Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

Infrastructure is recognized today as one of the most essential requirements for economic development of any country. Its importance has been increasingly appreciated by policy makers of different countries, including India which envisages a growth rate of nine percent during the eleventh plan period (2007-08 to 2011-12). The Committee on Infrastructure setup by planning commission estimates that nearly rupees two million Crore (US$ 494 billion) needs to be invested in key infrastructure sectors during the eleventh plan period to meet the desired growth rate of nine percent. This projected amount of investment is about 2.3 times the corresponding amount for the tenth plan. Besides generating the necessary finances, it is very important to build necessary capacity to realize these ambitious targets.

Large infrastructure projects require strong, interdisciplinary technical and management skills. It has therefore become imperative that Institutes bestowed with solid foundations in engineering, architecture, and management skills should initiate academic programmes to develop trained manpower in this upcoming area of infrastructure design and management.

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur has a vantage position with regard to its existing faculty and academic programmes in the areas of engineering, architecture and management. The institute, with its numerous academic departments, centers and schools with academic programmes in such wide ranging areas such as law, management, architecture and engineering, is in a uniquely advantageous position to contribute to the nation’s goal of building world-class infrastructure.

The Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management has been started by IIT Kharagpur in the year 2008 as a result of the joint initiative of the institute and Mr. Ranbir (Ron) Singh Gupta, an alumnus (1970 batch B.Arch) of this Institute. Mr. Ranbir Gupta, who is the founder and chairman of SIGMA7 design group, New York has made an endowment through Ranbir and Chitra Gupta Foundation to promote the initiative. The school of Infrastructure Design and Management is the first of its kind to be setup in the IIT system and also in the country.