Australian varsity planning campus in Gujarat

Australia’s University of Wollongong (UOW) is planning to establish a 72-acre campus in Ahmedabad, an official of the varsity said Monday. “Indian students have a major presence in our country. So we thought why not establish a campus here which will allow them to get the Australian flavour of education without having to leave their shores,” Mr. Craig Peden, Director Corporate Relations, UOW, said in Kolkata. The facility will be the UOW’s second international campus alongside Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Financing

Gujarat NRE Coking Coal chairman Arun Jagatramka will assist the university with finance and liaise between it and Indian authorities. Gujarat NRE Coking Coal Limited (GNCCL) is a subsidiary of Gujarat NRE Coke Limited, the largest independent manufacturer of low ash metallurgical coke (Met Coke) in India.

Mr. Peden, however, refused to comment on the amount of investment involved in the project, saying it was only in the planning stage and anything concrete can be said only after the end of 2012. A memorandum of understanding was earlier signed by UOW Vice-Chancellor Gerard Sutton and Jagatramka in Mumbai.

Innovation Campus
Mr. Peden also said the university was mulling to establish a branch of Innovation Campus (IC), a technology and research precinct developed by it. “With a view to forge partnership with India in the field of R&D in areas like advance manufacturing, energy storage etc, we are looking for a suitable place here to establish a branch of the IC,” said Mr. Peden.

IC’s brand ambassador and Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist visited the Indian cities of New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore last year scouting for suitable place for the Indian branch.

Source: The Hindu Business Line, February 8, 2012