Construction dispute stalls IIT Palakkad’s development

A view of the building construction work at the IIT Palakkad campus on Thursday, showing it either midway through or halted.
| Photo Credit: K. K. Mustafah

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Palakkad, the premier engineering institute in Kerala, is facing a major developmental hurdle because of a dispute between a construction contractor and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

For the past one year, construction of several academic buildings which are crucial to the first phase development of IIT Palakkad, has been stalled as the dispute was dragged to the High Court.

The skeletons of a couple of major academic blocks loom large on the newly opened Sahyadri campus of IIT Palakkad at Kanjikode, reminding the visitors of the need for a drastic action. Several pieces of newly imported lab equipment are lying on the verandas as there is hardly any space for fully equipped labs.

The CPWD revoked the contract with the construction agency a year ago as the latter delayed the work significantly beyond the timeline. Although COVID-19 lockdown had considerably slowed down the work, the contractor failed to make up for the delay after the lockdown.

The legal wrangling is severely impacting the growth of IIT Palakkad, one of the prominent institutes among the third generation IITs in the country. Begun in 2015 with three BTech programmes and 400 students on Ahalia group’s rented campus, IIT Palakkad has progressed to accommodate 1,400 students now.

The institute celebrated its 10^th anniversary last month, throwing open its campus to the public for a three-day open house visit. It currently has 11 vibrant departments offering five BTech programmes, three MSc programmes, and several research programmes.

Yet, it cannot open any new programme due to lack of space and facility. Two new MTech programmes and a BTech programme in Data Science and AI are in the pipeline. But they cannot be launched until academic and housing facilities are ready.

IIT Palakkad lost a full year because of the dispute over construction since it shifted to the present Sahyadri campus in 2023. Had the construction continued unhindered in the post-COVID-19 years, it could have had at least a few new programmes and a few hundred more students.

In spite of the constraints, IIT Palakkad is planning a research and innovation park in 20 acres, which will be beneficial for small and medium enterprises and small industries as well as for the upcoming Kochi-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor.