NHAI ties up with 200 IITs, NITs and engineering colleges for highway research

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has inked initial pacts with 200 technical institutes to encourage them for voluntary adoption of highway stretches for research etc, Parliament was informed on Monday.

Out of over 250 such institutes which have consented for the the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), 200 have become signatories.

"NHAI has introduced an initiative to associate with reputed technical Institutes like IITs NITs, AICTE approved engineering colleges for mutual cooperation for dissemination of respective expertise on civil/highway engineering on National Highway Projects," Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

As per this initiative, the institutes have been encouraged to adopt nearby stretches of national highways on voluntary basis and those adopted stretches may be used as a field of study for faculty, researchers and to familiarise students of the institute with the latest trends in the industry, he said.

The minister said so far 18 IITs, 27 NITs and 207 other reputed engineering colleges have consented for the MoU.

"As of now 200 institutes have signed the MoUs," he said.