IITs building global presence: IIT Madras functional in Zanzibar, IIT Delhi heads to Abu Dhabi

The famed Indian Institutes of Technology(IITs) and their lakhs of alumni are the global brand ambassadors of the coveted technology institution, which is among the toughest in the world, to get admitted into. From CEOs of top firms to entrepreneurs and executives in various sectors, IITans have taken the institute's image far and wide. If that was not enough, the institutions themselves are now gradually operationalising campuses on foreign soil, as part of the Indian Government's partnership with governments in West Asia and Africa. On Monday, the IIT-Madras campus in Zanzibar, Tanzania, was formally inaugurated by the President of the country in the presence of officials from India and the host nation. This is the first-ever IIT on foreign soil and more are to follow.

The courses at IIT Madras Zanzibar campus are open to students of all nationalities, including Indians and the inaugural batch has commenced academic courses with B.S. and M.Tech in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. For now, the 232-acre campus at Zanzibar caters to 45 students, and comprises an academic block, faculty accommodation and a student hostel, with ample scope for infrastructure expansion and more labs to be constructed.

"The Indian Government's National Education Policy talks about Internationalisation and that includes student exchange, faculty exchange joint degree programmes and establishing international campuses, that's where this IIT-M Zanzibar campus fits in," says Prof. V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, while speaking to WION.

Further, he explains that the Zanzibar campus was established based on three criteria - the host country must have a need for such a high-tech education at the college-level, support from the government of the host nation and a good school education system to offer a solid foundation. "Tanzania clicked on all three parameters," he said.

Today, there are more IITs in India than ever and this expansion to foreign shores is happening at a time when there is a shortage of quality faculty in academia. Prof Kamakoti admits that the faculty shortage is a global issue and IITs too face the same. However, he revealed to WION that IIT-Madras alone has recruited more than 100 faculty members in recent times and that the pan-India IITs are on a recruitment spree. As far as the Zanzibar campus goes, he says that exclusive faculty have been recruited for that campus and that those from the primary IIT-Madras campus would also be visiting them.

In terms of the tangible outcomes from the international campus, he says that it would help better understand Africa and the challenges of the continent, provide innovative solutions for them, carry our research relevant to that region, create opportunities for startups, industrial collaboration research parks etc. While the Zanzibar campus is a collaborative effort between the Indian and Tanzanian Governments, India is primarily investing its knowledge and human resources, while the capital investments would be from the hosts. 30 candidates from Africa are pursuing their PhD at the IIT-M campus in Chennai, this will empower them to become faculty in their respective domains, the IIT-M Director says,

While the IIT-M foreign campus is up and running, soon IIT-Delhi will be following suit and establishing its overseas campus in Abu Dhabi. This effort is said to be aimed at spreading the IIT brand name across the world. "IIT-M alone has some 55,000 alumni and overall IITs have lakhs of alumni, this is a cult. We want it to be a global cult," Prof. Kamakoti, expressed optimistically. In the coming years, courses in Electronic systems, Mining, Ocean Engineering and rare-earth elements are to be made available for students, he adds.