Singapore firm donates $10 mn for Nalanda library

A Singapore company has donated $10 million to build the central library in the newly revived Nalanda International University, a varsity official said on Tuesday.

Vice Chancellor Gopa Sabharwal said a five-member team of a Singapore-based RSP construction company visited the university site in connection with the construction of the proposed library.

Spread over 446 acres, the university's new campus would come up in Nalanda district's Rajgir city.

"The library's design will be made by RSP company and Ahmedabad-based Vastushilp Consultant," she said.

Former Singapore foreign minister George Yeo is the new chancellor of the university.

Shabharwal said a tripatrite MoU was signed in Rajgir on Monday by the RSP company, Vastushilp Consultant and Nalanda University for the design and construction of the library.

She said the construction of the new campus would start by this year-end.

The campus is 12 km from the site, where the original Nalanda University, an international centre for learning in ancient times, once stood.

In the 12th century, it was razed by an invading army led by Bakhtiyar Khilji, a general of Qutbuddin Aibak.

The university was established in the 5th century during the reign of the Gupta dynasty.

According to university officials, the entire university campus would be built by 2020. The cental government has sanctioned Rs.2,700 crore for the university.