BHUBANESWAR: President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the state campus of the Institute of Chemical Technology-Indian Oil Corporation (ICT-IOC) here on Sunday. He also laid the foundation of a permanent campus of the Skill Development Institute (SDI), jointly set up by oil public-sector undertakings (PSUs) at Jatani, through video link during the sixth convocation of IIT-Bhubaneswar (IITBBS)."The establishment of these two institutes shows the Centre's commitment towards developing Odisha," Kovind said.The ICT-IOC campus here will offer a five-year integrated MTech programme, as well as an executive MTech programme for industrial personnel, and a PhD programme. The programmes would involve active industry participation, Kovind added.The ICT-IOC campus, set up with an investment of Rs 500 crore, will be the hub of high-end research and innovation. It will support skill development in fields such as chemical engineering, petrochemicals, textiles, pharmaceuticals and energy. "The ICT-IOC's state campus will contribute towards developing Odisha as the hub of plastic, textile and petrochemical industries and provide our youth with newer avenues of employment," said Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan.He said a study by Deloitte had shown that a well-planned and integrated approach towards downstream textile and plastic clusters in eastern India could potentially unlock investments worth Rs 30,000 crore and generate 25 lakh employment opportunities by 2030.Kovind said the SDI would offer short courses on a spectrum of skills ranging from simple to more complex ones related to artificial intelligence, 3D printing and advanced robotics. The SDI here will be the country's first in the hydrocarbons sector. Its permanent campus will be set up near IITBBS, at an investment of Rs 100 crore.The ICT-IOC campus here will have academic and research collaborations with IIT-Kharagpur, which will act as its incubator, while industry will provide financial support."The success of this experiment will pave the way for a different model of industry-oriented research," said former director of IIT-Kharagpur, former chairperson of AICTE, and founding vice-chancellor of BPUT, Damodar Acharya.

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