"Karnataka to get IIT Kanpur's unit in Bangalore"

Bangalore, June 19 (IANS) The Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) plans a presence in India's IT hub here, the US and Malaysia, institute director S.G. Dhande said here Saturday. IIT-K intends to set up research centres in the US and Malaysia as part of a plan to compete with top universities, he said. The presence in Bangalore, the US and Malaysia will be preceded by establishing a centre at Noida, near the national capital, the institute's first footprint outside Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Dhande told an innovation convention here. The convention was organised by IIT-K alumni as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the institute. Dhande did not elaborate on the kind of presence the institute planned in Bangalore, which has transformed into a major hub of new economy sectors such information technology and biotechnology. In Malayasia, the IIT-K plans a research centre in Penang while the facility in the US may come up either in Silicon Valley, Boston or Washington, Dhande said. Opening up of centres abroad was essential to compete internationally, he said. "If we want to be internationally recognised, we must have presence in different parts of the world," Dhande said. Karnataka has been pleading with the central government that an IIT be set up in the state. The central government has promised to do so but no time frame has been indicated.