NIT Karnataka To Get Rs 80 Crore For Setting Up ‘Central Research Facility’, Becomes Sole NIT To Get HEFA Funding

National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) will be receiving Rs 80 crore to set up a ‘Central Research Facility’, Times of India has reported. The project will be funded by Phase I of Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA). HEFA is a joint venture of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and Canara Bank.

The agency has been set up to create high-quality capital infrastructure in educational institutions and enable them to gain global higher rankings. NITK is the lone NIT which has been chosen for the funding. Other institutes will receive funding from HEFA are IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Kanpur.

The funds given to institutions will have to be repaid by the institution. Director of NITK, Karnam Uma Maheshwar Rao said that the institute will repay the amount to HEFA through the money the institute earns through services provided to customers by the lab facility. He added that the CRF was required as department wise funding to the institute was dwindling in recent times.