The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, is planning to set up a medical college, the first such venture in any technology school of the country.

The proposal would soon be submitted to the IIT board of governors and later to the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, IIT, Kharagpur Director S K Dube said Wednesday.

"The idea is to set up a medical college in IIT. When this happens, it will be the first such venture in any technology institute. We will present the proposal to the board of governors soon and once it is ratified, we will send across the proposal to the MHRD," Dube said.

If things move at the right pace, the medical college will be set up in 2009.

The college will initially have a student strength of 50.

"To run a college we will need the mandatory 400-bed hospital. The total project cost is being estimated in the range of Rs 400-500 crore," he said.

The funds will be raised from within the IIT resources, the MHRD and the alumni of the institute, Dube added.