Artist’s impression of the IIM Trichy campus
If you are gunning for Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Trichy in a couple of years’ time, chances are that you will be studying in a swanky 172-acre new campus. According to the details made available by the institute, the new campus situated on Trichy-Pudukottai highway, 17 km south-east of the city centre and 12 km from Tiruchirappalli International Airport, will be developed as a ‘green campus’. The new campus will be operational latest by April 2015.
The development comes close on the heels of the institute’s Chennai centre which was inaugurated in November 2012. Speaking exclusively to PaGaLGuY about the new campus, IIM Trichy director Dr Prafulla Agnihotri said, ‘IIM Trichy’s permanent campus will be a green campus and we shall apply for a ‘Green Certificate’ from the appropriate authorities. The compound wall which has been constructed already complies with the norms of a green building. It will be a zero-waste campus where recycled water would be used for maintaining the greenery of the institute. Solar energy will also be utilised to mitigate the energy requirements. We want to use solar power to meet 60% of the energy requirement of the institute.”
A major issue among the student community in Trichy is the acute water shortage the city faces. When asked what provisions will the new campus have to tackle the issue, Dr. Agnihotri replied: “Appropriate steps have been taken and the state government has been requested to supply Cauvery water for drinking purposes. The architects have been instructed to design the buildings in such a way that it will facilitate water harvesting. One big stream passes through the campus. The architects will design the campus in such a way that if due measures are taken, that stream will be full of water in the next 3-4 years and there can be small artificial pond which would be generated by using appropriate water streaming measures. This creation of pond will not only increase the ground water level on the campus but will also supply us our additional requirements of water on the campus.”
The hostels in the new campus would be on a single occupancy basis with ample recreation facilities such as indoor and outdoor games, reading rooms, TV room, etc. The hostels would have a capacity of around 500 students. There would be separate hostels for married and fellowship program students which would have a kitchen, a study room, a living room and a bedroom.
IIM Trichy’s new campus will also boast of more than 15 classrooms. There would be bigger classrooms to accommodate 150 students, medium-sized classrooms to accommodate 75 students and smaller classrooms to accommodate up to 50 students for different courses such as compulsory courses, electives as well as certain specialised courses which would require special facilities. All the classrooms in the new campus will be equipped with latest technological facilities. They will also have the facility to record teaching sessions for storage in archives that students can access later.
Artist’s impression of the proposed library block at IIM Trichy
Apart from the academic and administration blocks, there would be a four-storey library and an auditorium. Students will also be able make use of recreation facilities like swimming pool, cricket, football stadium, tennis and volleyball courts, indoor games like badminton, carom, table tennis, etc and a gymnasium. A shopping mall, food courts, banks and ATMs would also be present on the new campus. The institute also plans to have an entrepreneurial incubation centre. Faculty members will get independent houses.
The project cost is also being revised by the Ministry of Human Resources Development and EdCIL and it will be more than Rs 300 crores. The institute had earlier estimated the cost to be around Rs 200 crores.
There were five architectural firms vying for a chance to design the institute. Out of these five firms, Bangalore-based Chandavarkar & Thacker Associates was selected for the project. The firm is studying the campuses of IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Indore, Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad and Infosys Mysore. They also plan to visit a few campuses abroad before finalising the master plan.
IIM Trichy’s current campus
IIM Trichy currently operates from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Trichy campus on the main Thanjavore road.