New Delhi:  Construction work of South Asian University’s permanent campus took off today with Smt.  Sushma Swaraj, India’s External Affairs Minister performing the ground breaking ceremony at the campus which is coming up over a 100 acre plot in Maidan Garhi.

Jointly established in 2010 by the SAARC nations, South Asian University is currently functioning from its Akbar Bhawan campus in Chanakyapuri offering  Master’s and research programmes in Applied Mathematics, Biotechnology, Computer Science, Economics, Legal Studies, International Relations and Sociology. The construction work is being taken up in a phased manner. First to come up will be the boundary wall and a site office, to be followed by academic buildings, administrative buildings, student hostels and other facilities.

The expected time of completion of the campus is 36 months. The campus will be environment friendly and adopt energy conservation measures to achieve Green Building rating.

The entire capital expenditure, including campus construction, is being borne by the Government of India, while the operational cost of the university is shared by all the SAARC nations as per agreement between the countries.  The university has students, faculty and staff drawn from the member nations of the SAARC.

The remarks by Ms Sushma Swaraj on the occasion could be accessed HERE.