Gujarat govt allots land for India's first Railway university

The Gujarat government on Wednesday announced allotment of 31 hectares of land at concessional rate in Vadodara district for setting up India's first Railway university.

The decision to allot the land at 50 per cent of the market rate in Waghodia taluka for permanent campus of the varsity was taken during the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani here, said Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel.

The National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI), popularly known as the Railway university, is one of the pet projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The university currently operates from its temporary location in the premises of Pratap Vilas Palace in Vadodara city, around 130km from here.

The university opened its doors to the first batch of 103 students after it was dedicated to the nation by Rupani and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal in December last year.

"The state Cabinet under CM Vijay Rupani has given its approval to allot 31 hectares of land at 50 per cent concession rate for the Railway university at Waghodia.

"The land will be utilised for construction of various academic buildings, a hostel and a training centre," Patel told reporters.

At present, NRTI, a deemed university focused on transport-related education, offers two programmes - BSc in transportation technology and BBA in transportation management.