Cosmopolitan ambience, good connectivity and strong Information Technology (IT) sector is attracting top rankers to the Indian Institute of Technology- Hyderabad (IIT-H) over other IITs in the country, including some of the established and famous ones.
The opening rank was 534 this year compared with 632 last year and the number of top 1,000 rankers from the JEE has increased enormously compared with just single digit last year. “The registration process was completed on Wednesday. We are yet to compile the figures but good rankers have chosen us over other new IITs and also some old IITs,” explained IIT-H Director, U.B. Desai.
Admissions closed at 988 rank in the Computer Science Engineering (CSE), one of the sought-after streams in the IITs. The last person to get into the institute was 5,500th ranker, considered to be pretty good for an institute that started only in 2008-09. Telugu students are not more than 35 per cent thus ruling out that factor of only the locals choosing the institution.
“The credit should go to the city given its cosmopolitan nature and good connectivity with the country through rail and air networks apart from the surging IT sector that provides lot many opportunities to students,” Prof. Desai feels. The city is dotted with India’s top scientific and defence research institutions, and students feel it is easier to get internships and jobs in Hyderabad compared to any other city.
Telangana IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao was vigorously pushing Hyderabad as the >start-up destination of the country thus providing ample opportunities for the bright minds and this will certainly help IIT-H students, he observed. The recently cleared plans for setting up India’s biggest Incubation Centre at IIIT Hyderabad in collaboration with Indian School of Business and NALSAR University of Law spread over 60,000 sq. ft. at a cost of Rs. 35 crores, is another big plus.
Academically, IIT-H is quite attractive to any student with 1:12 teacher-student ratio while other strong factors luring students include research opportunities in the newer areas. It also offers the best bouquet of courses. It has a strong research network and the new research labs. “We have the largest number of faculty among new IITs and more than 100 labs of which nearly 50 are for research,” reveals Prof. Desai.
The institute has started a DigiFab Laboratory for 3D printing that equips students with latest manufacturing technologies. “We are the only institute to offer such facility in India and more so for first year students,” he adds.
