Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Bowing to strong opposition from locals, the Goa government has dropped its plan to set up the permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Codar in Ponda taluka.
This marks the sixth location to be abandoned since the premier institute was established in 2016, as successive site proposals have run into public resistance or land acquisition hurdles.
Water Resources Minister and Shiroda MLA Subhash Shirodkar confirmed on Sunday that the project at Codar had been shelved after consultations with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
“The CM clearly told me that we don’t want to push the project if people are unwilling,” Shirodkar said, adding that the institute would continue operating out of its temporary base at the Goa Engineering College (GEC), Farmagudi.
The minister suggested that the Farmagudi area could be considered for the permanent campus by acquiring more land, but conceded that the present arrangement offered little scope for expansion.
He cautioned that continued failure to finalize a site could even prompt the Centre to relocate the IIT out of Goa — a prospect he termed “unhealthy.”
While stressing that the Codar project would not have harmed local farmers, Shirodkar accused “vested interests” of fuelling protests and blocking developmental opportunities.
“The IIT campus would have brought educational benefits, jobs, and international recognition to Codar,” he argued.
The government had notified its plan to acquire around 14.5 lakh sq mts of comunidade land in Codar, inviting objections in August. Local residents, mostly from the tribal community, opposed the move, citing the village’s fertile agricultural character and dependence on farming.
IIT Goa, which began functioning in July 2016, is in its ninth year without a permanent home. Earlier proposals at Loliem (Canacona), Melauli (Sattari), Cotarli (Sanguem), Rivona (Sanguem), and Dharbandora were also abandoned following protests or acquisition issues.
The prolonged delay has already cost the institute key infrastructure and research grants earmarked for new IITs by the Union Ministry of Education, putting Goa’s national institute at a disadvantage compared to its peers.
