The campus of IIT Madras in Zanzibar will open in early November

The offshore campus of IIT Madras in Tanzania's Zanzibar is slated to open in early November, according to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The declaration was made by the minister during an occasion to award an honorary degree to Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is on a four-day visit to India.

''I am delighted that Zanzibar will host the first offshore campus of any IIT (Indian Institute of Technology). The Zanzibar campus of IIT Madras is expected to open early next month,'' the minister added.

''This institute will be a watershed moment in educational cooperation between two nations and continents, providing students from Tanzania and other African countries with access to world-class engineering and technology education, which will aid in nation-building and drive economic growth, technology, development, and research and innovation in Africa,'' Pradhan added.

The final procedural step that paved the way for the campus was the signing of an MoU between India and Tanzania in July.