-Baishali Mukherjee

Two of West Bengal’s premier higher education institutes, IIT Kharagpur and Jadavpur University, have decided to collaborate on research, internships, and consultancy projects. The institutes are also all set to launch new industry-friendly courses. Accordingly, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two institutions on February 6, during the eighth Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) 2025, held at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in New Town, Kolkata.

Professor Indrajit Banerjee, Jadavpur University’s Registrar, Professor Niladri Chakraborty, Dean Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Jadavpur University, and Professor S.K. Samanta, of Department of Chemistry at IIT Kharagpur, were all present at the event. Speaking about this agreement, Professor Chakraborty said, “The collaboration will facilitate joint research, internships, and consultancy work. Professor Roy of IIT KGP emphasized the significance of this agreement in boosting the state’s industrial environment.

According to the MoU the prospect of the collaboration would not be limited to engineering but will also extend to science and humanities disciplines as well. Two key decisions were made under this agreement. To begin with, IIT Khargpur and JU will jointly introduce new short-term courses, which will be available both online and offline. Eventually, these courses will be converted into diploma programs. The aim is to help professionals, who are already employed, stay updated with industry advancements that they often struggle to keep up with. 

The new courses are expected to increase revenue for both the institutions. It is pertinent to note here that, with the TMC led state government not disbursing the funds, JU has been facing a funds crisis for quite some time now. There have been salary delays for teachers and non-teaching staff in the months of December as well as January. Moreover, the university authorities reportedly paid salaries and pensions for December 2024 from the university’s fixed deposit. 

The second decision was on broadening the horizon of their consultancy services. The partnership aims to secure international consultancy projects, particularly in SAARC nations as well as in Africa. Currently, European companies largely dominate the major consultancy projects in these regions. IIT Kharagpur and JU plan to make forays into this space by jointly bidding for international tenders. With this collaboration, both the institutes are gearing up to expand their academic and industrial outreach significantly.

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