The first overseas campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) will start functioning at Zanzibar in the east African nation of Tanzania on October 25 this year.

Indian students also can seek admission to the Zanzibar campus, which is managed by IIT Madras.

In the first phase, Bachelor of Science (BS) and Master of Technology (MTech) courses in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence will be offered at the campus. There would be 50 seats for BS and 20 for MTech.

“We have not decided on any cap on the number of seats for Indian students,” said Prof Preethy Agalayam, director-in-charge of the campus.

The annual fee for the BS course is US Dollars (USD) 12,000 (around Rs 9.85 lakh) and for MTech USD 4,000 (around Rs 3.30 lakh).

Currently functioning from a temporary campus, the Zanzibar IIT will shift to a 300-acre permanent campus by January 2026. The land as well as the expenses, including on salaries, are provided by the Tanzanian government.

How to apply

Applications could be submitted for both programmes till August 6 on the website ww.iitm.ac.in/zanzibar/admission

Admissions will take place based on the ‘IIT Zanzibar screening test’ (IITMZST) and not JEE Advanced or GATE. Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Dubai and Muscat are among the exam centres. An interview will be held after the test.

Will Indians corner most seats?

Will local students find it difficult to join the Zanzibar campus as there is no bar on the intake of applicants from India and JEE Advanced or GATE are not needed to secure admission?

IIT Madras Director V Kamakodi refuted such a possibility saying “I don’t think so.”

“Even though the entrance exam is different, we have not diluted its standards,” he added.

Kerala connection

Of the three top faculty members at the Zanzibar IIT campus, one academic belongs to Kerala. She is Dr Liji Philip, hailing from Nellikayam in Pala. She is a Professor of the Civil Engineering Department at IIT Madras and Infrastructure Professor-in-charge at the Zanzibar campus.

The other two top functionaries are Director-in-charge and Dean Prof Preethy Agalayam and Prof Raghunathan Rangaswamy.

Other foreign campuses

Meanwhile, IIT Delhi will start its foreign campus at Abu Dhabi soon and IIT Kharagpur is engaged in efforts to open a campus abroad in Malaysia.

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