Guwahati: Assam, which was honoured with an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) three decades ago, will soon proudly host an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) as well, just a few years after establishing an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). This achievement makes Guwahati the second city in India, after Jammu, to have all three prestigious institutions: Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday visited the site for the second IIM in the northeast, set to be built at Marabhita in the Palasbari assembly constituency near Guwahati. He said an investment of Rs 1,000 crore is likely to be approved by the Centre for the IIM. During his visit, he revealed the state govt’s ambitious plan to introduce a School of Planning and Architecture in the same area too. The goal is to transform the Palasbari area into a major educational hub, he said.

“Like IIT and AIIMS, IIM is also a national-level educational institute. If a state has IIM, IIT, and AIIMS, the circle of education or all India-level institutions can be considered complete,” Sarma said. He recalled that when the Manmohan Singh-led govt was in power, an IIM was approved for the northeast. Despite Assam’s efforts to secure it, the IIM eventually went to Shillong due to the efforts of the then development of north eastern region minister P R Kyndiah, who hailed from Meghalaya. The demand for a second IIM in the northeast, this time in Assam, had been longstanding, backed not only by the state govt but also by organisations like the All Assam Students’ Union. Initially, the Union govt was reluctant to grant another IIM to the northeast, Sarma admitted. “We tried to convince the Centre that the northeast is a union of eight states but considering Assam’s geography and (bigger) population, Assam should not be compared on a par with other northeastern states. We deserve a different kind of treatment,” Sarma said.

He said towards the end of the previous NDA govt’s term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and education minister Dharmendra Pradhan agreed to establish an IIM in Assam.