Will have a 400-bed hospital too.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur is planning to go one step further by starting MBBS courses in the institution.
The new MBBS campus will become a reality by the end of 2017 in the three-acre plot towards the edge of the IIT Kharagpur campus. The new 400-bedded hospital will be named Dr. BC Roy Institute of Medical Science and Research.
IIT Kharagpur director Partha Pratim Chakrabarti told PTI, “The government has already sanctioned a grant of Rs 230 crore last year for this purpose. Construction work will start soon and is expected to be completed within 26 months.”
Authorities at the IIT Kharagpur have already sought the approval of Medical Council of India for offering undergraduate medical degree courses such as MBBS.
If the project becomes a reality, IIT Kharagpur will be the first among the IITs to offer medical education. Currently, IIT Kharagpur is ranked among the top engineering institutions in the world.
The new centre for medicine will also have separate divisions for biomedical, clinical and transitional research. Chakrabarti also said that drug delivery will be one of the key research areas which the new medical college will contribute to.
“It will bring the two diverse disciplines of engineering and medicine together in education and research. Technology will be used to access and treat a large number of patients through satellite centres and secondary hospitals,” the director said.