Information About IIT, Bhubaneswar

Connectivity

Rail: Bhubaneswar is among the best connected cities of India, courtesy of Indian Railways, the multiple private airlines and the revamped highway system of India. Based on the current available information on the possible location of the IIT in the Bhubaneswar area, one can reach it via two stations: Bhubaneswar station, and Khurda Rd station.

From the North, there are 30 weekly connections between Bhubaneswar and Delhi; with 4 times a week (to become 5) Rajdhani connection. One of the train passing via Delhi, operates thrice a week, connecting Amritsar with Bhubaneswar via Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Ambala, Panipat, Delhi, Agra, Gwalior and Bilaspur and another, a daily train, connects Haridwar with Bhubaneswar via Roorkee, Meerut, Delhi, Agra, Gwalior, Jhansi, Bilaspur and Rourkela. The other trains between Delhi and Bhubaneswar are via Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal and connect Aligarh, Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Gaya, Gomoh, Adra, Bokaro, Tata, Purulia, Sasaram etc. to Bhubaneswar. There is a weekly train connecting Jodhpur and Jaipur to Bhubaneswar via Kota, Ujjain, Bhopal, Itarsi, Nagpur, Gondia and Raipur. There are two trains connecting Patna to Bhubaneswar at a total frequency of three times a week. There are several trains connecting the North East (Guwahati and beyond) with Bhubaneswar; with ten weekly connections between Guwahati and Bhubaneswar and one weekly connection between Dibrugarh and Bhubaneswar via Tinsukia, Dimapur, Lumding and Guwahati. Amongst them, there is once a week connection between Guwahati to Puri via New Jalpaiguri, Malda, Durgapur and Asansol. The rest pass through Bhubaneswar connecting southern cities.

There are multiple trains between Kolkata and Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar, daily connection and more between Raipur and Bhubaneswar, and Ranchi and Bhubaneswar, one daily train between Mumbai and Bhubaneswar via Pune and a weekly train via Raipur, Durg and Nagpur (a new biweekly train between Bhubaneswar and Mumbai was announced in the 2008 budget), five days a week connectivity between Ahmedabad and Bhubaneswar via Surat and Vadodara, weekly connectivity between Okha and Bhubaneswar via Jamnagar and 4 days a week connection between Goa (Vasco) and Bhubaneswar via Hubli. Bhubaneswar is well connected with the southern cities with four daily trains between Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar, two daily trains and many other trains between Chennai and Bhubaneswar, two daily trains and many other trains between Bangalore and Bhubaneswar and seven weekly connections between Kochi and Bhubaneswar. These connections include connection to Tirupati, Pondichery, Kanyakumari, Trichy, Coimbatore and Trivendrum. This map shows the places that have direct connections to Bhubaneswar.

Air: The Bhubaneswar airport is served by Indian, Deccan, Jetlite, Kingfisher and Indigo. At the time of writing there are five daily direct connections between Bhubaneswar and Delhi (Deccan, Indian, Jetlite and Indigo), three daily direct connections between Bhubaneswar and Kolkata (Indigo and Kingfisher), three daily direct connections between Bhubaneswar and Mumbai (Deccan, Indigo and Indian), two daily direct or 1-stop connections between Bhubaneswar and Bangalore (Indigo and Deccan) and one daily direct connections between Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad (Indigo). In addition there is an Indian flight from Raipur to Bhubaneswar and a seasonal Indian flight between Bhubaneswar and Chennai.

Roads: Bhubaneswar is on the golden quadrilateral on NH-5 between Kolkata and Chennai.

Location

It is now reported that IIT Bhubaneswar will be located next to the Khurda Rd station, and very close to the NISER location. A central government team will soon visit to finalize the site. If this new site is chosen, having the IISc-type science institute NISER and IIT Bhubaneswar close to each other would be awesome and unique.

Nature, flora and fauna

The Bhubaneswar metropolitan area and the vicinity provides plenty of opportunities for an IITian to get to a serene place. The proposed IIT Bhubaneswar location will be close to the Barunei Hills, historic Daya river, and 20-30 kms from various access points to the 193.39 sq km Chandaka-Dampara elephant sanctuary. The elephant sanctuary has hills, rivluets, dams, and lakes. The fauna of the Chandaka-Dampara sanctuary includes elephants, pangolins, bears, leopards, wild pigs, pythons and monitor lizards. Further along on the road to the sanctuary is the mighty Mahanadi river, and across the Mahanadi is the Ansupa lake. Upriver on Mahanadi one will reach the famous Satkosia gorges (also a sanctuary and a tiger reserve) and downriver in 10-15 kms one will get to the point where Mahanadi splits to Kathajodi and Birupa and engulfs the millenium city of Cuttack, the twin of Bhubaneswar. One can participate in rowing and sculling at the Jagatpur water sports complex in Cuttack, or embark on a rafting expedition down the Mahanadi from Satkosia gorges to Paradeep. For plant lovers two exciting locations are the Nandan Kanan botanical garden and the Ekamra Kanan Regional plant resource center.

Besides the plenty of things one can do on a short trip to Puri, Konark, Chilika lake and Gopalpur-at-sea, one can spend a day or half a day learning sand art making skills at the Golden Sand Art Institute in Puri and if lucky watch the international award winning sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik making some of his masterpieces.

For slightly longer trips, one may venture to Bhitarkanika national park, Similipal national park or the many spots in the tribal and mountainous districts of South Orissa.

Knowledge Hub

Bhubaneswar is the only city in India that is currently scheduled to have

an IIT,
a top-notch science institute in NISER (at par with IISERs but funded by DAE) and
a world class central university

In addition, it has a top notch management school in XIM, an IIIT, will be having an AIIMS-like institute, and a National Law University. In Puri, 40 kms away from Bhubaneswar's southern edges, Vedanta University is being built with a budget of $3 billion (Rs 12,000 crores) and in an area of 6000+ acres. Mr. Anil Agarwal has pledged to the PM of India to provide $1 Billion (Rs 4,000 crores) of his own money towards this. Besides the above, Bhubaneswar and its vicinity has:

Several universities: Utkal University, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Ravenshaw University, Utkal University of Culture, KIIT Deemed University, Siksha `O' Anusandhan deemed University and Sri Jagannath Sanskrit University (in Puri). Other upcoming universities include ICFAI university and Sri Sri University; the later aiming to be a major institution of international caliber for 15,000 students in various disciplines.

Several research institutes: Institute of Physics, the Institute of Life Sciences, the Institute of Mathematics and Applications, the Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, the Central Rice Research Institute, the Central Institute of Fresh Water Aquaculture, Regional Plant Resources Center and the Regional Medical Research Center.
Over 30 engineering colleges, including an womens engineering college in KISD; and many other in the pipeline.
Four medical Colleges in SCB Medical College (Cuttack), Hi-Tec medical college, KIMS, SUM hospital and medical college; and several others in the pipeline.

Bhubaneswar has some unique advantages for a student lifestyle as it is:

A city relatively free of crime and violence.
A sprawling metropolis that is not overcrowded.
Relatively free of pollution.
Cheap and affordable.
A vibrant city with malls, restaurants, hotels, clubs, and bookstores.
Has plenty of accommodations for female students.