The institute and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) have entered into an agreement wherein the two will collaborate  to facilitate cutting-edge research and development in the housing and urban development sector.

Shri Prabhakar Singh, director-general of CPWD, New Delhi and Prof Sudhir K Jain, director, IITGN signed the MoU today at IITGN, under which, the CPWD will set up an R&D Cell at the Research Park, IITGN. The MoU was signed in the presence of Shri Durga Shanker Mishra (IAS), Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

This significant partnership between IITGN and CPWD is aimed at fostering collaborations between seasoned engineers of CPWD with faculty and students of IITGN, to enable development and verification of new technologies and safer, efficient long-term solutions to the existing problems of the construction industry. Following the MoU, IITGN and CPWD will jointly work on various academic, research, training and capacity-building programmes.

Shri Prabhakar Singh said, “We, at CPWD, constantly strive to upgrade design, execution, quality and maintenance of the public works with changing time and demands in the country. The new R&D Cell at IITGN will enable active dialogue between academia and the industry implementors to address the practical field problems. The Cell will leverage benefit from research infrastructure of IITGN and the collaborations with faculty and students will help make CPWD technologically more advanced.”

Sri Durga Shanker Mishra was present on the occasion. Welcoming this cooperation between the institute and CPWD, he said, “The Government of India has been working tirelessly to achieve the target of housing for all by 2022. With increasing demand and number of urban dwellers in the country, it is essential to ensure safety and standards in all public works projects. The research and development undertaken at this Cell will help in prioritising the field problems, devising most appropriate technological solutions to them and ultimately achieve speed in execution of the projects in the country.”

IITGN has been associated with CPWD since long for the development of its highly-appreciated campus. This agreement will further broaden the opportunities of research and development in the construction industry to find effective solutions to field-based real problems.

Sudhir K Jain

Director, IITGN