Bahuguna to hold talks with Pitroda, Montek on knowledge hub

Cash-rich SIDCUL has nearly 300 acres of land in its kitty at Kashipur area in Kumoan region

More than one and a half year after announcing his plans to set up a knowledge hub in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna is finding it tough to implement the announcement due to the slowdown in the market and various other factors.

But now, the Chief Minister has decided to discuss the plans on knowledge hub with Sam Pitroda, adviser to the Prime Minister on public information infrastructure and innovations and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, top government officials said.

“Soon, Bahuguna will travel to New Delhi to hold talks with the two luminaries on the issue,” said the official.

For this purpose, the government will soon identify land for setting up the knowledge hub at places like Dehradun. “We will invite top educational institutions in the world,” said Bahuguna.

The cash-rich State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIDCUL) has nearly 300 acres of land in its kitty at Kashipur area in Kumoan region for which plans had been chalked out in 2012 to set up a knowledge hub close to the Indian Institute of Management (IIM).

The IIM has already started functioning.

“Earlier, the Chief Minister had made an announcement in 2012 to set up the knowledge hub at Kashipur. But I think the government wants to set up such hub at Dehradun now,” said the official.