Taking one more step towards improving the industry-institute partnership for holistic development, lone state-run engineering institute Jharkhand BIT-Sindri on Thursday entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), which is also likely to witness an unprecedented boom in its research-based activities and industry internships for students.

The MoU was signed by BIT-Sindri director DK Singh and the regional officer of NHAI SK Mishra, himself an alumnus, BIT-Sindri Civil Engineering, 1980 batch in the presence of two witnesses Ajay Kumar Sinha and Prashant Kumar.

"This will strengthen our ties and will help in the development of the various infrastructure projects of NHAI", said Singh.

Mishra, on the other hand, marked the development as a historic move towards the joint collaboration for mutual development.

The MoU shall come into immediate effect and shall remain valid for a period of five years from the date of signing.

“The MoU intends to associate NHAI with the BIT-Sindri, which shall voluntarily contribute its share of experience for the betterment of highway infrastructure,” said professor-charge training and placement of the institute Dr. Ghanshyam.

He said that MoU would enable the college to undertake collaborative research with NHAI.

“The project has scope in some major improvements towards the mutual sharing of knowledge in the highway or transportation sector and also towards bridging the industry-institution gap,” said Ghanshyam.

“The institute shall provide the necessary suggestions and improvements in the field of safety, traffic, continual maintenance and potential solutions to old recurring problems based on local experience” further explained BIT Director, DK Singh.

“NHAI will also have constant interactions with faculties and will provide expert guidance to the institute,” further said Singh.

Under this project, the institute has been allotted a 56.889km project of the Dhanbad-Bokaro Highway.

The project will be undertaken by NHAI in collaboration with the institute, which shall abide by the different roles and responsibilities defined in the MoU.

NHAI shall also provide internships to the 20 students of the institute with a monthly stipend of 8,000 per month for B. Tech students and 15,000 per month for M. Tech students.

The project also lays the foundation towards persistent consultation with the experts and faculties for the conceptualization, design and project preparation of new projects and suggests relevant parameters and innovations based on experience.