Dharwad (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the permanent campus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Dharwad here.

The foundation stone for the institute was also laid by him in February 2019.

Developed at a cost of over Rs 850 crores, the institute currently offers 4-year B.Tech. programs, inter-disciplinary 5-year BS-MS program, M.Tech. and Ph.D. programs.

IIT Dharwad is an Institute of national importance established by the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India in 2016, under the mentorship of IIT Bombay.

Academic activities at IIT Dharwad commenced in July 2016 in the transit campus, located in Water and Land Management Institute (WALMI) next to the Dharwad Bench of Karnataka High Court, here.

IIT Dharwad has progressed steadily and currently there are 856 students, 73 faculty members who have more than 400 publications, R&D Sponsored projects worth Rs 30 crores and 32 MoUs to their collective credit.

The permanent campus is located in Dharwad, on a 470-acre land allotted by the Karnataka government, officials said.

The GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) Council has given a 5-star rating to IIT Dharwad campus for a large Development Master Plan involving designing and constructing a green, smart and world class campus with state-of-the-art infrastructure.