Anil Ambani’s trust pulls the plug on Bhopal varsity

BHOPAL: Anil Ambani-promoted Dhirubhai Ambani Memorial Trust (DAMT) has shelved their university project at Acharpura village near Berasia Road in Bhopal, giving a jolt to state government’s plan to rope in private players to set up universities in the state.
Madhya Pradesh government had allotted 110 acres land to the trust for Dhirubhai Ambani University in 2008. The allotment of parcel of land came a year after commitment to Anil Ambani at Global Investors’ Meet in Indore.
“The trust has shown inability to go ahead with the project,” MP Private Universities Regulatory Commission chairman A K Pandey said. When asked what prompted the trust to step back on the project, Pandey replied, “I do not know the reason. They must have their issues. The state government will take back allotted land.”
In 2010, Madhya Pradesh Private Universities Regulatory Commission had shot off a letter to the trust asking it to submit a compliance report. However, completion of proposed university’s infrastructure lingered on. The trust reportedly wrote a letter to the state government expressing its unwillingness to open the university in the state, he said.
The trust is learned to have written to state chief secretary expressing its wish to surrender allocated land and demanding refund of endowment amount of Rs 5 crore.
The construction of the university was to be over in three years of land possession. The DAMT was asked to furnish status report on it in 2010, but had sought an extension and had been given one up to July 2012. It again received an extension to complete the university by July this year.
“The university was to offer courses and conduct research in information technology (IT) and other areas. Keeping this in view, the state government had announced Acharpura village area as special education hub with a plan to invest several crores of money,” sources said.