The Education City will have centres of excellence in the fields of hospital management, pharma R&D, software development, 3D animation among other upcoming fields in the area of higher education.

An area of 150 acres has been earmarked for the Education City, in which, 75 acres has been reserved for private institutions in phase one and 75 acre for an institute of design and other professional colleges. This would include a 30-acre area for common facilities like market, gym, sports facilities etc.

In the past one decade, the region witnessed a phenomenal growth of colleges of education, engineering and management institutes offering run-of-the-mill courses by the local private players.

But the institutes catering to the demand of research and technology in pharma, animation, healthcare management and other upcoming fields were not put up.

Taking cognisance of this, the Administration of Union Territory of Chandigarh decided to facilitate the private sector in setting up the institutes of repute by the educational institutions of national stature and large corporate houses who have specialisation in their field and can train the youth to match the demand of the industry by introducing innovative curriculum.

Out of the 25 applicants, 6 were shortlisted and the area allocated is yet to be announced. Most of the players told that 4-6 acre would be required for their projects.

In this public-private-partnership model, the administration will do the monitoring; land would be leased out for 33 years and the terms of revenue sharing will be finalised with the private partners.