Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s Rs 2,500 crore campus to come up at Amaravati in Andhra
Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Sri. N Chandrababu Naidu has laid the foundation stone for Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s 200-acre campus at Amaravati, the state capital. Over the next two decades, the new facility will see an investment of more than Rs 2,500 crores.
Many dignitaries were present to grace the momentous occasion including Sri Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Minister for Human Resources Development; Dr P. Narayana, Minister for MA & UD, Urban Housing, and Sri Kamineni Srinivas, Minister for Health & Medical Education. Also present were office bearers from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, including Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri, President, Board of Management, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Dr. P. Venkat Rangan, Vice Chancellor, Br. Sadasiva Chaitanya, Director of Amaravati Campus; Dr. Sasangan Ramanathan, Dean of Engineering; and Dr. Prem Nair, Medical Director, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (Kochi).
Addressing the gathering, Sri. N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh, said that the aim of his Government is to develop the state into a knowledge hub, and setting up of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s Amaravati Campus will be a big step in this direction. He added: “Amrita is number one among all private varsities in India. As part of Mata Amritanandamayi Math, it will offer students strong moral and cultural values along with regular academics. That is why I give it great preference.”
Said Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri, President, Board of Management, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham: “Amma says education should enrich students both internally and externally. Collecting information from the world, books and instructors is only a part of it. For real education to happen, the student’s heart must also open-up. This cannot be gained by merely increasing one’s intellectual capacity. Nurturing this is the ultimate goal of Amrita.”
Said Dr. Venkat Rangan, Vice Chancellor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham: “As a top-ranked deemed-to-be university, we feel immense pride and joy in expanding our geographical footprint to Andhra Pradesh. Amaravati will be our seventh campus, after Coimbatore, Amritapuri, Kochi, Mysuru, Bengaluru, and Faridabad. I am sure that, under the leadership of our Chancellor, the world-renowned humanitarian, Sadguru Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma), this new campus will quickly become world-renowned for its focus on research, higher education and human values. It will impart education for life, not just to make a living.”
Added Br. Sadasiva Chaitanya, Director of Amaravati Campus, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham: “The Amaravati campus will be constructed in two phases – the first phase will comprise 150 acres and the second phase, 50 acres. Admissions will begin from 2018 for courses such as Computer Science, Information Technology, EEE and MBA – HR, Finance, Marketing, Production, Operations and strategy. By the year 2020, we expect to reach 2,000 students, starting with 300 in 2018. By 2033, we expect around 10,000 students studying at the Amaravati campus. It will have state-of-the-art R&D centers doing cutting-edge research in frontier areas of technology, with particular focus on societal benefit. To ensure academic excellence, the ratio of students to faculty will be kept at 10:1.”
The Amaravati campus, once completed, will offer the full complement of courses including Engineering, Management, Medicine, Humanities, Arts & Sciences, Bio Technology, Nano sciences, Philosophy, Yogic Sciences, Ayurveda and other upcoming technologies. It will have state-of-the-art infrastructure, having tie ups with top ranked universities globally.
The Mata Amritanandamayi Math, which operates Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, is known for social work in education and scientific and technical research to uplift the poor and needy. It offers award-winning adult education programs, helping tribal populations achieve fair trade through literacy. More than 50,000 scholarships are being provided in India as well as in Japan, Haiti, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Spain. Tribal children and slum dwellers are offered after-school tutoring. The Math also runs schools for the differently-abled and hearing impaired.