JAIPUR: The Union HRD ministry is believed to have chosen Jodhpur for setting up the IIT-Rajasthan and Udaipur for a new IIM in the state, ending a tug of war among Congress leaders over the locations.
A five-member HRD ministry team is arriving in Rajasthan on Friday for physical verification of the proposed IIT-Rajasthan and IIM sites, sources said.

The sources said the ministry has already decided on the locations and the committee's visit was only a formality. The committee is headed by Ashok Thakur, additional secretary in HRD ministry.

Jodhpur is the home constituency of chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who has been lobbying for the town.

The fight over the location, among Congress leaders and also the BJP, has been a major hurdle in identification of the site for IIT-Rajasthan, which has been functioning from IIT-Kanpur. Among the seven states, where new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are coming up, Rajasthan is the only state where the issue has not been settled.

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh had earlier assured people in Kota that IIT-Rajasthan would be set up there. Former CM Vasundhara Raje had also recommended Kota.

source: TIO