across the state that could be notified as education zones,” the official said.

He said the education department was looking for around 800 acres of land for each educational zone. “One such zone is expected to come up in the Ahmedabad district. The GIDC will undertake infrastructure development in the zones,” the official said.

Significantly, the Centre had promised an IIIT for Gujarat, along with Indian Institute of Information Technology Academy. The academy was proposed to train faculty for the IIITs

The department hopes to set up this reputed educational institution in the education zone in Sanand too. In addition, two central universities are also to be established in Gujarat.
The official said that concept of SEZs was evolved after the Vibrant Gujarat summit in January. As many as 110 MoUs worth Rs16,000 crore were signed during summit in the education sector. Of these, 25 pertain to setting up field-specific and general universities.

“It is difficult to provide land for all these institutions. Moreover, all these projects have to be close to main cities of Gujarat to be successful and to afford real benefit to people,” said another official.