Half-a-dozen varsities to set shop in Amaravati

HYDERABAD: It's raining private universities in the upcoming capital city of Amaravati.
The expert committee on private universities will meet in the first week of September to clear about half a dozen proposals. Once the panel clears the proposals, the government will issue the letters of intent. Most of the institutions of higher learning will come up in Amaravati.
A group of ministers (GoM) will later clear the allotment of land to these private universities.
The panel had met thrice since the promulgation of the Andhra Pradesh Private Universities Act, 2016. The fourth meeting is scheduled for the first week of September.
The private universities that have expressed interest to set up their campuses in Amaravati include Saveetha Medical University, Amrita University, Vedic University, Karunya University, International School of Computer Science in coordination with JNTU, Kakinada, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), and the Institute of Financial Management and Research (IFMR).
Some of the proposals have already been scrutinized. The proposed Vedic University is the first of its kind institution in the state. The panel created a record of sorts by clearing proposals fast.
According to officials, the total investment by private universities will be about Rs 10,000 crore over a period of 10 years.
"The private universities Act focuses on capacity addition and quality of education. The Act binds the government to track the proposals and dispose them within the time schedule," said Anand Sudarshan, a member of the expert panel. At least half of dozen proposals will be cleared at the meeting.
Earlier, the government issued the letters of intent to four private universities -- Vellore Institute of Technology, SRM, Amity and Centurion.
The government had allotted land to Vellore Institute of Tchnology, SRM and Amity in Amaravati. They will invest about Rs 4500 crore in next 10 years. Centurion University will begin classes this academic year from a temporary campus.
The AP government has also entered into agreement with a few foreign educational institution. NUS Singapore will offer Phd fellowship in areas of leadership and mind-set change, public policy, data analysis, and smart cities.
Harvard Business School and Stanford University will offer research programmes in collaboration with Andhra University.