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From new rooms to smart classrooms: JNU's management, engineering await big upgrades

From new rooms to smart classrooms: JNU's management, engineering await big upgrades

Time of India6 days ago

For the first time since their launch in 2018,
Jawaharlal Nehru University
's
engineering and management schools
will soon have their own
academic buildings and hostels
, reported TOI.
As part of a ₹483.66 crore
infrastructure overhaul
under the
Higher Education Funding Agency
(HEFA) scheme, the university will construct a
modern academic block
and two purpose-built hostels for the School of Engineering and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship.
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According to the report, the upcoming ₹142-crore academic centre will span 29,000 square metres and include
advanced lecture halls
, simulation labs, interdisciplinary collaboration zones, faculty offices, and subject-specific laboratories.
The design aims to support both cutting-edge research and applied learning in technology and business studies.
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These facilities are meant to match the academic demands of programmes that, unlike most JNU courses, charge significantly higher tuition fees. General category students pay ₹12 lakh for the full MBA, while OBC (non-creamy layer) students pay ₹8 lakh and SC/ST/PWD students pay ₹6 lakh—raising long-standing concerns about the mismatch between cost and infrastructure.
New hostels with upgraded amenities
Students will also get brand new hostels—JNU's first ever built specifically for a single academic programme. Together, they'll accommodate 2,600 students, helping end years of dependency on shared, cross-disciplinary housing.
The School of Engineering hostel will cover 34,500 square metres and house 1,950 students at a cost of ₹126.69 crore. It will include furnished rooms, reading lounges, green spaces, and a dining hall, noted the news oulet.
The management school hostel, sized at 11,500 square metres and costing ₹42.23 crore, will provide space for 650 students in modular rooms with shared workspaces suited for postgraduate life.
Part of a larger push to modernise JNU
These upgrades are part of a broader development vision. Under the HEFA scheme, JNU has received clearance for nine major infrastructure projects.
TOI further reported these include a trans-disciplinary research and academic block (₹41.24 crore), an advanced animal research centre (₹22.92 crore), a cutting-edge instrumentation facility (₹27.05 crore), a start-up incubation hub (₹17.69 crore), and a 2,000-seat lecture hall complex (₹52.85 crore).
'These projects mark a major milestone for JNU,' said vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit. 'They reflect our commitment to creating a globally competitive, research-oriented university. As we align with the
National Education Policy 2020
, we're building a future-ready campus for both students and faculty.'

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