Sonepat: Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced that IIT-Delhi would set up its extension campus at the Rajiv Gandhi Education City here.
The chief minister said his government would provide 50 acres of land at the RGEC here for setting up the campus.
Addressing a public meeting after laying the foundation stone of 10 educational institutions, Hooda claimed the development would change the entire picture of the state.
"Around 36,000 to 40,000 students will study in these institutions and when it will be fully developed, the city will provide education to more than one lakh students," the chief minister said.
"You can well imagine the impact it would have on the development of Sonepat and the state...Sonepat will compete with Gurgaon," he said.
Among the institutes whose foundation stones were laid include Ashoka University, Asian Educational Society Skyline Business School, Bharti Vidyapeeth University, Pune and S R M Rajiv Gandhi Education City.
Land holdings are getting smaller and neither people can only depend on agriculture nor everybody can get government jobs, he said.
While recalling that opposition parties had opposed the development of Sonepat for the 1982 Asian Games, Hooda said late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had suggested that the area should be developed, "but the opposition party (Lok Dal) had opposed it".
"Had it not been opposed, the area would have developed beyond anybody's imagination, the airport could have been set up in Haryana," he said, taking a dig at the main opposition party INLD.
Hooda also announced to accord the sub-tehsil status to Rai and block status to Murthal. He also announced Rs 15 crore for rural development of the Rai Assembly segment.
Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda said the youth of the state were leaving their mark at the national level in the field of education and other areas.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, June 10, 2012, 19:29