CHANDIGARH: The much-hyped Education City project of the UT administration would officially get going on Monday with a 'bhoomi pujan' ceremony at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, at its site in Sarangpur, following which construction work would begin.

So far, only three of the eight shortlisted institutes have signed an agreement with the UT for the project. The others are Shri Vile Parle Kelvani Mandal, Mumbai and Chitkara Education Trust. The rest have sought a change in the conditions for the project, which permit allotment of land on a lease of only 33 years, even as academic regulatory bodies like All India Council for Technical Education demand that the lease period should be of at least 99 years.

The Education City project has been envisioned by the UT administration with a view to establish a world-class educational institutions of excellence in Chandigarh for which land had been earmarked at Sarangpur. A senior UT official clarified that there was no plan to revise the conditions for allotment of land and there would be no dearth of companies wanting to set up their institutes in Chandigarh. He said that the remaining shortlisted companies have sought more time from the administration to study the terms and conditions.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com