Odisha to set up four new universities, two engineering colleges

The Odisha government on Saturday announced the establishment of four new greenfield universities and two government engineering colleges, along with a scheme to provide free textbooks to all students of Classes IX and X. The announcements were made by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi while presenting the State Budget for 2026-27.

The proposed greenfield universities will be set up in Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak and Jharsuguda districts. The Chief Minister said these institutions, being established from scratch, would have the flexibility to adopt new organisational models and introduce innovative postgraduate programmes in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

New Institutions and Upgradation Plans

Two new government engineering colleges will be established at Paradeep and Bolangir to strengthen technical education in the state. Additionally, Odisha University of Technology and Research (OUTR), Bhubaneswar, and Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla, will be upgraded into world-class technical universities.

To meet the growing demand for skilled manpower in the mining and metals sector, a Centre of Excellence in Mining and Metallurgy will be set up at the Government College of Engineering, Keonjhar.

Budget Allocation and Student Welfare Measures

The School and Mass Education (SME), Higher Education, and Skill Development and Technical Education (SDTE) departments together received a budgetary allocation of Rs 37,485 crore. Of this, Rs 31,997.53 crore has been earmarked for SME, Rs 3,664.40 crore for Higher Education, and Rs 1,823.11 crore for SDTE.

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An outlay of Rs 235 crore has been proposed for infrastructure development in technical universities and engineering colleges. The government also plans to establish seven campuses of the World Skill Centre by 2047, with at least five to be operational by 2036. Two new campuses at Sambalpur and Berhampur will be developed with an investment of Rs 278 crore in 2026-27.

In addition, the Budget has allocated Rs 32 crore for free uniforms for Shishu Vatika students under the Mukhyamantri Chhatra Chhatri Paridhan Yojana and Rs 1,010 crore under the Godabarisha Mishra Adarsha Vidyalaya scheme to strengthen model primary schools across the state.